BRITISH train operator TransPennine Express (TPE) has selected CAF, Spain, to supply and maintain a fleet of 200km/h inter-city EMUs as well as coaches to be hauled by class 68 locomotives under a total investment worth £230m.

Semih Kalay, senior vice-president, Technology Transportation Technology Center Inc (TTCI), assesses how North American railways are utilising results from the latest research to improve the performance of their freight operations.

CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles plans to start a six-month testing programme with China's first hybrid-power train at the China Academy of Railway Sciences in June. The train is currently undergoing technical debugging in Jilin province.

TRIAL passenger operation began on May 18 on the first metro line in Fuzhou, the capital of China's southeastern Fujian province.

ALBTAL Transport Company (AVG) and Karlsruhe Transport Authority (VBK) have awarded a €59.5m contract to Bombardier for a further 12 Flexity Swift ET 2010 tram-trains.

SWEDISH infrastructure manager Trafikverket says it has finalised plans for a SKr 4bn ($US 480m) project to expand the congested Malmö - Lund line from two to four tracks.

THE inaugural trial run of India's first metro train to be equipped for Unattended Train Operation (UTO) was flagged off by India's urban development minister Mr M Venkaiah Naidu and the chief minister of Delhi Mr Arvind Kejriwal in a ceremony at Delhi Metro Rail Corporation's Mukundpur depot on May 17.

THE prime minister of Malaysia Mr Najib Razak confirmed on May 17 that he expects to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with his Singaporean counterpart Mr Lee Hsien Loong in July setting out conditions for the financing, construction, and operation of the 330km Kuala Lumpur - Singapore high-speed line.

POLAND's National Centre for Research and Develoment (NCBiR) has agreed to provide funding for a project by Newag to develop what it describes as "the first worldwide family of autonomous, configurable bi-mode passenger rail vehicles compliant with Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI)."

ZÜRICH City Council and the Transport Council of the Canton of Zürich have approved the acquisition of 70 metre-gauge Flexity 2 LRVs from Bombardier to replace the ageing Tram 2000 fleet introduced in the 1970s.