POLISH long-distance operator PKP Intercity launched its new EIC Premium services on December 14, marking the entry into passenger service of its Alstom ED250 Pendolino EMUs.

UKRANIAN Railways (UZ) launched a new 160km/h daily service on December 12 from Kiev to Krivoy Rog, a city with a population of 700,000 in the Dnepropetrovsk region.

THE extension of the Salzburg Local Railway (SLB) from Trimmelkam to Ostermeithing was inaugurated on December 12 by the deputy governor of Upper Austria Mr Reinhold Entholzer and Salzburg provincial minister for transport and infrastructure Mr Hans Mayr.

BRITAIN's Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) has launched a trial of a new onboard rail adhesion measuring system in collaboration with Balfour Beatty Rail and South West Trains (SWT).

THE first 13-car Talgo 350 train for the 450km Mecca – Medina Haramain high-speed line was loaded onto cargo vessel the Jolly Quarzo at Barcelona docks on the morning of December 11 in readiness for its sea voyage to Saudi Arabia.

THE Port Authority of New York & New Jersey has awarded a three-year, $US 6m contract to HNTB to carry out studies on the proposed Port Authority Trans-Hudson (Path) metro extension from Newark Penn Station to Newark Liberty International Airport.

AN update on plans to establish regular-interval all-day services on commuter rail lines in southern Ontario was presented at the meeting of Toronto and Hamilton regional transport authority Metrolinx board of directors on December 11.

DUTCH secretary of state for infrastructure Mrs Wilma Mansveld has announced that the government will grant €200m to South Holland to extend the R-Net network of high-quality public transport services around the Randstad conurbation.

DEDICATED Freight Corridor Corporation (DFCC) finance director Mr M K Mittal and World Bank country director for India Mr Onno Ruhl signed a $US 1.1bn loan agreement in Delhi on December 11, which will finance the 393km second phase of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) between Bhaupur and Mughalsarai in Uttar Pradesh.

FINMECCANICA CEO Mr Mauro Moretti has invited bidders to submit binding offers within the next few days for the acquisition of AnsaldoBreda and its 40% stake in Ansaldo STS, according to reports in the Italian financial press.