RUSSIAN Railways (RZD) has awarded a Euros 600m contract to Siemens to supply a second batch of eight 10-car Sapsan high-speed trains and to maintain them for 30 years. Delivery of the Velaro Rus trains, which will be built in Krefeld, Germany, will start in January 2014 and enable RZD to expand services on the Moscow - St Petersburg line where most of the existing trains operate.

SIEMENS today confirmed it has received its first firm order for the Avenio LRV with the signing of a Euros 100m contract for 40 vehicles by The Hague Tramways (HTM). The contract includes driver training, documentation, and spare parts, as well as options for up to 40 additional LRVs.

THE president of Algeria, Mr Abdelaziz Bouteflika, has inaugurated train operation on the first section of Line 1 of the Algiers metro. The 9km section has 10 stations and runs from Tafourah Grande Poste in the city centre to Haï el Badr. Algiers Metro Enterprise (EMA) expects the line eventually to carry 300,000 passengers a day.