THE board of Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (Septa) has approved the acquisition of 13 ACS-64 electric locomotives from Siemens as part of its budget for the 2015-16 financial year, which starts on July 1.

STADTWERKE Ulm (SWU) signed a €32m contract with Siemens on May 22 for 12 Avenio M low-floor LRVs as part of a project to expand the German city's metre-gauge tram network.

DANISH infrastructure manager Banedanmark announced on May 18 that following the evaluation of four bids it has entered final negotiations with a joint venture of Siemens and Danish infrastructure contractor Per Aarsleff for a contract to implement the first phase of its national electrification programme.

NETWORK Rail (NR) has awarded Siemens Rail Automation a contract to develop system architecture and a deployment strategy for the rollout of an ETCS Level 2 overlay on the Great Western Main Line.

APPROVAL inspections of German Rail's (DB) next generation ICx long-distance train are being carried out by DB Systemtechnik on behalf of manufacturer Siemens.

THE French Railway Safety Board (EPSF) granted a supplementary authorisation to place in service (SAPS) on March 31 for the Siemens Velaro D multi-system high-speed train, enabling the operation of German Rail's (DB) class 407 fleet on the French network.

FINLAND's VR Group has received its first 1524mm-gauge electric Vectron locomotive from Siemens, which will be used for testing purposes, ahead of delivery from early 2016 of the first 10 units from a €320m order for 80 locomotives placed in .

SIEMENS presented the new class 700 EMU for cross-London Thameslink suburban services to the press at its Krefeld plant in Germany on April 2, confirming that the first sets will be delivered to the new depot at Three Bridges in August in readiness for the start of mainline testing.

SIEMENS's convergence creators division has opened a new test and integration centre for railway telecommunications in Zagreb, Croatia.

SWISS freight operator BLS Cargo has confirmed an order for 15 new Siemens Vectron locomotives for use on the Rhine-Alpine corridor between Rotterdam and Melzo in northern Italy.