TRANSPORT for London (TfL) subsidiary London Tramlink has exercised an option for four additional Variobahn low-floor LRVs from Stadler Pankow, which will be used on the light rail network in Croydon.

THE Norwegian city of Bergen has awarded Stadler a contract worth more than €100m to supply and maintain eight additional Variobahn low-floor LRVs and maintain the existing fleet of 20 vehicles until 2026.

LUXEMBOURG Railways (CFL) has unveiled the first of eight Stadler Kiss double-deck emus, which were ordered in 2010 at a cost of €64m.

STADLER Rail reported on June 14 that it achieved revenues of SFr 2.4bn ($US 2.6bn), up from SFr 1.4bn in 2011. However this reflected the high number of orders in 2008-10, before the European debt crisis and the increase in the value of the Swiss Franc, which according to Stadler has added 30% to export prices.

IRJ at UITP 60th World Congress, Geneva: A newly-completed full-size mock-up of the forthcoming type 1K narrow-profile U-Bahn train for Berlin Transport (BVG) is the centrepiece of the Stadler stand at this week's UITP World Congress.

SWITZERLAND's metre-gauge Frauenfeld-Wil Railway (FWB) has begun testing the first of a fleet of five new ABe 4/8 emus, which were ordered from Stadler in 2011 at a cost of SFr 31m ($US 33m).

THE Stadler Rail Group, Switzerland, is being forced to reduce its workforce for the first time as a result of a falling order book. This is the result of the debt crisis in Europe and the consequent increase in the value of the Swiss franc against the Euro.

FOUR regional railways operating in the Vaud, Fribourg, and Berne cantons of western Switzerland have awarded Stadler Bussnang a joint contract worth a total of SFr 150m ($US 158m) to supply 17 metre-gauge emus, which will be delivered between January 2015 and July 2016.

SERBIAN Railways (ŽS) signed a contract with Stadler on March 4 for a fleet of 21 four-car Flirt emus, which will be used on suburban services in the Belgrade area.

THE Hungarian government has given the go-ahead for a long-discussed project to build a 113km freight line between Tatabánya and Cegléd, by-passing Budapest. This would be the biggest new railway construction in the country since 1912.