BAVARIAN Railway Authority (BEG) has published a tender notice in the Official Journal of the European Union for a contract to operate the Nuremberg Diesel Network regional concession for 12 years from December 2018.

FIRST Capital Connect has been awarded a six-month extension to its Thameslink franchise while Britain's Department for Transport (DfT) assesses the bids from five companies for a new larger franchise which is due to start in September.

WAGON leasor, VTG, has initiated a pilot project to fit low-noise LL brake blocks to tank wagons used by chemical company Evonik Industries to collate data on the brake's kilometric performance and maintenance requirements.

THE Bolivian Ministry of Public Works, Services and Housing has awarded a consortium of Acciona Ingenieria, Spain, and CPM a contract worth around $US 10.5m to supervise construction of the 205km Montero - Bulo Bulo line.

RUSSIAN Railways (RZD) announced on February 11 that it plans to continue the modernisation of its motive power fleet this year with the acquisition of 629 new locomotives at a total cost of Roubles 76.1bn ($US 2.17bn).

INTERNATIONAL high-speed operator Thalys saw revenues and ridership climb on its services from Paris to Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands in 2013 as the withdrawal of Fyra services brought an unexpected increase in traffic between Brussels and Amsterdam.

MONTREAL's Metropolitan Transportation Agency (AMT) has signed an agreement to acquire the electrified Deux-Montagnes commuter line from Canadian National (CN) for an undisclosed sum.

COLOGNE Transport Authority (KVB) and Düsseldorf's Rheinbahn have issued a joint invitation to tender for a contract to supply 66 high-floor LRVs with an option for 12 additional vehicles.

FRENCH National Railways (SNCF) managed to achieve a 0.5% increase in turnover to €32.2bn and a 2% rise in Ebitda to €2.8bn in 2013 despite a 1.8% drop in revenue from its Geodis freight business and a 1.4% decline in income from TGV services.

THE FIRST of three class DP3 three-car dmus being supplied by Pesa, Poland, to Belarus Railways (BC) arrived in Belarus on February 11.