HANNOVERIANS had their first opportunity to sample the city's new type TW 3000 light rail vehicles on March 8, when two of the trams carried a total of 3200 passengers on free demonstration trips between Main Station and Allerweg in the city centre.

LEIPZIG Transport Authority (LVB) has issued a call for tender for up to 41 light rail vehicles to be supplied between 2016 and 2020, with the first five vehicles supplied as a pre-series.

THIRTEEN years after launching its first rolling road service across the Alps, Swiss intermodal operator RAlpin carried its millionth lorry on February 28.

THE German Federal Ministry of Transport (BMVIT) has launched a programme of inspections on the German Rail (DB) network with the aim of establishing the true condition of the country's railway infrastructure assets.

PLANS to reopen the line on the western side of the River Mosel in the German city of Trier were approved by the city authorities on 18 February 2014.

GERMAN Rail (DB) has admitted its plans to launch ICE high-speed services from London to Cologne and Frankfurt are now seriously delayed, and the service is unlikely to be launched before the end of the decade.

DB Schenker Rail celebrated the operation of the 500th 835m-long freight train between Germany and Scandinavia on February 18.

THE number of passengers using high-speed services between Britain and mainland Europe could increase from just over 10 million in 2013 to nearly 13.5 million by 2020, according to a study carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) for Eurotunnel.

BAVARIAN Railway Authority (BEG) has published a tender notice in the Official Journal of the European Union for a contract to operate the Nuremberg Diesel Network regional concession for 12 years from December 2018.

INTERNATIONAL high-speed operator Thalys saw revenues and ridership climb on its services from Paris to Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands in 2013 as the withdrawal of Fyra services brought an unexpected increase in traffic between Brussels and Amsterdam.