ANSALDO STS Australia has been awarded a $A 151m ($US 154.7m) turnkey contract to provide signalling and telecommunications systems for the Roy Hill Iron Ore project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

HUNGARIAN State Railways (MÁV) has set out its investment plans for 2012-2015, after finalising its network management contract for the period with the government.

Attiko Metro has awarded Siemens a €41m contract to supply signalling systems for the extension of lines 2 and 3.

Despite a difficult 2011, Ansaldo STS CEO Sergio De Luca tells Kevin Smith that he is optimistic about the future which will increasingly be defined by developments in new and emerging markets.

MTR Corporation has awarded CSR a Yuan 1.36bn ($US 215.7m) contract to supply nine high-speed trains for the Guangzhou - Shenzhen - Hong Kong Express Rail Link (ERL).

BRITAIN's infrastructure manager, Network Rail (NR), has agreed framework deals with Ansaldo STS, Infrasig, Invensys Rail, and Signalling Solutions to develop and design ETCS Level 2 signalling and train control for use in Britain.

Despite the fact that Europe is no closer to having an interoperable railway through the creation of a standard signalling system, a strategy is now emerging for the rollout of ETCS in many countries, as David Briginshaw explains.

German Rail (DB) is spearheading the campaign to get open-source software accepted for ETCS applications in Europe, awarding the first contract for open-source onboard equipment, as David Briginshaw reports.

Hyundai Rotem has awarded Thales a contract to supply communications-based train control (CBTC) on the 12km extension of the Sin Bundang metro line from Jeongia to Gwanggyo.