THE first CAF New Generation Sprinter (SNG) EMU for Netherlands Railways (NS) began dynamic testing at the VUZ Velim test centre in the Czech Republic on April 5.

TURIN Transport Group (GTT) and Arriva Italy Rail signed an agreement on April 3 confirming the two companies will bid jointly in the next tender for the operation of Turin’s SFM suburban rail network.

ALSTOM’s Prima H3 hybrid shunting locomotive has been certified by the German Federal Railway Authority (EBA) to operate at up to 100km/h in Germany.

SEVEN Pendolino trains owned by Czech Railways (ČD) which have been in operation for 12 years will undergo a fundamental refurbishment over the coming months.

THE first sod was cut on April 5 for a €3.84bn 10-year project to build a second east-west S-Bahn line under the centre of Munich to relieve congestion on the parallel existing line.

PAKISTAN Railways (PR) has announced that it will double over 5582km of track in 11 different sections across the country, with a build, operate and transfer (BOT) model likely to be adopted.

THE European Commission (EC) announced that rail projects in Greece will receive funding from the European Union (EU) cohesion funds, as part of a €1.3bn investment which will allow major projects that started in the 2007-2013 financial period to be completed in the current 2014-2020 period.

SOUTH Africa’s president Mr Jacob Zuma unveiled on April 4 the first diesel locomotive to be designed, engineered and manufactured by Transnet Engineering, the engineering and manufacturing division of Transnet.

EUROPE’s Shift²Rail Joint Undertaking (JU) has received 60 proposals worth €192.8m under its 2017 call for research projects and a funding request of €136.5m, which is more than twice the available funding of €60.8m.

CONVENTIONAL train services have been withdrawn between Rotterdam and Hook of Holland to allow the line between Schiedam Central and Hook of Holland to be converted to metro operation and connected to the Rotterdam metro.