PLANS for International Railway Summit 2015, IRJ's first conference being staged in Barcelona next month in cooperation with IRITS, are now being finalised with an impressive line-up of senior figures from the railway industry agreeing to take part at the event.

SWEDISH national passenger operator SJ has revealed plans for major improvements on the Stockholm – Oslo route with the reintroduction of X2000 tilting trains, an increase in frequency, and dramatically improved journey times.

THE Philippine Department of Transport and Communications (DOTC) announced on January 27 that it has awarded Philippine construction company DM Consunji (DMCI) a Pesos 2.27bn ($US 50m) contract to build the 3.9km elevated section of the 4.2km eastern extension of light metro line LRT2.

TENERIFE welcomed the 100-millionth passenger to the island's 15.1km light rail network on January 22, seven-and-a-half years after the opening of the first line.

RUSSIAN airport express operator Aeroexpress has announced it will withdraw its operations in the cities of Kazan and Vladivostok to focus solely on serving the three main airports in the Moscow region.

NORFOLK Southern (NS) announced its annual results on January 26, revealing record revenues for the fourth consecutive year despite a continued downturn in the coal business.

BORDEAUX added another 6.4km to its expanding light rail network on January 24, when the city's mayor Mr Alain Juppé inaugurated two extensions in the north and west of the city.

IRISH Rail (IE) has confirmed it is developing proposals for a direct rail link to Dublin Airport, which would be served by direct Intercity services to Cork, Galway, and Belfast.

MTR Corporation has awarded a consortium of Thales and Alstom a €330m contract to supply and install Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) on the Hong Kong metro network.