POLISH infrastructure manager PKP PLK has awarded a consortium of Bombardier (ZWUS) Poland, Thales Poland, and Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) a Zlotys 470m ($US 153m) contract for the country's first commercial ERTMS Level 2 installation.

BRITISH West Coast Main Line operator Virgin Trains has extended its contract with Bombardier until March 2016 to maintain its fleet of Super Voyager diesel trains. The contract is worth about £106m.

A joint venture company called Shentong Bombardier (Shanghai) Rail Transit Vehicle Maintenance has been formed by Bombardier and Shanghai Shentong Metro to maintain, repair and overhaul metro trains in China.

Bombardier's multi-engined Traxx DE ME was one of the star exhibits at InnoTrans in September, with visitors waiting up to 40 minutes for the chance to see inside this innovative locomotive. With the need for lower emissions and greater fuel economy becoming ever more pressing, Keith Barrow asks whether four engines might be better than one.

The Australian State of Victoria is to acquire an additional 40 VLocity dmu vehicles from Bombardier at a cost of more than $A 200m ($US 209m) to accommodate anticipated further growth in ridership on regional services.

SWISS Federal Railways (SBB) has appointed Siemens to equip 230 rail vehicles operated by SBB Passenger, SBB Cargo, RegionAlps, Ferrovienord and SBB Infrastructure with onboard ETCS equipment.

BRITAIN's Department for Transport (DfT) has approved the acquisition of an additional eight five-car class 377/6 Electrostar emus from Bombardier for the Southern franchise, exercising an option from a contract for 130 vehicles signed in December 2011.

THE Western Australian government has placed an order for an additional five three-car B-series emus from a consortium of Bombardier and Downer EDI, to strengthen the Perth suburban fleet.

CROSSRAIL, which is building a £14.8bn, 118km east-west rail link across London, has awarded a contract worth around £50m to a joint venture of Siemens and Invensys Rail to install a communications-based train control (CBTC) system on the busy central section of the line.

BOMBARDIER today broke ground on the construction of a new bogie production site in Siegen, Germany.