THREE investigations have been launched in France following a rear-end collision on July 17 between a TER passenger train and a TGV at Denguin, 14km west of Pau on the Tarbes - Dax main line.

POLISH infrastructure manager PKP PLK announced on July 1 that dynamic testing has begun on Poland's first ERTMS Level 2 installation.

A JOINT study by the Norwegian and Swedish infrastructure managers, Jernbaneverket and Trafikverket, recommends upgrading the heavy-haul line linking Kiruna and Narvik to meet a forecast growth in traffic.

A CONSORTIUM of Qatari Diar Vinci Construction (QDVC) and Alstom was awarded a €2bn design-build contract by Qatar Railways for the Lusail light rail project at a ceremony in Paris on June 23 attended by President François Hollande of France and Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Tani, Emir of Qatar.

THE board of Alstom has unanimously approved General Electric's (GE) bid for its energy division after the French government agreed to purchase a 20% stake in the company from its lead shareholder, Bouygues, for around €1.7bn.

WITH Alstom's board set to meet on Monday at the latest to reach a decision on the takeover of its power division, both General Electric (GE) and Siemens-Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) have improved their offers in an attempt to address concerns and get their respective deals over the line.

SPAIN's infrastructure manager, Adif, has awarded a €339m contract to a consortium led by Alstom and including Bombardier and Indra to install ETCS Level 2 signalling on two high-speed lines under construction in northwest Spain.

BRITISH infrastructure manager Network Rail (NR) has awarded contracts for the first phase of its new national traffic management system (TMS), a key element of its operating strategy, which will see control of the network consolidated from more than 800 signalboxes to just 12 Regional Operating Centres (ROCs) over the next 15-20 years.

DURING a meeting in Paris on May 27 with the French president Mr François Hollande, the CEO of General Electric (GE) Mr Jeff Immelt is understood to have improved GE's $US 16.9bn offer for Alstom's power division by pledging to create around 1000 more jobs in France within the next three years.

VIENNESE public transport operator Wiener Linien has awarded Siemens a contract worth more than €40m to resignal the 17km U-Bahn Line 4 from Hütteldorf to Heiligenstadt.