Saudi Railways Organisation has a lot on its plate. It is upgrading its existing railway in the east of Saudi Arabia, overseeing the construction of the Haramain high-speed line in the west, and developing plans for a second high-speed line and the Saudi part of the Gulf Railway. David Briginshaw visited SRO's headquarters in Dammam to find out how the work is progressing.

MASSACHUSETTS Department of Transportation (MassDOT) has approved the purchase of 24 light rail vehicles from CAF, Spain, for the Green Line.

CAF has been issued with a €4.5m penalty by the Italian autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia (FVG) for the late delivery of a fleet of eight ETR 563 EMUs.

AUCKLAND is today celebrating the start of electrified services on its commuter network as eight new three-car CAF EMUs entered revenue service on the Onehunga line, between Onehunga and Britomart in the city centre.

LATVIAN Railways' (LDZ) passenger operating subsidiary, Pasazieru Vilciens (PV), has received bids from three manufacturers to lease 25 to 45 EMUs over a period of 15 years.

BUDAPEST Transport Centre (BKK) has placed a €90m contract with CAF, Spain, for a fleet of 37 low-floor LRVs of two types with an option for another 87 units. Delivery will start at the end of 2015.

SPANISH rolling stock manufacturer CAF announced annual pre-tax profits of €114m in its 2013 financial results released on February 26, which was short of the €127.8m profit posted in 2012.

TRANSPORT for London (TfL) and Britain's Department for Transport have announced that Bombardier will be awarded a £1bn contract to supply and maintain 65 trains for the new Crossrail network under construction in London, subject to a 10-day standstill period.

CZECH signalling equipment supplier AŽD Praha, and CAF, Spain, have been accepted as full members of the Unisig Consortium, which was formed in 1999 by the European Commission (EC) with the task of drafting the technical specifications for ERTMS and ETCS.

URBAN Transport Solutions (UTS), a joint venture of CAF and Russia's Sinara Transport Machines unveiled a mock-up of its proposed new-generation metro car for Moscow Metro at the city's All-Russia Exhibition Centre earlier this month.