n The first of 22 production series M1 trainsets for Praha Metro was rolled out by the Vozidla Metro Praha consortium of CKD Praha, AEG, Siemens and SGP in mid-December. The all-aluminium train is due to start trials on Line C in May.
n Adtranz was selected on December 24 as preferred bidder to negotiate a contract to supply seven DMUs to Pennyslvania Department of Transportation for the Philadelphia - Harrisburg Keystone Corridor (RG 11.97 p723). A version of the IC3 Flexliner is envisaged.
n The French government announced last month that it would relieve SNCF of another Fr8·3bn of historic debt, leaving just Fr40bn. This is intended to enable the railway to return to break-even by the end of 1998. In contrast, RFF made a Fr13bn operating loss in the second half of 1997 and commercial borrowings to cover this have lifted its debt from Fr134bn to over Fr140bn.
n Dutch bus operator Oostnet has been awarded a three-year contract from the Department of Transport and regional authorities to operate train services on the loss-making Almelo - Mari
