THE first train for Taipei’s metro Circular Line emerged from Hitachi Rail Italy’s Reggio Calabria plant on August 30.

DALLAS Area Rapid Transit (DART) opened a 1.5km second phase of its Dallas Streetcar line on August 29, reaching Bishop Arts District via Zang Boulevard at 6th Street and a stop between Davis and 7th streets (Bishop Arts).

THE mayor of Samsun Mr Yusuf Yilmaz opened the latest phase of the Turkish city’s light rail network on August 26, when he made an inaugural trip over the southeastern extension from the city’s main line station (Gar) to Balikçi.

THE first of 70 class 385 regional EMUs for ScotRail was delivered to the VUZ Velim test track in the Czech Republic on August 26 after completing its journey from Hitachi’s Kasado plant in Japan.

JAPAN’s Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) announced on August 24 that its pre-series Dual Energy Charge Train (Dencha) battery-assisted EMU will enter revenue service on the 11km Orio - Wakamatsu section of the Chikuho Line on October 19.

TRANSMASHHOLDING (TMH) has set up a Hungarian subsidiary, Transzmasholding Hungary, with the aim of establishing a joint venture with local manufacturer Dunakeszi Járműjavító, the operator of a former Bombardier plant which is currently assembling trams for CAF.

UKRAINE’s second-largest city Kharkiv added a 30th station to its metro network on August 25 with the launch of passenger services on the northern extension of Line 3 from Oleksiivska to Peremoha.

AMTRAK announced on August 26 that it has awarded Alstom a contract to supply 28 high-speed trains for the Washington DC - New York - Boston Northeast Corridor (NEC), which will replace the existing Acela fleet and provide additional capacity on the 730km route.

HUBER & Suhner announced on August 15 that it signed a five-year contract with Bombardier to be its main cable supplier.

TRANSPORTNAYA Koncessionnaya Kompanya (TKK), a consortium of Lider Group and LSR Group, in St Petersburg, Russia, has placed an order with Stadler for 23 Metelitsa trams. The first six vehicles are due to handed over in July 2017.