A CEREMONY was held on October 21 to mark the welding of the final section of rail on the Vienna - Tullnerfeld - St Pölten high-speed line, which will divert passenger trains away from the existing main line through Rekawinkel and provide additional capacity for freight.

FRENCH Rail Network (RFF) has received final offers from Bouygues and Vinci for a public-private partnership (PPP) contract to build and maintain an 80km high-speed line to bypass the Mediterranean cities of Nîmes and Montpellier.

CALIFORNIA High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) released its new draft business plan on November 1, which sets out for the first time how construction of the state's high-speed network might be phased.

OFFICIALS from Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, as well as representatives of JR East and JR Central, visited India's railways minister Mr Dinesh Trivedi last month, with the intention of promoting Japanese high-speed rail technology.

THE opening on December 8 2009 of Belgium's north high-speed line, the nation's fifth, has established the first European border-to-border high-speed network, with passengers on the Paris - Amsterdam Thalys international service now able to complete the entire journey at high speed.