BRITAIN's National Audit Office (NAO) says the government's decision to sell its 40% stake and preference share in cross-Channel high-speed operator Eurostar in March was primarily driven by its desire to complete the sale before national elections in May rather than wait for a forecast increase in the share price in 2016.

Italian State Railways (FS) is pushing the boundaries of ERTMS to raise line speeds on its high-speed network, increase capacity in the major cities, improve interoperability for freight, reduce the cost of running rural lines to save them from closure, and make better use of the data produced by ERTMS. As Fabio Senesi, head of control and command systems and telecommunications with Italian Rail Network, explains to David Briginshaw, in many cases this means developing solutions ahead of anyone else.

THE municipal government of Zhangjiakou in China's northern Hebei province announced on November 3 that China's National Development and Reform Commission has approved the construction of the Yuan 58.4bn ($US 9.2bn) Beijing North - Zhangjiakou high-speed line, a key component of the transport infrastructure for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games and Paralympics, which will be hosted by the Chinese capital.

EUROSTAR moved an important step closer to the launch of its Siemens e320 Velaro (class 374) high-speed trains on October 16, when the French Railway Safety Board (EPSF) granted an authorisation to place into service (APS) enabling the fleet to operate commercially in France.

ITALY's open-access high-speed operator NTV has awarded a €460m contract to Alstom for the supply and maintenance for 20 years of a fleet of eight Pendolino tilting high-speed trains.

DUTCH secretary of state for infrastructure Mrs Wilma Mansveld resigned on October 28 following the publication of a report into the Fyra high-speed fiasco, which places the blame for the debacle squarely with various current and former government ministers as well as Netherlands Railways (NS) and Belgian National Railways (SNCB).

CENTRAL Japan Railway Company (JR Central) confirmed on October 22 that it will receive a further 20 N700A series Shinkansen trains between fiscal 2016 and fiscal 2019 to replace the last of its remaining 700 series sets, which will be withdrawn by the end of the decade.

TEXAS Central Partners has signed a $US 130m contract with Dallas to Houston Constructors (DHC), a joint venture between Archer Western Construction and Ferrovial Agroman to carry out engineering and pre-construction work on the proposed 385km Dallas - Houston high-speed line.

CHINA Railway International signed a contract with a consortium of Indonesian companies on October 16 to build a new 160km railway between Jakarta and Bandung which will accommodate speeds of up to 250km/h.

FOLLOWING a campaign by Puglia regional president Mr Michele Emiliano and the local media, Trenitalia has confirmed that it will extend its Milan - Bologna - Bari Frecciarossa service launched in September to Lecce.