An agreement was ratified last month between Saudi Arabia and the Al Shoula consortium responsible for equipping and operating the Haramain high-speed line for a phased opening. IRJ’s Spanish regional editor Ferran Torga explains why the opening is later than envisaged and the challenges the world’s first desert high-speed railway will face.

SINGAPORE’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced on February 8 that it has appointed Aecom Singapore to conduct the advanced engineering study (AES) for the design of infrastructure on the Singaporean section of the Kuala Lumpur - Singapore high-speed line.

BRITAIN’s second high-speed rail venture HS2 took a step forward on February 9 as it confirmed that contracts will be awarded to CH2M, Arup, an Aecom/Capita/Ineco joint venture, and a Mott MacDonald/WSP joint venture to help progress the design of Phase 2B from Crewe to Manchester and Lichfield to Leeds.

THE Bretagne-Pays de la Loire high-speed line moved another step closer to the start of operations at the end of January, when TGVs reached the maximum testing speed of 352km/h.

THE prime ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania met in Tallinn on January 31 to sign an agreement on the implementation of the Rail Baltica standard-gauge link between the three countries.

THE French Senate adopted a bill on January 26 ratifying the agreement between the French and Italian governments to build the €26.1bn Lyon - Turin high-speed line.

A new fares concept offering 16-27-years olds almost unlimited travel on TGV and inter-city services was unveiled on January 25 by Mrs Rachel Picard, CEO of Voyages SNCF.

PASSENGER numbers on high-speed services in Spain rose by 5.4% to reach a record 35.21 million in 2016, according to annual ridership figures published by national train operator Renfe on January 18.

PROCUREMENT of a fleet of up to 60 trains for High Speed 2 (HS2) will be officially launched today by Britain’s secretary of state for transport Mr Chris Grayling.

A new opening date for the Haramain high-speed project, announced last November, was ratified on January 16 during a visit to Saudi Arabia by a Spanish delegation led by Spain’s King Felipe VI when Saudi authorities agreed to extend the delivery deadline by 14 months until March 2018 and to acknowledge €150m in cost overruns.