SWITZERLAND’s Lugano Railways (FLP) has awarded Stadler a SFr 47m ($US 47.3m) contract to supply nine low-floor tram-trains as part of a major expansion of its Lugano - Ponte Tresa line services to cope with a 70% increase in ridership over the past 10 years to 2.5 million passengers a year.

STADLER is entering the signalling business through a joint venture with Mermec, Italy, with the Swiss company saying it is already running field tests and has started the approval process in Switzerland.

STADLER says it has recovered from the negative effects of the Swiss franc shock, with turnover at Stadler Rail returning to approximately the same level as before the Swiss National Bank’s unexpected decision to scrap its currency cap of SFr 1.20 per euro in January 2015.

STADLER has won the first order for its new generation of six-axle Co'Co locomotives which were designed at its Albuixech plant in Valencia, Spain, for the European market.

STADLER and Swiss operator Southeast Rail (SOB) unveiled the first Traverso Flirt low-floor EMU destined for operation on the Voralpen Express at a ceremony in Erlen on June 6.

FORT Worth Trinity Metro celebrated a milestone for its TexRail commuter rail project on May 22 when the line’s train maintenance depot was inaugurated in the presence of the city’s mayor, Mrs Betsy Price, and Federal Transit Administration regional administrator, Mr Robert Patrick.

SCI Verkehr says in its latest Multiple Units - Global Market Trends study that the world market for regional and suburban multiple unit trains is currently worth more than €9bn and is growing at around 9% per year, while the €8bn aftersales market has an annual growth rate of 4%.

AUSTRIA's narrow-gauge Zillertalbahn announced on May 15 that Stadler is the successful bidder for a €80m contract to supply five hydrogen fuel cell multiple-units.

NORWAY’s minister of transport Mr Ketil Solvik-Olsen confirmed on May 15 that the government will provide funding for state-owned rolling stock company Norske Tog to order 25 additional Stadler Flirt trains, including the first bi-mode sets, to meet continuing growth in passenger numbers.

TESTING of the first class 755/4 Flirt UK electro-diesel multiple unit for Abellio subsidiary Greater Anglia has begun at Stadler’s Erlen Commissioning Centre in northeast Switzerland.