TRANSPORT for London (TfL) says it will award a £260m contract to Bombardier for 45 EMUs for the expanding London Overground rail network. Delivery of the trains will start in 2018.

TRANSPORT for NSW, which operates the Sydney light rail network, is seeking a buyer for its fleet of six Variotram LRVs which are being replaced by new vehicles supplied by CAF, Spain.

Russian Railways (RZD) has awarded Siemens a 40-year maintenance contract for the Lastochka regional trains that Siemens started building in 2013. Negotiations began in 2011 when Siemens was originally commissioned to build the new trains, in an order reportedly worth €2bn.

NETHERLANDS Railways (NS) has exercised an option with Bombardier for 18 additional class 186 Traxx multi-system locomotives, which will be used to operate 160km/h passenger services from Amsterdam to Rotterdam and The Hague via the HSL South high-speed line.

THE Latvian presidency of the European Council reached a provisional deal with the European Parliament on June 17 on the final wording of the three legislative elements of the technical pillar of the Fourth Railway Package.

THREE years after the first train arrived in Italy, the fleet of CAF Civity EMUs ordered by the region of Friuli Venezia Giulia finally entered passenger service with the timetable change on June 14, when three ETR 563 sets were introduced on the Tarvisio - Udine - Trieste route.

TANZANIA has introduced a 1.5% infrastructure development levy on imports to assist the government with raising $US 14.2bn to finance new rail projects and improve existing lines over the next five years.

SAN FRANCISCO Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) unveiled a full-size mock-up of its forthcoming S200 SF LRV on June 16 and confirmed that it has exercised an option with Siemens for 40 additional vehicles.

INDIAN Railways (IR) has launched a tender for a contract worth around Rs 25bn (390m) to supply 315 EMU cars for inter-city services.