THE Maryland Board of Public Works has approved a $US 13 million contract with Wabtec subsidiary Wabtec Railway Electronics for the installation of Positive Train Control (PTC) onboard equipment on the Maryland Regional Commuter (Marc) fleet.

CZECH open-access long-distance passenger operator RegioJet is set to expand its transport capacity considerably following the acquisiton of 45 coaches from Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB).

VR Group, Finland, has unveiled the first of 26 IC2 DuettoPlus double-deck dining cars, which are being built by Finnish supplier Transtech at its plant in Otanmäki.

FRANCE's deputy minister of transport, Mr Frédéric Cuvillier, has instructed French National Railways (SNCF) and French Rail Network (RFF) to implement three recommendations to improve track safety made by the Office of Land Transport Accident Inquiries (BEA-TT).

SYDNEY suburban rail operator Sydney Trains has awarded DeltaRail, Britain, a contract to supply an automated wheel and brake monitoring system, which will be deployed at various locations around the network as part of its asset condition monitoring strategy.

DUTCH infrastructure manager ProRail is to equip a further 2800 signals with the so called ATB-vv train protection system, which triggers an automatic brake application if a train passes a danger signal at less than 40km/h.

DELHI Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) launched trial operation on the first completed section of the third phase of the city's metro network on December 30, when secretary of the Indian Ministry of Urban Development Dr Sudhir Krishna and Mr Mangu Singh, chairman of DMRC flagged off the first test train on the 3km Central Seretariat – Mandi House stretch of Line 6.

AUSTRALIAN rolling stock supplier Bradken could face a fine of up to $A 850,000 ($US 756,000) for overseeing the import of two diesel locomotives from CSR Ziyang, China, that were subsequently found to be contaminated with asbestos.

THE BOARD of Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) has voted to award Keolis Commuter Services an eight-year $US 2.68bn contract to operate the 610km commuter rail network around Boston.

LEASING company Alpha trains has acquired 202 rolling stock assets from the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) through its Alpha Trains Luxembourg No 2 subsidiary in a mixed asset and shares transaction, which was concluded last month.