ABELLIO's German subsidiary Abellio Rail NRW has published a tender request in the Official Journal of the European Union for new EMUs for regional services.

NETHERLANDS Railways (NS) has intervened in the management of its subsidiaries Qbuzz and Abellio after uncovering what it describes as "serious irregularities" during an internal compliance investigation into tendering for a major regional rail and bus concession in the Dutch province of Limburg.

MOST of Scotland's passenger services are in the hands of new operators with the transfer of the Scotrail franchise from First to Abellio and the launch of the new Caledonian Sleeper franchise.

FOLLOWING a public tender, the Dutch province of Limburg has granted Netherlands Railways subsidiary Abellio a 15-year concession covering all regional bus and rail services in the province.

A British project to evaluate the performance of battery-powered rolling stock reached a milestone on January 12, when a specially-adapted Bombardier 25kV 50Hz ac class 379 Electrostar EMU operated under battery power for the first time in passenger service.

DUTCH secretary of state for infrastructure Mrs Wilma Mansveld has announced that the government will grant €200m to South Holland to extend the R-Net network of high-quality public transport services around the Randstad conurbation.

SCOTLAND's transport minister Mr Keith Brown announced on October 8 that Transport Scotland has selected Netherlands Railways (NS) international passenger subsidiary Abellio to operate the ScotRail franchise, ousting First Group, which has held the contract since 2004.

New operators and new rolling stock have brought a splash of colour to Germany's liberalised regional passenger market. They have also arguably greatly improved the level of service on offer. Kevin Smith gauges the views of some of the leading public transport authorities and private concessionaires on the current condition of the market and how they see it developing.