THE mayor of Bogota Mr Enrique Peñalosa announced on April 4 that tendering will begin next year for the construction of the first metro line in the Colombian capital, although the specification for the project has been scaled back from previous proposals.

RHAETIAN Railway (RhB), Switzerland's largest metre-gauge operator, remained profitable in the 2015 financial year despite falling passenger numbers and challenging economic conditions.

COMPETITION continues to erode German Rail's dominance of the German regional rail market, according to a report published in March by German Federation of Regional Passenger Rail Authorities (BAG-SPNV).

THE first of eight Vossloh electro-diesel Citylink tram-trains ordered by Mid-Saxony transport authority VMS entered service in the Chemnitz area on April 4. Initially the vehicles are only operating on DB Network infrastructure as BoStrab certification for use on the CVAG-owned Chemnitz city tram network has not yet been completed.

THE Finnish government has agreed to fund 70% of a €250m project to build a 23km light rail line in Tampere, leaving the city to fund the remaining 30%.

LEASING company Alpha Trains announced on March 31 that it has acquired 89 Alstom regional multiple units from Société Anonyme de Crédit à l'Industrie Francaise and SNC Vindelica, two indirectly-owned subsidiaries of Société Générale, for an undisclosed sum.

MILAN Transport (ATM) announced on March 29 that it will exercise an option with Hitachi Rail Italy (formerly AnsaldoBreda) for 15 additional Leonardo trains for metro Line M2.

SERBIAN Railways (ŽS) restored freight services on the newly-modernised Mala Krsna - Velika Plana line south of Belgrade on April 1 to accommodate traffic diverted from the Serbian section of the Belgrade - Bar (Montenegro) line, which is currently closed due to landslides between Ražane and Kosjerića.

FIVE public transport associations have sent an open letter to the Dutch minister of infrastructure and the environment, Mrs Melanie Schultz van Haegen-Maas Geesteranus, urging her to include rail and public transport on the agenda of a meeting of European Union transport and environment ministers.

EGYPTIAN National Railways (ENR) has awarded a contract to Siemens to resignal the main line from Benha, on the Cairo - Alexandria main line, via Zagazig to Port Said, and line from Zagazig to Abu Kebir, in the northeast of the country.