Quintus Vosman

THE Dutch province of Overijssel and the Twente region have published a tender notice in the Official Journal of the European Union for a contract to operate Zwolle – Kampen and Zwolle – Enschede regional services for 15 years from December 2017.

TRIAL operation began on the new underground rail link beneath the Dutch city of Delft on November 1, when a Netherlands Railways (NS) VIRM EMU carried a group of journalists through the 2.3km tunnel.

THE regional public transport authority of Schleswig-Holstein has published a tender in the Official Journal of the European Union for a concession to operate the northern German state's West network, which includes the 237km Hamburg-Altona - Westerland Marsh Railway service to the island of Sylt, from 2016 to 2025.

VEOLIA Transport Netherlands has taken the government of Limburg to court in a row over terms and conditions for new regional rail and bus contracts in the Dutch province.

PRORAIL has announced it will take over operation of the Betuweroute dedicated freight line from January 1, when the line's current operator Keyrail and all 60 of its employees will be absorbed by the Dutch national infrastructure manager.

THE German subsidiary of Railroad Development Corporation (RDC), United States, has submitted proposals to DB Networks to take over operation of motor rail services between Niebüll and Westerland on the island of Sylt, which is only connected to the German main land by rail.

THE first of 10 new coaches ordered by Czech open-access operator RegioJet from Astra Vagoane Calaroti, Romania, is currently undergoing testing between Prague and Žilina, Slovakia.

DUTCH secretary of state for infrastructure Mrs Wilma Mansveld has informed the Dutch Parliament that Netherlands Railways (NS) will retrofit its fleet of 131 SLT 'Sprinter Light Train' suburban EMUs with toilets.

THE DUTCH government has allocated to €2.4bn to maintain and improve the country's railway network as part of its 2015 budget, which was announced on September 16.

PASSENGER numbers on German regional and urban rail services increased in the first half of 2014, according to figures released this week by the Federal Statistics Agency (Destatis), which show overall regional public transport usage increased by 0.5% year-on-year to 5.5 billion, an average of 31 million trips a day.