SWEDEN’s national passenger operator, SJ, has launched a global tender for the supply of 30 trains with a maximum speed of 250km/h at an estimated cost of SKr 5-6bn ($US 627-752m).

FIVE years after it was originally due to open, the first light rail line in the Spanish city of Granada finally began carrying passengers on September 21.

CHINA Railway Corporation (CRC) restored 350km/h operation on the Beijing - Shanghai high-speed line on September 21, six years after the maximum operating speed was reduced to 300km/h.

THE Protran Technology unit of Harsco Rail, United States, has won orders from Washington Area Transit Authority (WMATA) and Sacramento Regional Transit District for track worker protection systems to be supplied before the end of the year.

CHENGDU Metro has awarded a €57m contract to Alstom to supply traction equipment for 496 metro cars being built for the 49km Line 5, which is due to open at the end of 2019.

PROGRESS Rail has signed a preliminary agreement with Norfolk Southern (NS) to supply the first Guardian end-of-train (EOT) devices for use on NS freight trains by the end the year.

DYNAMIC testing of the first trains to be delivered for the Doha metro network has begun in Qatar.

ATLANTA City Council approved a statute on September 19 transferring all assets and operations of Atlanta Streetcar to Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (Marta).

VIRGIN Trains East Coast has launched a new smartphone app which enables passengers to bid for last-minute upgrades for first-class seats.

IRISH Rail (IE) published a contract notice in the Official Journal of the European Union on September 19 for the design, supply and safety validation of trackside equipment for its new Train Protection System (TPS).