SWITZERLAND’s Federal Transport Office (BAV) confirmed on April 10 that it has issued a construction permit for the Limmattalbahn, a 13.4km light rail line linking Zürich-Altstetten main line station with Killwangen-Spreitenbach in the neighbouring canton of Aargau.

TRANSMASHHOLDING (TMH), Russia, says it increased turnover by 22% in 2016 to Roubles 120bn ($US 2bn) thanks mainly to strong growth in the sale of passenger vehicles.

THE new Abellio regional cross-border train service between Düsseldorf main station, Germany, and Arnhem Central, Netherlands, began operating on April 6.

THE president of Indonesia, Mr Joko Widodo, attended a ground-breaking ceremony on April 8 to mark the start of construction of a rail link in Central Java from Surakarta (also known as Solo and president Widodo’s birthplace) to Adi Sumarmo International Airport.

LONDON-based Pamplona Capital Management has agreed to sell British rolling stock leasing company Beacon Rail Leasing to JP Morgan Asset Management for £855m, less than three years after it acquired the company.

THE government of the Australian state of Victoria has announced that final bids for the $A 6bn ($US 4.5bn) Melbourne Metro tunnel and stations public private partnership (PPP) have been received and are being assessed by the Melbourne Metro Rail Authority (MMRA).

BILBAO’s third metro line was inaugurated on April 8 by the president of the Basque government, Mr Iñigo Urkull, and the deputy general of the provincial council of Biscay Mr Unai Rementeria.

KOREA’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (Molit) announced on April 4 that it is moving ahead with plans to build Seoul's next generation city-wide urban rail network, the Great Train eXpress (GTX).

LONDON Underground (LU), Britain, has awarded a contract for 71 engineering wagons to Chinese rolling stock manufacturer CRRC Corporation.

AMSTERDAM’s North-South Line moved a step closer to opening on April 6 with the first full-speed test run on the 9.8km metro line, which will connect Amsterdam North, Central Station and the city’s historic centre and with the business district in the south of the capital