SIEMENS confirmed on September 29 that Denver and Minneapolis have exercised options on existing contracts for additional LRVs.

CROATIAN prime minister Mr Zoran Milanovic and minister of maritime affairs, transport and infrastructure Mr Sinisa Hajdaš Dončić officially launched Croatian Railways (HŽ) new fleet of EMUs for Zagreb suburban services on October 6.

NICE Côte dAzur Metropolitan Council has awarded Alstom a €91m contract to supply 19 Citadis X05 low-floor LRVs for the city's second light rail line.

IRJ at Railway Interchange: Wi-Tronix, United States, launched two new in-cab driver safety systems in Minneapolis.

THE Norwegian government has allocated Norwegian State Railways (NSB) NKr 1.55bn ($US 190m) towards the acquisition of 26 additional Stadler Flirt EMUs as part its 2016 state budget, which was unveiled on October 7.

Aarhus is currently developing Denmark's inaugural light rail project which is on course to open in 2017 to coincide with the city becoming the year's European Capital of Culture. Kevin Smith took a trip to eastern Jutland to see how the project is progressing.

This month Finnish national train operator VR Group will cut 6% of services from its long-distance timetable as part of a bold plan to respond to intensifying competition from bus and air. Keith Barrow reports from Helsinki on how the company is adapting to a changing travel market and a contracting economy.

UKRAINIAN prime minister Mr Arseniy Yatsenyuk officially launched a new regional express service on the 267km Lvov - Ivano-Frankivsk - Chernivtsi route on October 6, which uses Ukrainian Railways' (UZ) prototype DPKr2 DMU.

THE steering committee of Italian open-access high-speed operator NTV met at its headquarters in Rome on October 1 to deliberate on the next steps and future goals for the company, including an order for new trains and an increase in the company's capital.

MINNEAPOLIS St Paul Metropolitan Council Environmental Services has published a tender notice for a contract to supply 27 low-floor LRVs with an option for 50 more, even though Metro Transit still has options remaining on an existing contract with Siemens.