SHANGHAI Songjiang Tramway Investment and Operation Company has awarded a joint venture of Alstom and Shanghai Rail Traffic Equipment Development Company (Satco) a €72m contract to supply 30 low-floor LRVs for the first phase of the Songjiang tram network.

THE government of Luxembourg has given Luxembourg Railways (CFL) the go-ahead to order 11 additional Kiss double-deck EMUs from Stadler.

MZKT, the municipal public transport operator in the Polish city of Toruń, has awarded Pesa Bydgoszcz a Zlotys 37.8m ($US 10.2m) contract to supply five bi-directional Swing low-floor LRVs for the city's metre-gauge tram network.

CHINA Railway Siyuan Survey and Design Group (CRSSD) is conducting a preliminary study of a planned 1754km high-speed line in India linking Delhi, Bhopal, Nagpur, Hyderabad and Chennai which it hopes to complete by August.

THE merger between China's two largest train builders, CNR and CSR, has been approved by China's Securities Regulatory Commission and the Ministry of Commerce, and according to Xinhua the process could be completed by June.

THE prime minister of the Czech Republic Mr Bohuslav Sobotka and the mayor of Prague Mrs Adriana Krnáčová officially opened the latest addition to Prague's metro network on April 6, when they took an inaugural trip on the 6.1km western extension of Line A from Dejvická to Nemocnice Motol.

ARGENTINA's Train of the Clouds was revived on April 4, when the Salta provincial government took over operation of the tourist service.

THE first KZ4AT four-axle passenger locomotive for Kazakhstan Railways (KTZ) entered service on the Astana – Kokshetau route at the end of March.

AMTRAK's Cascades service between Portland and Eugene will end if Oregon's state legislature enacts the budget adopted by its Joint Ways and Means Committee last week, which proposes slashing funding for the daily state-backed service on the corridor.

THALES has been awarded a €17m contract to supply signalling, telecommunications, and an Operational Control Centre for the Danhai light rail line in New Taipei City.