SALES for the Vossloh Group increased by 8.7% to €319.8m for the first three months of 2015. With strong growth in non-European markets, sales grew particularly strongly outside Europe and now account for 42.5% of total sales compared with 34.9% in the first quarter of 2014.

THE government of Australia's Northern Territory (NT) will contribute $A 1m from its 2015 budget towards feasibility studies into a new 600km line to link mines in Mount Isa in northwest Queensland with Tennant Creek on the existing Adelaide - Darwin line.

ABELLIO's German subsidiary Abellio Rail NRW has published a tender request in the Official Journal of the European Union for new EMUs for regional services.

CHINA Railway Corporation (CRC) has awarded a contract worth around €70m to Vossloh Fastening Systems China for high-speed fastenings for installation on the final section of the Beijing - Harbin high-speed line which is currently under construction.

INDONESIAN officials say construction of a new 143km line from Makassar to Parepare in South Sulawesi will begin this July once land acquisition is complete.

FINLAND's weak economy was the major factor in a fall in demand for long-distance VR Group services and group revenue in the first quarter of 2015, although overall rail journeys increased by 0.5% following a rise in demand for commuter and mass transit services.

THE status of National Express as preferred bidder for two contracts to operate the Nuremberg S-Bahn network appears to be in doubt after Southern Bavaria's procuremnt office (VBS) ruled on April 27 that the Bavarian Railway Authority (BEG) must exclude the company from the tendering process.

THE FIRST of 22 Alstom Metropolis trains for the Los Teques metro has left the French port of Le Havre on its three-week sea voyage to Venezuela.

FORTH WORTH Transportation Authority board of directors has approved a decision to award Stadler a contract to supply eight DMUs for the 43.5km Tex Rail commuter rail line, which will link Fort Worth city centre with Grapevine and Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) Airport Terminal B.

THE first of 32 EMUs being supplied to Croatian Railways (HŽ) by Končar, Croatia has entered passenger service on the lines from Zagreb to Koprivnica and Sunja.