SPAIN's high-speed network infrastructure manager Adif AV has announced that it will invite bids for a €342m single 10-year contract to maintain all the telecommunication systems across the entire high-speed rail network.

MEXICO's Ministry of Communications and Transport (SCT) announced on July 27 that it has issued an international invitation to tender for contracts to construct a 210km high-speed line linking Mexico City with Queretaro.

THE prime minister of Turkey, Mr Recep Erdogan, officially opened the 245km Eskişehir – Istanbul section of the 533km Ankara – Istanbul high-speed line on July 25.

SPAIN's high-speed network infrastructure manager, Adif Alta Velocidad, has awarded a €98.6m upgrading and 20-year maintenance contract for a 65km section of the Barcelona – Valencia main line to a consortium led by CAF Signalling.

The European Commission (EC) has agreed to cover half of the cost of a €1.25m feasibility study into the construction of a high-speed line linking Germany and the Czech Republic.

With new high-speed railways being built in areas susceptible to natural disasters, it is imperative that these railways' emergency management strategies minimise the impact of such situations on passenger safety. With Taiwan experiencing one of earth's most volatile environments, Taiwan High Speed Railway Company (THSRC) is striving to do exactly this, as Kevin Smith discovered during a trip to Taipei.

FRANCE's minister of transport, Mr Frédéric Cuvilier, has approved the staging of three public inquires in October related to the so-called Grand Southwest Railway Project (GPSO).

OUTLINING structural reforms for India's rail network by splitting the policy making and operational functions, India's BJP-led NDA government has backed the previous UPA government's initiatives to allow 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the rail sector to fund major projects including high-speed schemes.

THE CEO of French National Railways (SNCF) long-distance subsidiary SNCF Voyages Mrs Barbara Dalibard announced on July 8 that a direct TGV service will be launched between Strasbourg and Brussels following the completion of the second phase of TGV Est in 2016.

PLANS by Amtrak and California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) to purchase a fleet of high-speed trains jointly have been scrapped as the two parties have acknowledged that the specifications differ too greatly.