ISRAEL Railways celebrated a milestone in the construction of the $US 1bn Valley Line from Haifa Lev Hamifratz to Beit Shee'an on April 3, when contractor Leisco completed tracklaying on the 60km line.

ISRAEL Railways (IR) reported a net profit of Shekels 265m ($US 70m) in 2015, following a 9% increase in passengers using the network to 52.8 million during the year.

ISRAEL Railways (IR) published a international tender on March 20 for a contract to supply a fleet of 160km/h double-deck EMUs, and also confirmed it will exercise an option with Bombardier for additional locomotive-hauled double-deck coaches.

Rolling stock using Saudi Arabia's North-South Railway has suffered from severe wheel-wear issues since the line opened in 2011. Success in overcoming this problem provides lessons for the design of future desert heavy-haul networks as Thomas Hewitt, project manager rolling stock at Canarail, explains.

Israel's network expansion programme and technological upgrades are set to revolutionise rail transport in the country in the next four to five years. Kevin Smith visits facilities in Haifa and Lod to see how the railway is preparing for the transition.

Three major new line construction projects are underway in Israel which will extend the network to new areas and improve connectivity. Kevin Smith profiles the A1 Link, the Valley Line, and Acre - Carmiel line projects.

Once the butt of jokes for its poor reliability and slow journey times, Israel Railways is undergoing a radical transformation which promises to turn it into a competitive and viable means of transport for more and more people. CEO Boaz Tzafrir outlines to Kevin Smith how the company is delivering these improvements.

IRJ at Fourth Railway Forum, Berlin: ETIHAD Rail DB, the operator and infrastructure manager of the 254km Shah - Habshan - Ruwais railway, the first in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), says it has carried 5 million tonnes of granulated sulphur for Abu Dhabi National Oil Company since it began operating in 2015.

TRANSPORT ministers from the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states will meet in the Saudi capital Riyadh next month to discuss a new completion date for the planned 2177km Gulf Railway now that it is recognised that it cannot be completed by 2018.

SIEMENS presented the first of 74 Inspiro metro vehicles for Riyadh's metro in Vienna today.