THE Iranian city of Shiraz extended its first metro line on April 20 with the inauguration of the 3km southern section of Line 1 between Namazi and Zandiyeh.

ALSTOM presented the first of three Lint 54 DMUs for German regional railway Rurtalbahn to Düren district administrator Mr Wolfgang Spelthahn on April 24.

FRENCH National Railways (SNCF) announced on April 25 that it is bidding jointly with Virgin and Stagecoach for Britain’s West Coast Partnership (WCP) franchise, which encompasses inter-city services on the West Coast Main Line and the initial phase of operations on High-Speed 2 (HS2).

STADLER confirmed on April 24 that it has finalised a SFr 232m ($US 233m) contract with Stockholm County Council for 22 EMUs for the 891mm-gauge Roslagsbanan, which links Stockholm with districts to the north and east of the city.

REVENUES at Russian Railways (RZD) increased by 7.1% to reach Roubles 2.133 trillion ($US 38.08bn) in 2016 helping the company’s Ebidta to soar by 15.4% to Roubles 443bn and net profit to increase from Roubles 8bn in 2015 to Roubles 10bn last year.

HELSINKI City Transport (HKL) announced on April 24 that three consortia have prequalified for a tender to design and build the Raide-Jokeri light rail line between Helsinki and the neighbouring city of Espoo.

CHINA Railway Corporation (CRC) says that itself and railway authorities from Belarus, Germany, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Poland and Russia have signed an agreement to deepen their levels of cooperation on China-Europe intermodal rail freight services.

THALYS has marked the first anniversary of its Izy low-fares services between Paris and Brussels by announcing plans to increase capacity and adjust its operating model to “ensure economic robustness.”

THE Norwegian city of Bergen marked the completion of the third phase of its light rail network on April 21 with the inauguration of the 2.2km section from Birkelandsskiftet to Bergen Airport.

SNC-LAVALIN announced on April 20 that it has reached an agreement with WS Atkins to acquire the company’s entire share capital at £20.80 per share, representing an aggregate cash consideration of £2.1bn.