A CEREMONY was held on May 25 to mark the official start of construction of the 4270m Rastatt tunnel which forms part of a €11.6bn project to upgrade the 182km Karlsruhe - Basle main line for 250km/h operation.
THE supervisory board of Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) has approved plans to significantly increase the number of overnight trains it operates and the railway has been negotiating with German Rail (DB) to take over some of its overnight services, which are due to be withdrawn in December.
THE Hungarian government finalised the 2016 budget on May 23 for the Integrated Programme for Transport (IKOP), which is 85% financed by the EU, and allocates a total of Forints 1216bn ($US 4.3bn) to transport projects including Forints 790bn for mainline and urban rail projects.
ISRAEL Railways (IR) has invited bids by June 30 for a 10-year contract to design, build, test, commission, and maintain a radio communications system for the Tel Aviv - Jerusalem A1 fast rail link.
THE Swiss Federal Council has submitted plans to parliament for SFr 13.2bn ($US 13.3bn) in funding to cover the cost of maintaining the Swiss rail network for the period 2017-2020.
BRITISH train operator TransPennine Express (TPE) has selected CAF, Spain, to supply and maintain a fleet of 200km/h inter-city EMUs as well as coaches to be hauled by class 68 locomotives under a total investment worth £230m.
CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles plans to start a six-month testing programme with China's first hybrid-power train at the China Academy of Railway Sciences in June. The train is currently undergoing technical debugging in Jilin province.
BELARUS Railways (BC) has confirmed it will launch electric passenger services on the line from the capital Minsk to the country's second-largest city Gomel on June 3.
Railroad Development Corporation, United States, is continuing to increase its footprint in the European market. RDC chairman, Henry Posner III, outlines the company's recent experiences to Keith Fender.
THE US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has determined that the driver of a Washington DC - New York Amtrak Northeast Regional train which derailed near Philadelphia on May 12 2015 was likely to have been distracted by radio traffic causing him to forget where he was.