ITALY’s Interministerial Committee for Economic Planning (Cipe) granted definitive project approval on July 10 for the €2.5bn Brescia - Verona high-speed line.
CHINA Railway Corporation’s (CRC) new fleet of CRH2E high-speed sleeper trains entered passenger service on the Beijing - Shanghai route on July 1.
THAILAND’s National Environment Board (NEB) has approved the first phase of the Bangkok - Chiang Mai high-speed line, after an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
EAST Japan Railway (JR East) has announced plans to build a 360km/h test train by spring 2019 as the basis for a new fleet of E956 10-car trains to be introduced in time for the opening of the Hokkaido Shinkansen to Sapporo in 2030.
RUSSIA’s state appraisals company, the Glavgosexpertiza, has approved design documentation for the third and fourth construction phases of the proposed Moscow - Kazan high-speed line.
RB Rail, the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian joint venture responsible for implementing the Rail Baltica standard-gauge high-speed project, has awarded a €563,065 contract to Systra to develop design guidelines for the project.
NEARLY 400 people representing 165 companies from around the world attended a briefing on July 5 on the planned Kuala Lumpur – Singapore high-speed rail project covering tender parameters, procurement processes and harmonisation of regulatory requirements for the upcoming Assets Company (AssetsCo) tender.
THE Lithuanian Ministry of Transportation and Communications and RB Rail have has awarded a contract to Spanish group Ardanuy Ingenieria to conduct a feasibility study for the upgrading of the Polish/Lithuanian border - Kaunas - RRT Palemonas line, which will form part of the planned Rail Baltica high-speed project.
STADLER’s EC250 Giruno high-speed train travelled through the Gotthard Base Tunnel for the first time on July 2, and the Giruno steps up its high-speed testingon the Velim test circuit in the Czech Republic.
FRENCH National Railways (SNCF) officially opened two extensions to its TGV Atlantique network on July 1: TGV Océane from Tours to Bordeaux and TGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire from Le Mans to Rennes.
