BRITAIN's chancellor of the exchequer Mr George Osborne has called for the construction of a third high-speed line between Manchester and Leeds as part of a plan to create a "northern powerhouse" stretching from Liverpool to Sheffield and Hull.

THE governments of Britain and China this week signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on rail, paving the way for closer cooperation in railway design, engineering, construction, supply, operation and maintenance, which could include work on Britain's High Speed 2 (HS2) project.

THE Spanish Government last week confirmed details of its plans for the initial opening of the long distance passenger rail market, announcing that a single company will be allowed to compete against Renfe on a single group of lines for at least seven years. After this period, only those specific lines will be fully-opened to competition.

INDIA's new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has outlined ambitious plans to build a series of high-speed rail corridors connecting major metropolitan centres during the next 10 years - the so-called "Diamond Quadrilateral" programme.

TEST operation began on the first section of high-speed line in China's Xinjiang Uygar Autonomous Region on June 4 with the start of trials on the 300km Urumqi – Shanshan section of the Urumqi – Lanzhou high-speed line.

TAIWAN's Ministry of Transportation and Communications has proposed a radical financial restructuring of Taiwan High Speed Railway Corporation (THSRC) which it says will help the company overcome its continuing struggle with debt and avoid bankruptcy.

The first section of the $US 8bn 2750km North-South Railway has been in operation since 2011. Commissioning of the rest of the railway will start next year, and as David Briginshaw reports, Saudi Railway Company is already turning its attention to its next big rail project, the 950km Landbridge.

Saudi Railways Organisation has a lot on its plate. It is upgrading its existing railway in the east of Saudi Arabia, overseeing the construction of the Haramain high-speed line in the west, and developing plans for a second high-speed line and the Saudi part of the Gulf Railway. David Briginshaw visited SRO's headquarters in Dammam to find out how the work is progressing.

NETHERLANDS Railways (NS) is to rebrand its NS Hispeed operations NS International from June 15 as the operator seeks to restore the image of its high-speed operations following the Fyra crisis.

THE Egyptian Ministry of Transport has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for a contract to carry out a commercial feasibility study for the proposed 1087km Alexandria – Cairo – Luxor – Aswan high-speed corridor.