FRENCH National Railways (SNCF) says it has already sold more than 200,000 tickets for its new low-cost TGV service called Ouigo which began operating on April 2. Ticket sales started on February 19 exclusively through a dedicated website.
THE China Development Bank has agreed to lend Transnet, South Africa, approximately $US 5bn to support its planned railway infrastructure rehabilitation programme which is worth over Rand 300bn ($US 33.82bn) over the next seven years.
STRUKTON Rail has increased its share in the Italian rail construction company Costruzione Linee Ferroviarie (CLF) to 60% following the acquisition of a 20% stake from Unieco, Italy.
THE Greenbrier Companies, United States, secured orders worth a cumulative $US 575m for 5400 freight wagons of various types in January, February and March this year.
THE United States Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has selected the Illinois Department of Transportation (Idot) to lead the multi-state procurement of at least 35 200km/h diesel locomotives for passenger operations, Illinois governor Mr Pat Quinn announced on March 21.
SWISS railfreight operator BLS Cargo saw a 13% fall in volumes last year as disruption on the Gotthard line, the poor performance of the European economy, and the strength of the Swiss franc took their toll on demand.
EUROSTAR described its performance in 2012 as "strong" following an increase in profits and growth in passenger ridership on its services between London, Paris, Brussels and southern France.
THE United States House of Representatives approved the 2013 Financial Year Budget Bill on March 21, which will maintain Amtrak's budget for the remainder of the 2013 financial year at slightly below current levels despite the threat of cuts.
GERMAN Rail (DB) carried a record number of passengers on its domestic services in Germany last year, with ridership reaching 49 million and the total distance travelled increasing by 4% to 82.4 billion passenger-km.
RUSSIA's Finance Ministry has announced proposals to cut subsidies for long-distance train services and divert the funding to investment in aviation.