THE first 13-car Talgo 350 train for the 450km Mecca – Medina Haramain high-speed line was loaded onto cargo vessel the Jolly Quarzo at Barcelona docks on the morning of December 11 in readiness for its sea voyage to Saudi Arabia.

BOMBARDIER says that it will not compete in a tender for a contract to supply a new generation of high-speed trains to Amtrak for the Boston – New York – Washington DC Northeast Corridor (NEC), citing changes in the specification for its withdrawal.

TRENITALIA has signed a €250m 10-year contract with AnsaldoBreda to maintain the fleet of 50 Frecciarossa 1000 (ETR 1000) high-speed trains being supplied by a consortium of the Italian manufacturer and Bombardier.

DYNAMIC testing of the first H5 train for the Hokkaido Shinkansen began on December 1, when the 10-car set made a number of runs between Nanae depot and the new Hokuto station in Hakodate, a distance of around 2km.

INTERNATIONAL high-speed services between Spain and France were suspended on November 30 after floodwater inundated the tunnels beneath Girona for the second time in two months.

THALYS is now authorised to operate passenger services on high-speed and conventional lines in France under its own safety certification after the French Railway Safety Board (EPSF) granted the operator a certificate Part B, which demonstrates the operator complies with national safety provisions.

INDIA's ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has selected about 20 railway projects worth Rs 900bn ($US 14.5bn) for domestic or foreign direct private investment, allowing Indian Railways to float global bids shortly.

CHINA Railway Corporation (CRC) will begin a feasibility study early next year of what is billed as the world's longest high speed railway – a 2174km line connecting the Indian capital, New Delhi, with the southern port city of Chennai at an estimated cost of Rs 2 trillion ($US 32.3bn).

SAUDI transport minister Mr Jabara Al-Seraisry confirmed on November 24 that trial operation will begin "early next year" on the first completed section of the 450km Haramain high-speed line from Medina to Jeddah and Mecca.

EUROSTAR announced today at the unveiling of the first of 10 e320 high-speed trains on order from Siemens that it plans to purchase an additional seven trains - the two parties are now negotiating terms for a contract.