TURKEY'S transport minister Mr Binali Yildirim officially launched test operation on the Ankara - Konya high-speed line today in preparation for the opening of the line in March.

A MAJOR acceleration of Helsinki - St Petersburg services took place on Sunday, when Finnish President Mrs Tarja Halonen joined Russian Railways (RZD) president Mr Vladimir Yakunin and Finnish Railways (VR) CEO Mr Mikael Aro to inagurate the new Allegro service between the two cities.

MOROCCAN National Railways (ONCF) has signed a contract with Alstom worth €400 million for the supply of 14 double-deck high-speed trains. The Duplex trains are scheduled to enter service in December 2015 and will operate between Tangiers and Casablanca.

GERMAN Rail (DB) today confirmed it will sell the German subsidiary of Arriva to a consortium of Italian State Railways (FS) and Cube Infrastructure Fund, France, for an undisclosed sum.

IRJ at 7th UIC High Speed Congress, Beijing: China will next year attempt to break the world rail speed record currently held by France, according to a report in the China Daily.

 

IRJ at 7th UIC High Speed Congress, Beijing: Korea is planning to make a significant investment in its rail network over the next ten years according to Mr Huh Joon-Young, CEO of Korail, who told delegates that the Korean government expects to spend $US 88 billion on the network by 2020.

IRJ at 7th UIC High Speed Congress, Beijing: JR East completed the latest phase of the Tohoku Shinkansen on December 4 with the opening of the 82km section from Hachinohe to Shin-Aomori.

A CHINESE passenger train operating during a test run on the new Beijing - Shanghai high-speed line has recorded a Chinese speed record of 486km/h, according to state media reports.

RUSSIAN Railways (RZD) will purchase 1250 locomotives between 2011 and 2013 at a cost of over Roubles 112 billion ($US 3.6 billion).

RUSSIAN Railways (RZD) and the Russian government are heading towards a showdown over the amount of funding the state owned railway will receive for its investment programme in 2012.