A mock-up of the Hitachi metro train for the first metro line in Ho Chi Minh City was unveiled on March 16 by the city's Management Authority for Urban Railways (Maur).

ALPTRANSIT Gotthard reached a key milestone in the construction of Switzerland's 15.4km Ceneri Base Tunnel on March 17, when the first bore of the tunnel was holed through 13 months ahead of schedule.

GERMAN infrastructure manager DB Networks has announced plans to invest €95m in renewal of signalling systems in the 6km Frankfurt City Tunnel to increase capacity and improve reliability in the core of the Rhine-Main S-Bahn network.

THE Bavarian Railway Authority (BEG) signed a 12-year contract with German Rail (DB) subsidiary DB Regio Allgäu-Schwaben in Kempten on March 17 for the operation of the Allgäu Diesel Network, which covers around 7.8 million train-km per year.

AUSTRALIAN Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) has issued an invitation to tender for engineering design and environmental consultancy services for the Inland Rail project, the first contract to be tendered for the new freight link from Brisbane to Melbourne.

THE LAST of 220 Bombardier Flexity Outlook low-floor LRVs for Brussels Transport Authority (Stib) was officially handed over on March 17 in the presence of Brussels regional mobility minister Mr Pascal Smet Stib CEO Mr Brieuc de Meeûs.

GERMANY's Bochum-Gelsenkirchen Tramways (Bogestra) will launch a tender before the end of this month for 42 new metre-gauge LRVs after the company's supervisory board approved a €200m plan to replace the troubled fleet of NFD6D trams and modernise the vehicles used on Stadtbahn Line U35.

DUBAI Roads and Transport Authority has signed a five-year service level agreement with Thales to provide maintenance support services for the city's 75km driverless metro network.

WARSAW Tramways has taken delivery of the first of 30 type 134N Jazz low-floor LRVs from Pesa, which will be used on lower-density routes in the city.

ROMANIA's second-largest regional passenger operator RegioTrans suspended all operations on March 17 after the Romanian Rail Safety Authority (ASFR) revoked the company's Part B safety certificate following a spate of incidents in recent weeks.