MERMEC, Italy, announced at the WCRR congress in Milan that it has been awarded a €100m 10-year contract by the Finnish Transport Agency (Liikennevirasto) for the inspection and monitoring of Finland's 5960km 1524mm-gauge railway network.

SWITZERLAND's metre-gauge Rhaetian Railway (RhB) has introduced the first of six sets of seven-car locomotive-hauled coaches into public service.

THE Gotthard Base Tunnel was inaugurated by the president of the Swiss Federation Mr Johann Schneider-Ammann and federal transport minister Mrs Doris Leuthard on June 1 with simultaneous ceremonies at the northern and southern portals of the world's longest main line railway tunnel.

CASA Transport has awarded Yapi Merkezi, Turkey, a €83m contract to construct the 14.6km Line 2 of the Casablanca light rail network following an international tender in which four other groups participated.

BRAUNSCHWEIG Transport (BSVAG) has issued a tender for nine LRVs for delivery by 2019 to be funded largely by the state of Lower Saxony.

IRJ at WCRR 2016, Milan: Leading Italian railway officials have called on the railway industry to better promote its sustainable credentials in order for rail to secure its place as the backbone of transport in the future.

THE first of 26 LRVs of two types being built by Stadler for Aarhus Letbanen, Denmark, has been completed and will arrive in Denmark for testing at the end of the summer.

MR Oleg Valinskiy, vice-president of Russian Railway (RZD), says that RZD will complete the modernisation of the 1067mm-gauge railway on Sakhalin island and its conversion to 1520mm gauge in 2018.

THE Chinese city of Dongguan, which has a population of 8.2 million, started trial operation on its first metro line on May 27 following the approval of the municipal government.