Current prospects for the global rail track system market are mixed according to the latest study by German consultancy SCI Verkehr. CEO Maria Leenen and senior consultant Karl Strang profile the results.

CALIFORNIA's Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) has appointed HTNB, United States, to design a 6.7km tram line linking Santa Ana Regional transportation Center with Santa Ana city centre, a new multimodal transport hub at Harbor Boulevard, and Westminster Avenue in Garden Grove.

CONSTRUCTION of the 18.5km light rail extension to Los Angeles' Gold Line from Sierra Madre Villa in Pasadena to Azusa has been completed and handed over to Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) for commissioning.

THE board of Amtrak is believed to have selected Alstom to negotiate a contract to supply a fleet of high-speed trains as part of Amtrak's $US 2.5bn project to upgrade the Northeast Corridor linking Boston, New York and Washington DC.

A report published on September 16 by the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found that most US railways will not be able to complete the installation of Positive Train Control (PTC) by the federally-mandated December 31 deadline, and warns that legislation to extend the deadline will now be required.

DENVER Regional Transportation District (RTD) and its contractor Denver Transit Partners began testing trains on the 36.7km East Rail A Line from Denver Union Station and Denver International Airport on September 11 and 12.

PORTLAND, Oregon, added a fifth line to its light rail network on September 12 with the start of public services on the Max Orange Line from Portland State University (PSU) to SE Park Avenue in Milwaukie.

MASSACHUSETTS governor Mr Charlie Baker, Springfield mayor Mr Domenic Sarno, and CRRC vice-president Mr Weiping Yu were among the guests at a groundbreaking ceremony held for CRRC's new $US 95m rolling stock manufacturing facility in Springfield, Massachusetts, on September 3.

TRIMBLE, United States, announced on August 27 that Irish Rail will be deploying Nexala's R2M remote diagnostics monitoring system across its CAF class 29000 commuter fleet.

THE Regional Transportation Council (RTC) for north-central Texas has allocated $US 4.5m to fund the planning, design, and preliminary engineering for the construction of a high-speed rail link between Dallas and Fort Worth.