WITH the prospect of competition from a new operator looming, German Rail (DB) announced on June 24 that it plans to expand the Sylt Shuttle car-carrying service on the 39.3km line between Niebüll in the northern state of Schleswig Holstein and Westerland on the island of Sylt.

MITSUBISHI Electric has completed the installation of all-silicon carbide (SiC) power modules on an N700 Shinkansen train which JR Central has started to test.

THE Asian Development Bank (ADB) plans to provide about $US 6bn to help fund road, rail and regional connectivity projects in Bangladesh.

THE Dutch secretary of state for infrastructure Mrs Wilma Mansveld, who is responsible for railway affairs, informed parliament on June 25 of irregularities by the national infrastructure manager Prorail in the awarding of track maintenance contracts.

THE governor of the Brazilian state of São Paulo, Mr Geraldo Alckmin, signed a 20-year public-private partnership concession with BR Mobilidade Baixada Santista consortium on June 23 to operate the new light rail line and buses in Santos.

AN agreement has been reached between the German state of Saxony and German Rail (DB) regarding a plan to electrify the 103km Dresden – Bautzen - Görlitz - Polish border line, with €3m allocated for initial planning.

THE first InterPanter five-car EMU built by Škoda Transportation was presented to Czech Railways (ČD) at the Velim test circuit on June 25.

TOKYO Metro and Tobu Railway have decided to have a common design of train which will be introduced on their two networks between 2016 and 2019.

SIR Peter Hendy, London's transport commissioner, has been appointed chairman of Network Rail (NR) and told to review its five-year £38bn investment programme which is running over budget with some projects delayed.

THE Indian government's Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the prime minister Mr Narendra Modi, has approved a revised cost estimate for the Eastern and Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) projects of Rs. 814.6bn ($US 12.8bn).