THE SPANISH government is expected to vote at the end of this month on draft legislation that could bring sweeping liberalisation of the rail market within a year together with the privatisation of Renfe.

JAPAN's minister of transport Mr Yuichiro Hata has approved the construction of three extensions to the Shinkansen high-speed network. The project will cost an estimated Yen 3.04 trillion ($US 38.1bn) and will be mainly funded by national and municipal governments.

The dispute between Italian open-access high-speed operator NTV and infrastructure manager Italian Railway Network (RFI) has taken a further turn after NTV took out full page advertisements in the Corriere della Sera and Repubblica newspapers on July 9 calling on the government intervene.

IRJ at the UIC 8th World Congress on High Speed Rail, Philadelphia: Mr Zhang Jianping, director general of China's Ministry of Railways, said today that the Beijing - Shanghai high-speed line, which celebrated its first birthday on July 1, has carried 52 million passengers in its first full year operation.

IRJ at the UIC 8th World Congress on High Speed Rail, Philadelphia: The president of French National Railways (SNCF) Mr Guillaume Pepy today called for the construction of a second high-speed line between Paris and Lyon to relieve congestion on the existing railway.

IRJ at the UIC 8th World Congress on High Speed Rail, Philadelphia: US transportation secretary Mr Ray LaHood gave a rousing speech this morning to the 1000 delegates attending the UIC 8th World Congress on High Speed Rail in Philadelphia.

CHINA inaugurated its latest section of high-speed line on July 1, with the opening of the 293k Hanyi Railway between Hankou in Wuhan and Yichang in western Hubei province.

AFTER years of delays, the Dutch Environmental and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) finally granted authorisation to place into service for the AnsaldoBreda V250 'Fyra' high-speed train fleet on July 6.

CALIFORNIA is set to begin construction on the first phase of its $US 68.4bn high-speed network by the end of the year after the state Senate narrowly approved the initial $US 5.8bn tranche of funding.

Since the abandonment of Florida's Tampa - Orlando project last year, California has been left to fly the flag for high-speed rail in North America. Keith Barrow examines recent changes to the plans for this pioneering venture.