FRENCH National Railways' (SNCF) Ouigo low-fare TGV service has reached a significant milestone since its launch on April 2 with the sale of the first 1 million tickets.

EUROSTAR has appointed management and IT consultancy Cereza, France, to supply a new operations management system for its transport plan and rolling stock utilisation strategy.

NS Financial Services, the leasing subsidiary of Netherlands Railways (NS), has officially cancelled its contract for 16 V250 high-speed trains from AnsaldoBreda, following the lead of Belgian National Railways (SNCB) which cancelled its contract for three of the trains on May 31.

JR Central has confirmed that construction of the inaugural 286km section of its Yen 5.1 trillion ($US 51.97bn) maglev line between Tokyo and Nagoya will commence as early as April next year.

FRENCH National Railways (SNCF) stepped up the operation of high-speed services between France and Germany on August 26 with the launch of a daily TGV between Paris and Freiburg-im-Breisgau.

NETHERLANDS Railways (NS) recorded a net loss of €76m in the first half of this year compared with a profit of €147m in the first half of 2012.

CALIFORNIA High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) has signed a $US 985.1m design-build contract with a California-based joint venture of Tutor Perini, Zachry Construction and Parsons for civil works on the first section of the state's high-speed network.

THE FIRST Pendolino set for PKP Intercity was presented to the public and the media at Wroclaw Central station on August 12, while en route from Alstom's Savigliano plant in Italy to the test centre at Żmigród, Poland.

BRAZILIAN transport minister Mr César Borges announced on August 12 that the government has postponed the tendering process for the 511km Campinas – São Paulo – Rio de Janeiro high-speed line, which is likely to delay the opening until after 2020.

SPANISH development minister Mrs Ana Pastor has announced a range of measures aimed at improving safety across the whole rail network after the accident at Santiago de Compostela on July 26, which left 79 dead and dozens injured.