BRITAIN'S Secretary of State for Transport Lord Andrew Adonis has unveiled plans for the first stage of a 539km high-speed network linking London with central and northern England.

ISRAEL Railways (IR) has exercised an option to for 31 Viaggio Light coaches from Siemens in a deal worth €47 million. The order, which comprises four driving trailers and 27 intermediate coaches, follows on from a contract for 87 vehicles signed in 2006 with options for up to 585 additional coaches.

EUROTUNNEL ended 2009 in the black, despite the loss of revenue caused by the partial closure of the Channel Tunnel for the first five weeks of the year and the suspension of Eurostar services in December.

BRITAIN'S Department for Transport has approved two further extensions of Manchester's Metrolink light rail network, at a total cost of £170 million. The 3.9km extension from Droylsden to Ashton-under-Lyne and the 4.5km line from Chorlton St Werburgh's Road to East Didsbury are being funded through the Greater Manchester Transport Fund, a £1.5 billion investment programme covering 15 transport projects across the city.

DANISH State Railways is to expand its international business further with the announcement that it will buy half of the shares in regional operator Vias from Frankfurt Transport Company (VGF). The acquisition will allow DSB to bid for German regional contracts in conjunction with Rurtalbahn, which owns the remaining 50% of Vias.

AUSTRALIAN receivers KordaMentha have begun looking for a buyer to take over the 2244km transcontinental railway from Tarcoola to Darwin, which has been in limbo since concessionaire FreightLink went into administration in 2008.

BOMBARDIER has secured a Euros 39 million contract from Spanish rail infrastructure manager Adif to deliver its Interflo 200 mainline signalling system for the 90km Albacete - La Encina section of the under construction Madrid - Valencia/Alicante line.

TEST operation of Jerusalem's new light rail network began on February 24, when an Alstom Citadis LRV ran on the completed 3km section of the Red Line between French Hill depot and Ammunition Hill.

AFTER a challenging year in 2009, Russian Railways' (RZD) capital investment will return to pre-recession levels in 2010-11 as the company seeks to continue renewal of its assets. During a meeting in Sochi last week, president Mr Vladimir Yakunin said RZD will have an investment of fund of Roubles 555 billion ($US 18.5 billion), around 78% of which come from the railway's own resources. This is more than the company invested in 2008, when traffic was still at record levels.

HESSEN State Railway (HLB), Germany, has placed a Euros 65 million order with Alstom for 23 new Coradia Lint regional trains. The two-car dmus will be manufactured at Alstom's Salzgitter site in Germany and will complement 60 Coradia Lint trains already in HLB's fleet.

BRITISH secretary of state for transport Lord Adonis announced today that the Department for Transport's (DfT) planned Inter-city express procurement programme will be postponed until after the upcoming National Election, which is expected to be called in May.