WITH 450 days to go before the launch of commercial services, SNCF Voyages CEO Mrs Barbara Dalibard announced the timetable for TGV services on the Bretagne-Pays-de-la-Loire high-speed line on April 8.

THE cost of constructing a 480km high-speed line linking Delhi with the holy city of Amritsar in the state of Punjab is estimated to be around Rs 1100bn ($US 20.8bn), according to a draft final report on the project by a consortium of Systra and Rites, which was submitted to the Indian Railways board last week.

THALYS launched its new Brussels - Paris low-fares TGV service at Brussels Midi station on April 3, when Belgium's federal minister for mobility Mrs Jaqueline Galant, Mr Michel Jadot, head of SNCB Europe, Thalys CEO Mrs Agnés Ogier cut a ceremonial ribbon to mark the departure of the first Izy service to Paris Nord.

HIGH-speed services began operating through the 53.8km Seikan tunnel between the Japanese islands of Honshu and Hokkaido on March 26, with the launch of commercial services on the Hokkaido Shinkansen from Shin-Aomori to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto.

BRITAIN's House of Commons passed the third reading of the High-Speed 2 (HS2) Hybrid Bill on March 23, authorising construction of the 190km line from London to Birmingham and a junction with the West Coast Main Line (WCML) near Lichfield.

HIGH Speed Two Ltd (HS2), which is responsible for implementing Britain's second high-speed line, has appointed a team of consultants to act as its engineering delivery partner for the 190km phase one linking London with Birmingham and Lichfield.

BRITIAN's chancellor of the exchequer Mr George Osborne has allocated funds to advance two new rail projects: High-Speed 3 (HS3) to provide a better link between Manchester and Leeds, and Crossrail 2, a new north-south link through the centre of London.

REPORTING its first results as an integrated railway, French National Railways (SNCF) achieved a 5% increase in revenue from €29.9bn to €31.4bn in 2015, although Ebitda fell 4.6% from €4.6bn to €4.4bn.

THALYS has unveiled plans to launch new low-fares services between Paris and Brussels next month in a bid to draw motorists travelling between the French and Belgian capitals away from their cars and onto high-speed trains.

FRENCH National Railways (SNCF) resumed dynamic testing on the second phase of the LGV Est high-speed line from Baudrecourt to Vendenheim on February 29. It had suspended testing following the accident at Eckwersheim on November 14 2015.