CATALONIA Government Railways (FGC) marked the completion of a project to upgrade the Lleida – La Pobla de Segur line on July 24 with the launch of new rolling stock and a significantly improved service on the 89.8km line.

DENVER Regional Transportation District (RTD) celebrated the completion of the second phase of the Eagle public-private partnership (PPP) commuter rail project on July 25 with the inauguration of the 9.7km B Line linking Denver Union station with Westminster.

CUBAN import agency Tradex signed a contract with Sinara Transport Machines, Russia, on July 23 for 75 diesel-hydraulic locomotives for Cuban Union Railways (UFC).

DB Regio has won a three-year contract tendered by Bavarian railway authority BEG to operate services on non-electrified routes south and east of Ulm from this December until the end of 2019, with an option to extend the contract by a year.

MITSUBISHI Heavy Industries is planning to conduct trials in Tokyo this autumn with an improved version of its Dokodemo Door (Anywhere Door) platform screen door system, which is designed for lines where door positions and spacing might vary between different types of rolling stock.

GEORGIAN Railway (GR) launched its new fleet of Stadler Kiss double-deck EMUs on July 25, when the first two trains were introduced on express services from Tbilisi to the Black Sea resorts of Batumi, Kobuleti, and Ureki.

ISRAEL Railways has invited bids by November 11 for a five-year contract, extendable up to 10 years, to design, install and maintain a GSM-R telecommunications system on its 800km network.

BRAZIL’s National Land Transport Agency (ANTT) has awarded two consortia contracts to carry out feasibility studies for a commuter rail link running south from the capital Brasilia to Luziânia in the state of Goiás.

TRANSPORTNAYA Koncessionnaya Kompanya (TKK), a consortium of Lider Group and LSR Group which was awarded a 30-year build-operate-transfer concession earlier this year to develop a fast tram network serving the Krasnogvardeyskiy district of St Petersburg, has selected Stadler Minsk as preferred bidder for a contract to supply to 23 low-floor LRVs for the project.