FRENCH Rail Network (RFF) has started construction of a new train control centre in Pagny-sur-Moselle covering the rail network in Lorraine.

SAUDI Railways Organisation (SRO) and Indra, Spain, have chosen Kapsch CarrierCom to install GSM-R on the 450km Haramain high-speed line under construction between Mecca, Jeddah, and Medina.

TAIWAN High Speed Rail Corporation (THSRC) has awarded a consortium of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Toshiba the contract for trackwork and electrical & mechanical (E&M) works on the 9.2km extension of the Kaohsiung – Taipei high-speed line from Taipei Railway Station to Nangang.

HITACHI Rail Europe's "Verification-Train 3" has successfully completed a series of tests on a Network Rail class 97/3 locomotive equipped with ETCS Level 2 onboard equipment.

IRJ at UITP 60th World Congress Geneva: Alstom has unveiled its new simplified CBTC called Urbalis Fluence which is designed to reduce the amount of lineside equipment by 20% by transferring the interlocking functions to the train. The system has been under development since 2010.

SWEDEN's Lussavaara-Kirunava AB (LKAB) inaugurated the latest phase of its iron-ore mining operation in Kiruna, northern Sweden today, which includes a 12km, standard-gauge underground automatic railway.

DESPITE speculation that Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) might not proceed with its implementation of an Advanced Train Management System (ATMS) on the interstate network, a further $A 50m ($US 49m) was allocated in last week's Federal Budget to allow the technology to be rolled out on the Port Augusta - Tarcoola line.

During Global Transport Forum's signalling and train control conference in Vienna in March Mr Jos Holtzer, with Netherlands Railways passenger rolling stock and energy division, questioned whether GSM-R in its current guise is able to support ETCS reliably. David Briginshaw was there to hear Holtzer's radical comments and proposals.

POLISH infrastructure manager PKP PLK has awarded Kapsch CarrierCom a €9.2m contract to design and install GSM-R equipment on the 148km Legnica – Wroclaw – Opole section of Line E30.