EUROPE: International high speed train operator Eurostar says it is ‘preparing to invest’ in up to 50 high speed trainsets, which would be fully interoperable ’across five countries and beyond’.

FRANCE: National passenger operator SNCF Voyageurs and manufacturer CAF have unveiled the first of the Z26700 Oxygène inter-city trainsets which will replace Corail locomotive-hauled coaches on 200 km/h inter-city serves on conventional lines.

NIGERIA: Minister of Transportation Sa’idu Alkali flagged off an inaugural train to mark the completion of work to modernise the 62 km Port Harcourt – Aba line on April 30, and has provided an update on progress with other ongoing rail projects.

HUNGARY: Chinese President Xi Jinping and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán have reached an agreement to start ‘preparation works’ for the development of a rail freight bypass around Budapest and a rail-based link to the capital’s Ferenc Liszt International Airport.

TURKEY: British Steel has won a contract of disclosed ‘multi-million-pound’ value to supply ‘tens of thousands of tonnes’ of rail for the project to modernise and electrify the 286 km Mersin – Adana – Gaziantep line to for 200 km/h operation.

NEW ZEALAND: National railway KiwiRail’s tourist train business Great Journeys New Zealand has unveiled a coach which has been refurbished to provide a premium ‘immersive travel experience’ on the 223 km TranzAlpine coast-to-coast service between Greymouth and Christchurch.