The publication of a government report on the finances of TGV has ignited debate in France on the future development of the high-speed network. Keith Barrow examines the main findings of the report.
THE Japanese government has reached a deal to accelerate the construction of two Shinkansen lines, bringing forward completion by up to five years.
MEXICO's Federal Secretariat of Communications and Transport (SCT) confirmed on January 4 that it will issue preliminary bidding documents on January 14 for a revised tender for the contract to build the 210km Mexico City - Queretaro high-speed line.
CONSTRUCTION of the 857km link from Guiyang to Guangzhou, the first high-speed line in China's southwest karst region, was completed on December 21, with test operations set to begin by the end of this week.
JR Central hosted ceremonies at Shinagawa station in Tokyo and at Nagoya station on December 17 to mark the start of construction on the Yen 5.5 trillion ($US 46.45bn) Chuo maglev line between the two cities.
TRENITALIA launched the first high-speed services to Rome Leonardo da Vinci airport on December 14, when selected Frecciargento services were extended to serve the airport station at Fiumicino.
TRENITALIA has signed a €250m 10-year contract with AnsaldoBreda to maintain the fleet of 50 Frecciarossa 1000 (ETR 1000) high-speed trains being supplied by a consortium of the Italian manufacturer and Bombardier.
DYNAMIC testing of the first H5 train for the Hokkaido Shinkansen began on December 1, when the 10-car set made a number of runs between Nanae depot and the new Hokuto station in Hakodate, a distance of around 2km.
INTERNATIONAL high-speed services between Spain and France were suspended on November 30 after floodwater inundated the tunnels beneath Girona for the second time in two months.
THALYS is now authorised to operate passenger services on high-speed and conventional lines in France under its own safety certification after the French Railway Safety Board (EPSF) granted the operator a certificate Part B, which demonstrates the operator complies with national safety provisions.