THE Dutch province of Limburg has awarded Arriva a 15-year concession to operate regional rail and bus services after the discovery of irregularities in the tendering process led to the disqualification of the preferred bidder, Netherlands Railways (NS) subsidiary Abellio.

BRITAIN's Department for Transport (DfT) announced on June 2 that it has shortlisted three bidders for the new East Anglia franchise, with incumbent Abellio seeking to retain the contract in the face of competition from First Group and the network's former operator National Express.

ABELLIO's German subsidiary Abellio Rail NRW has published a tender request in the Official Journal of the European Union for new EMUs for regional services.

NETHERLANDS Railways (NS) has intervened in the management of its subsidiaries Qbuzz and Abellio after uncovering what it describes as "serious irregularities" during an internal compliance investigation into tendering for a major regional rail and bus concession in the Dutch province of Limburg.

MOST of Scotland's passenger services are in the hands of new operators with the transfer of the Scotrail franchise from First to Abellio and the launch of the new Caledonian Sleeper franchise.

FOLLOWING a public tender, the Dutch province of Limburg has granted Netherlands Railways subsidiary Abellio a 15-year concession covering all regional bus and rail services in the province.

A British project to evaluate the performance of battery-powered rolling stock reached a milestone on January 12, when a specially-adapted Bombardier 25kV 50Hz ac class 379 Electrostar EMU operated under battery power for the first time in passenger service.

DUTCH secretary of state for infrastructure Mrs Wilma Mansveld has announced that the government will grant €200m to South Holland to extend the R-Net network of high-quality public transport services around the Randstad conurbation.