PASSENGER numbers on Russian Railways's (RZD) flagship Sapsan services reached 1.88 million in the first half of this year, a 26.4% increase compared with the same period in 2014, according to ridership figures released on July 13.
MID-SAXONY Transport Authority (VMS) has awarded Vossloh Kiepe and Vossloh Rail Vehicles a contract to supply four additional City Link tram-trains for use in the Chemnitz area after the state of Saxony agreed to fund 75% of the €23.7m order.
SOUTHWEST Ohio Regional Transportation Authority (Sorta) has awarded Transdev Services a five-year contract to operate and maintain the initial 5.8km phase of the Cincinnati Streetcar network, which is due to open in September 2016.
TRIAL operation began on China's most northerly high-speed line on July 13, when a CRH5 EMU was used for a maiden test run on the 281km Harbin - Qiqihar line in Heilongjiang province.
PERTH's Forrestfield-Airport Link took an important step towards the start of construction on July 13, when Western Australia's Environmental Protection Authority recommended the $A 2.2bn ($US 2bn) project for conditional approval.
THE French city of Grenoble inaugurated the second phase of light rail Line E on July 13 with the launch of commercial services on the 6.7km extension from Saint-Martin-le-Vinoux Town Hall to Saint Égrève and Fontanil Cornillion.
KUALA Lumpur's Mass Rapid Transit Corporation (MRT) has appointed Arup as reference design consultant for the underground section of Klang Valley MRT Line 2, which will link Sungai Buloh with Serdang and Putrajaya.
THE mayor of Toulouse Mr Jean-Luc Moudenc announced a timetable for the planning and construction of the city's third metro line on July 7.
THE government of the Federal District of Mexico City has awarded a contract to carry out civil works on the 3.9km western extension of metro Line 12 to a consortium of Prodemex, Mexico, and Proacon, Spain.
WORK on Line 1 of the Riyadh Metro took a significant step forward this week when the first tunnel boring machine (TBM), Mneefah, named after the horse of the founding King of Saudi Arabia, began its journey beneath the Saudi capital.