THE US federal government has unveiled new proposals which it hopes will spur private investment in public transport.

PRASARANA Malaysia has awarded a Ringgits 1.56bn ($US 360m) contract to supply 42 driverless trains for Kuala Lumpur metro Line LRT3 to a consortium of CRRC Zhuzhou, Siemens China, and Malaysian partner Tegap Dinamik.

THE first of 62 Bombardier Traxx AC locomotives for Israel Railways (IR) was loaded onto the Normed Antwerpen at the port of Bremen on July 31 in readiness for the first leg of its sea voyage to Israel.

IRJ is pleased to announce the promotion of Keith Barrow from associate editor to senior editor and Kevin Smith from features editor to managing editor with effect from August 1.

ALPTRANSIT Gotthard announced on July 28 that installation of railway infrastructure has begun in the 15.4km Ceneri Base Tunnel between Camorino and Vezia in southern Switzerland.

ALSTOM has delivered the first of 60 Citadis X05 LRVs to Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW) in Sydney, as part of the CBD and South East Light Rail project.

KOSOVO’s national train operation Trainkos announced on July 31 that it will withdraw all services on two of its three passenger routes with effect from August 3 because it lacks the financial means to continue operations.

FRENCH National Railways (SNCF) has turned a 2016 first half loss of €159m into a profit of €119m for the first half of 2017 thanks to a 3.7% increase in first half turnover, which rose from €16bn in 2016 to €16.6bn in 2017.

NETWORK Rail (NR) has announced a series of “sweeping reforms,” which will enable the private sector to play a more active role in delivering major infrastructure projects.

BAVARIAN minister of transport Mr Joachim Herrmann and Czech transport minister Mr Dan Ťok announced on July 26 that Munich - Prague services will almost double in frequency from December, with aspirations to reduce the journey time from six hours to less than four hours by 2030.