CHINA's top economic planner the National Development and Reform Commission has given the go-ahead for a high-speed line linking Jiaozuo near Zhengzhou in Henan province with Taiyuan, the provincial capital of neighbouring Shanxi.

THE French Ministry of the Environment, Energy, and the Sea confirmed on May 25 that the Council of State of has approved a draft decree granting public utility status for the €8.3bn Grand Southwestern Railway Project (GPSO), which will extend TGV Sud-Europ Atlantique from Bordeaux to Toulouse with a branch to Dax.

KOREA's national train operator Korail has selected Hyundai Rotem to supply a fleet of 30 HEMU-250 trains for operation on the new Gyeongjeon line to Masan in the south of the country in 2020.

The Turkish government is investing heavily in its railway as it aims to deliver a modern network by 2023. Turkish State Railways (TCDD) is inevitably playing a critical role in delivering various projects and TCDD's assistant general director Ismail Murtazaoglu met Kevin Smith in Ankara to discuss progress so far.

THE prime minister of Malaysia Mr Najib Razak confirmed on May 17 that he expects to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with his Singaporean counterpart Mr Lee Hsien Loong in July setting out conditions for the financing, construction, and operation of the 330km Kuala Lumpur - Singapore high-speed line.

FOUR companies will finally compete for a framework contract to supply and maintain a fleet of up to 30 very high-speed trains in the first open tender launched by Spanish national train operator Renfe in more than a decade.

ACCORDING to Spain's minister of public works, Mrs Ana Pastor, Saudi Arabia has granted the Spanish-Saudi Al-Shoula consortium an extra 14 months to complete the Haramain high-speed project.

CONSTRUCTION of Britain's National College for High Speed Rail commenced on May 9 following groundbreaking ceremonies held at sites in Doncaster and Birmingham.

INTERNATIONAL passenger services between Spain and France will be "guaranteed" despite the critical financial situation of the high-speed line's concessionaire, according to Spain's minister of development and public works, Mrs Ana Pastor.