GERMAN Rail (DB) has completed the first phase of upgrading the Berlin – Rostock main line, and from June 15 journey times will be cut from 2h 54min to 1h 59min by ICE.

SPAIN's infrastructure manager, Adif, has awarded a €339m contract to a consortium led by Alstom and including Bombardier and Indra to install ETCS Level 2 signalling on two high-speed lines under construction in northwest Spain.

BRITAIN's infrastructure manager, Network Rail (NR), has for the first time granted access rights to an open-access passenger operator without being forced to provide paths by the Office for Rail Regulation (ORR).

ARGENTINA's minister of the interior and transport Mr Floriencio Randazzo inspected one of the first new suburban EMUs for Buenos Aires' Sarmiento Line during nocturnal testing on June 6.

AZERBAIJAN Railways (ADY) signed a $US 133m contract with Stadler Rail, Switzerland, on June 12 for 27 sleeper and three dining coaches for use on international services from Baku to Istanbul via the Baku – Tbilisi – Kars line, which is due to open next year.

COPENHAGEN metro authority Metroselskabet has awarded the first contract for construction works on the 3km Nordhavn line, which will branch off the Cityring circle line near Østerport.

BERLIN Transport (BVG) confirmed on June 10 that Stadler Pankow has completed the production of bodyshells for the first of a new-generation of trains for the city's narrow profile U-Bahn lines.

THE Catalonian autonomous government has confirmed its intention to open a second section of its ambitious Barcelona Line 9/Line 10 metro project in the first half of 2016, connecting the south of the city with the two terminals at El Prat Airport.

LIMITED public services began on the first phase of the metro network in Salvador, Brazil, on June 11, just two days before the city is due to host its first fixture in the 2014 football World Cup.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held in Paris on June 11 to mark the official start of construction on the 5.8km northern extension of Line 14 from St Lazare to Mairie de Saint Ouen.