EGYPT: National Authority for Tunnels has signed a €275m contract with local manufacturer NERIC for the supply of 21 nine-car metro trainsets for Alexandria.

CROATIA: National passenger train operator HŽPP has put its prototype battery-electric multiple-unit into revenue service on the Zagreb – Bjelovar route, which is electrified at 25 kV 50 Hz as far as Gradec.

CHINA: The 7th UIC World Congress on Rail Training brought together people from more than 30 countries to discuss the future of talent development.

INDIA: The Phase 2A extension of Mumbai metro Line 3 was opened on May 10, running from Bandra-Kurla Complex to Acharya Atre Chowk.

USA: Orange County Transportation Authority has taken delivery of the first of eight trams for the OC Streetcar line which is under construction and now expected to open in spring 2026.

FRANCE: The Oxygène inter-city trainset is ‘probably one of the most beautiful trains built by CAF’,  CEO for France, Alain Picard, said when the first trainset was officially unveiled by the manufacturer, operator SNCF Voyageurs and the French government.

GREECE: The Ministry of Infrastructure & Transport has signed a co-operation agreement with Italy’s FS Group to modernise the Greek railway system, two years after the fatal head-on collision at Tempi.

Rail reform offers an opportunity to boost industry revenues by leveraging private sector marketing expertise and innovation to fill empty train seats, Anthony Smith, CEO of the Independent Rail Retailers association, tells Rail Business UK.

UKRAINE: National railway Ukrzaliznytsia has taken delivery of six platskartny open-plan couchette cars, which Deputy Minister for Development of Communities & Territories Oleksii Balesta said were the first of this type to be purchased since independence.

AUSTRALIA: Following a successful four-year trial in Queensland, Transdiagnostics has launched Transend, which is designed to replace outdated wagon monitoring technologies and provide real-time data and predictive diagnostics to reduce derailment risks and optimise operations.

This week’s round-up of news from the urban transport sector.

UK: A rail-based ‘Northern Arc’ infrastructure and development programme could help Britain ‘move on from the embarrassment of High Speed 2’ and restore the country’s reputation as a world leader in railway construction, believes Greater Manchester elected mayor Andy Burnham.

NETHERLANDS: Public transport operators have signed an agreement to help balance demand on the heavily-loaded national power grid.

BULGARIA: Plans for a major restructuring of the national railway’s freight business BDZ Tovarnni Prevosi has been announced by Minister of Transport & Communications Grozdan Karadjov.

The first of 25 two-car AGT trainsets for the Sengkang-Punggol Light Rapid Transit network have been handed over to SBS Transit.

SPAIN: Trainline has agreed to acquire Barcelona-based online train and bus ticket retailer Trenes.com.

UK: HS2 Ltd Chief Executive Mark Wild has set out his aim to reset the project over the course of the next year to ensure that a realistic cost and schedule can be maintained for the outstanding work on the high speed line.

AUSTRALIA: A stable pipeline of rail infrastructure projects is critical to Australia’s future economic growth and supporting growing cities and regions, Australasian Railway Association CEO Caroline Wilkie said after the incumbent Labor party led by Anthony Albanese won the May 3 election.

RUSSIA: Tramway operator Moskva Metro has awarded PK TS a contract to supply 100 four-axle fully low-floor single-section trams capable of 4 km of off-wire running at a speed of at least 20 km/h.

News from the world rail freight market.