A ceremony was held in Chemnitz on October 1 to mark the completion of the first phase of the Chemnitzer-Modell tram-train network.

JAPAN International Cooperation Agency (Jica) signed an agreement with the government of Thailand on September 30 for the loan of up to Yen 166.9bn ($US 1.6bn) for the construction of the metre-gauge Red Line in Bangkok.

GERMAN Rail (DB) has confirmed to IRJ that it has placed an order with Bombardier for a further eight class 245 Traxx ME multi-engine diesel-electric locomotives, supplementing the fleet of 27 units already in service.

SLOVAKIAN national passenger operator ZSSK has confirmed it is planning to reinstate inter-city services between the capital Bratislava and the country’s second-largest city Košice from December 11.

TRANSPORT ministers from Germany’s federal states have backed plans to introduce 740m-long freight trains across the German rail network at a summit held in Stuttgart on October 6.

THE Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) released a combined statement of issues on October 6 on alternative proposals from Aurizon and Pacific National to acquire Glencore Coal’s Hunter Valley rail business.

KAZAKHSTAN’s Ministry for Investment and Development announced on September 29 that the government has prepared a draft resolution for the separation of Kazakhstan State Railways (KTZ) into infrastructure and operating companies.

ISTANBUL has moved a step closer to its target of completing 400km of metro line by 2019 with the opening of the 4.5km extension of Line M4 from Kartal to Kaynarca.

CAF began testing the first Trenitalia class 402A locomotive for future push-pull 200km/h inter-city services at the Velim test circuit in the Czech Republic on October 1.

AUSTRIAN Federal Railways (ÖBB) and German Railways (DB) presented their respective overnight train concepts for Germany on October 7, which will come into effect at the timetable change on December 11.