STADLER Pankow presented the first Flirt 3 regional EMU for the Dutch-German Lower Rhine Network to operator Abellio Rail NRW and Rhine-Ruhr transport authority VRR in a ceremony at Abellio's Hagen depot on June 9.

NETHERLANDS Railways (NS) has exercised a second and final option with Bombardier for eight additional class 186 Traxx multi-system electric locomotives, taking its fleet to 45 units.

PUBLIC transport companies in the Netherlands are planning to abolish cash payment for bus and tram tickets, following a significant rise in robberies.

CAF, Spain, has reported a 39% drop in net profit for the first quarter of 2016 which fell from €14m in the first quarter of 2015 to €8.6m this year. Nevertheless CAF says its prospects for 2016 remain unaltered due to a strong order pipeline and improved efficiency.

NETHERLANDS Railways (NS) has selected Alstom as preferred bidder in the best and final offer phase for a contract to supply a fleet of 200km/h EMUs under its Intercity New Generation (ICNG) programme.

TESTING of Eurostar's Siemens e320 Velaro (class 374) high-speed trains on the Dutch national network began on April 28 as the international operator prepares for the launch London - Amsterdam services.

EUROSTAR confirmed at the launch of its Community and Environment Programme in London on April 25 that it intends to launch London - Amsterdam services at the end of next year, and is also looking to take advantage of the opening of new high-speed lines in France to expand its network.

SIEMENS delivered the last of 60 Avenio low-floor LRVs for The Hague Tramways (HTM) to the Netherlands on April 22.

PRORAIL has submitted its 2015 performance figures to Dutch secretary of state for infrastructure Mrs Sharon Dijksma, revealing that infrastructure-related train delays on the Dutch main line network fell last year.