SPAIN's state-owned train operator Renfe has announced that its train leasing subsidiary, which will be established over the next few months, will be allocated a fleet of 26 high-speed trains for lease to new operators entering the soon-to-be-liberalised high-speed market.

FRENCH construction companies Travail Sud Ouest (TSO) and Eurovia Travaux Ferroviares (ETF) have selected Vossloh to deliver points and rail fastenings for the 340km South Europe Atlantic High-Speed Line between Tours and Bordeaux.

IRJ at InnoTrans 2012: RUSSIA will not deliver a new high-speed line between Moscow and St Petersburg in time for the 2018 fifa World Cup, according to Russian Railways (RZD) president Mr Vladimir Yakunin.

IRJ at InnoTrans 2012: BOMBARDIER announced today that it has signed contracts worth a total of €281m to supply and maintain traction systems and bogies for the fleet of 36 Series
350 trains being built by Talgo for the Mecca – Jeddah – Medina high-speed line.

THE Belgian national railway safety authority (DVIS) granted the long-awaited authority to place in service for the AnsaldoBreda-built V250 Fyra high-speed emus operated by NS Hispeed on September 14.

DENMARK's Transport Minister Mr Henrik Dam Kristensen officially launched construction of the Copenhagen – Køge – Ringsted high-speed line on September 6 in a groundbreaking ceremony at Karlslunde.

INDIA's Railways Ministry says it expects to begin work soon on a detailed project report for the country's first high-speed line with the aim of inviting global tenders for the Rs 650bn ($US 11.8bn) Pune – Mumbai – Ahmedabad project by November 2013.

GERMAN Rail (DB) has awarded a consortium of Siemens and Kapsch CarrierCom a €93m contract to equip 230km of the under construction high-speed line from Halle and Leipzig to Ebensfed via Erfurt with ERTMS Level 2.

Amtrak's revised vision for the Northeast Corridor calls for bold investments of $US 110bn to improve existing infrastructure and to construct a new dedicated high-speed line over the next 30 years. Kevin Smith examines the plans for North America's most important passenger railway.

Korea's latest experimental high-speed train, Hemu430X, was unveiled in Changwon on May 16, and is now being tested with a view to achieving a new Korean speed record of 430km/h later this year, explains Dr G H Kang with Hyundai Rotem's R&D centre.