VIENNA councillor for infrastructure and public services Mrs Ulli Sima joined Wiener Linen CEO Mr Günter Steinbauer and Bombardier Austria CEO Mr Christian Diewald at Bombardier’s Donaustadt plant on October 12 to officially launch production of the new fleet of Flexity low-floor LRVs for the Austrian capital.

BRAZIL’s National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) has agreed to lend Reais 3.5bn ($US 1.1bn) to rail and port operator Rumo Logistics in order to fund part of its 2015-2018 investment programme.

The future of tram services on the 21.7km metre-gauge Thüringerwaldbahn from Gotha to Tabarz is in question after local bus operator Steinbrück offered to provide the same level of service for less than the €2.8m which Thüringerwaldbahn und Strassenbahn Gotha (TWSB) receives annually.

GERMAN Rail (DB) subsidiary S-Bahn Hamburg marked a milestone in the modernisation of its rolling stock fleet on October 10, when the first Bombardier class 490 EMU arrived at Ohlsdorf depot in readiness for the start of testing on the Hamburg S-Bahn network.

THE European Investment Bank (EIB) announced on October 3 that it is lending €50m to the Republic of Moldova to finance the modernisation of its railway infrastructure and rolling stock.

CHINA’s top economic planner the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) gave the go-ahead on October 11 for two new lines in western China, representing a total investment of Yuan 79.5bn ($US 11.8bn).

BANGALORE Metro Rail Corporation has issued an invitation to tender for a contract to lengthen its fleet of 50 three-car trains, which were supplied by a consortium of BEML, Mitsubishi and Hyundai Rotem for the initial phase of the network.

FOLLOWING an international tender, Gothenburg Tramways has awarded a consortium of Bombardier and Vossloh Kiepe a €140m contract to supply 40 Flexity low-floor LRVs.

KEOLIS is set to continue operating bus, light rail and metro networks in Lyon until 2023 after the board of the city’s public transport authority voted unanimously on October 7 to award the incumbent operator a new six-year contract.

A TOTAL of 6.1 million passengers were carried during the first month of operation on the Moscow central ring railway.