The German Land of Thüringen has awarded Erfurter Bahn a contract to operate Dieselnetz Ostthüringen services totalling 4·6 million train-km a year for 12½ years from June 10 2012.
Pakistan Railways suffered Rs3bn worth of damage during the recent flooding, with large areas of track were inundated and numerous bridges damaged. Trains of ballast and boulders were on standby to repair breaches, emergency supplies were carried free of charge and an aid train ran from Turkey.
Vogtland public transport authority has awarded Arriva-owned incumbent operator Vogtlandbahn a contract worth €500m to provide passenger services totalling 3·1 million train-km a year in 2013-27.
US short line company Gulf & Ohio Railways has announced a deal to buy Lancaster & Chester Railway from The Springs Co by November.
RZD and VR have confirmed that 220 km/h St Petersburg - Helsinki Allegro services using Alstom Pendolino trainsets will be launched on December 12, cutting journey times by 2 h to 3½ h.
Specialised Bulk Rail will enter the bulk rail haul market in Australia this month with a contract to haul iron ore 900 km from IMX's Cairn Hill mine to Port Adelaide.
Once again using the Le Shuttle brand, Eurotunnel recorded its highest ever car traffic on August 14 carrying 14825 cars and 150 coaches through the Channel Tunnel.
RZD has launched TransContainer Asia Pacific, providing integrated sea and rail transport from South Korea to Europe via Russia's Far East ports.
A 700m yuan rail container terminal in the Chinese city of Wuhan was formally opened on September 5.
Kosovo Railways is being restructured into infrastructure business Infrakos and train operator Trainkos.
A joint venture of Hancock Prospecting Group and Rio Tinto Iron Ore has confirmed it will go ahead with the A$1·5bn Hope 4 mine in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, with a 30 km connection to the Lang Hancock Railway.
