CALGARY Transit's new fleet of Siemens S200 high-floor LRVs entered passenger service on the city's CTrain light rail network on July 5 in time for the annual Calgary Stampede.

AFTER several false starts, Argentina's Ministry of Transport confirmed on July 4 that work on a project to replace the surface alignment of the Sarmiento Line in Buenos Aires with a 22.4km tunnel will resume in September.

GERMANY's federal council laid the legislative foundations to strengthen urban and regional rail services at its sitting on July 8. This follows the approval of a legislative package by the Bundestag on July 7.

LÄNSIMETRO, the public company managing construction of Helsinki's West Metro announced on July 1 that the opening of the 14km extension from Ruoholahti to Matinkylä in Espoo, originally scheduled for next month, will be pushed back.

THE European Commission Directorate General for Competition confirmed on July 6 that its officials carried out a number of unannounced inspections at the offices of passenger rail operators on June 28 as part of an investigation into anti-competitive practices.

THE board of Californian commuter rail operator Caltrain has approved contracts with a total value of $US 1.25bn for the electrification of the San Francisco - San Jose line, together with a new fleet of electric trains for the 82km route.

Over 700 employees attended a ceremony to mark the rollout of the 1000th locomotive from GE Manufacturing Solutions' plant in Fort Worth, Texas, on July 7, three-and-a-half years after the start of production at the facility.

SINGAPORE metro operator SMRT is shipping 26 of its 35 new C151A trains back to Chinese manufacturer CRRC Sifang for rectification after structural defects were discovered on the six-car sets.

RHINE-Ruhr Transport Authority (VRR) announced on July 7 that it has selected Abellio and Keolis for two contracts to operate Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn and regional services from December 2019.

PROPOSALS for major alterations to the route of the second phase of the high-speed network linking London with central and northern England were unveiled on July 7 by the chairman of HS2 Ltd Sir David Higgins.