HELLENIC Railways Organisation (OSE) is to be split into operating and infrastructure companies as part of a massive restructuring plan unveiled by the Greek government on June 23. OSE will continue to manage real estate, while Trainose will be responsible for train operations and Ergose will be the infrastructure manager.

A COLLISION between two trains on Washington DC Metro's Red Line on June 22 killed at least nine people and injured more than 70.

THE government of the Australian state of Tasmania will take control of the island's 726km railway network from November 30 after reaching an agreement to buy all the assets of Pacific National Tasmania (PNT) from parent company Asciano.

BRITAIN'S first high-speed commuter service carried its first passengers today, ahead of the launch of limited commercial services on June 29. Southeastern will operate its 225km/h Hitachi class 395 Javelin emus from London St Pancras to Ashford via High-Speed 1, Britain's first high-speed line, slashing the journey time from 84 minutes to just 37 minutes.

CONSTRUCTION of Switzerland's 57km Gotthard Base Tunnel reached a milestone on June 16, with the breakthrough of tunnel boring machines on the Erstfeld-Amsteg section. Gabi 1, one of the two tunnel-boring machines at work on this section, cut through 7.2km of rock in just 18 months, six months less than anticipated.

ANSALDO STS, leader of a consortium formed with AnsaldoBreda, has won a Euros 218 million contract to design, build and put into operation an automatic light metro on the campus of the new Princess Noura Bint Abdulrahman woman's university being constructed by the Saudi Binladen Group in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. Not only will this be the first metro to be built in Saudi Arabia, it will also be the first to serve a university.

THE Chinese subsidiary of Vossloh Fastening Systems, Germany, has won a Euros 170 million contract from China's Ministry of Railways to equip most of the new high-speed line being built from Beijing to Shanghai with track fastenings.

BELGIUM officially opened its 42km high-speed line between Liège and the German border on June 12. The Euros 830 million 250km/h line is electrified at 25kV ac, with 14km of upgraded 160km/h 3kV dc tracks connecting it to the conventional networks.

CONSTRUCTION of the Tours-Angoulême section of TGV Sud Europe Atlantique has moved a step closer after the French government granted the project public utility status.

IRJ - live at the UITP Congress in Vienna. POLISH bus manufacturer Solaris is set to enter the light rail market with its first ever LRV. The modular 100% low-floor Tramino is based on a stainless steel bodyshell, and will initially be available in a 18.8m-long three-section and 31.7m five-section configuration, although Solaris says it may also offer a seven-section LRV.