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NEARLY half a century after the last tram ran from Los Angeles Eastside to the city centre, dignitaries including Los Angeles Mayor Mr Antonio Villaraigosa inaugurated the 9.7km extension of the light rail Gold Line from Union Station to Atlantic on November 14.

THE first section of the Delhi metro network to extend outside the city's boundaries opened on November 12 with the inauguration of the 13.1km branch of Line 3 from Yamuna to Noida City Centre. Ceremonies were held at Akshardam station in Delhi and at Noida City Centre station to mark the opening of the extension, which has four stations in Delhi city with the remaining six in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

THAILAND'S economic ministers have approved a Baht 112 billion ($US 3.4 billion) investment budget to modernise the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) network over the next five years. The 2010-15 budget is part of a Baht 1.47 trillion plan put forward by the Transport Ministry to completely overhaul the country's rail network.

MONGOLIAN mining company Energy Resources has awarded Leighton, Australia, a $US 338 million contract to construct a 228km heavy-haul railway linking a coal mine in the South Gobi region of eastern Mongolia with the Chinese border. The single-track standard-gauge line will run from Ukhaa Khudang, where Leighton Asia has a six-year mining contract, to the border at Gashuun Sukhait.

IN their first ever joint bid for a rolling stock contract, Stadler and AnsaldoBreda have clinched a Euros 200 million deal to supply a total of 34 multiple units to Italian regional operators Territorial Systems (ST) and Emilia Romagna Railways (FER).
ST will receive four six-car and 16 four-car Flirt emus, together with two four-car GTW dmus, while the consortium will deliver 12 five-car Flirt emus to FER.

THE Serbian capital Belgrade has awarded CAF, Spain, a Euros 70 million contract to supply a fleet of 30 five-section low-floor Urbos LRVs. The metre-gauge single-direction vehicles will be 30m long with capacity for up to 242 passengers.

THE BOARD of Catalonian Government Railways (FGC) has approved the purchase 24 emus from a consortium of Alstom and CAF as part of a plan to eliminate life-expired rolling stock and increase capacity on the Barcelona-Vallès suburban network. The aluminium-bodied class 113 trains will be delivered over a 12-month period from the third quarter of 2013.

THE world's second richest man Mr Warren Buffett has sealed the biggest deal in his distinguished career after his investment company, Berkshire Hathaway, reached an agreement to acquire the remaining 77.4% of US Class 1 railway BNSF for around $US 34 billion.
The transaction, which includes BNSF's $US 10 billion outstanding debt, means Berkshire Hathaway will become the sole shareholder in North America's second largest railway. Regulatory approval of the deal is expected in the first quarter of next year.

GERMAN Rail (DB) will face on-rail competition on the Hamburg - Cologne route from next year after open access operator Hamburg-Köln Express (HKX) announced it will launch three return services per day between the two cities. HKX, a joint venture between Locomore Rail, Germany, British investor Mr Michel Schabas, and Railroad Development Corporation, United States, will begin operating on August 15 2010.

THE maximum operating speed for passenger trains in Estonia could soon be cut to 120km/h because of a lack of funding for infrastructure maintenance, according to Estonian Railways (EVR) CEO Mr Kaido Simmermann. EVR Infra had been replacing around 30,000 wooden sleepers per year, but the recession has resulted in reduced revenues from track access charges meaning this programme will be curtailed in 2010.