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CHINA is to help Russia speed up its inter-city passenger services under an agreement signed yesterday by China's minister of railways Mr Liu Zhijun, Russian transport minister Mr Igor Levitin, and Russian Railways (RZD) president Mr Vladimir Yakunin. Under the memorandum of understanding signed in Beijing, a joint-working group of specialists from both countries will be set up by December to examine the upgrading of existing routes and the construction of new 350km/h high-speed lines.

POLISH open-access railfreight operator Lotos Kolej has awarded Bombardier a Euros 18.6 million contract to supply six Traxx diesel-electric locomotives. The 2400kW Bo-Bo locomotives will be compliant with European Stage IIIa emissions standards and the locomotives will be assembled at Bombardier's Kassel site in Germany, with deliveries starting in mid-2011. The deal includes options for four additional locomotives.

MOST European Union Member States have yet to correctly implement the First Railway Package (FRP), according to the European Commission (EC), which has sent reasoned opinions to 21 European Union Member States regarding their failure to transpose the legislation into their legal systems.

RUSSIAN Railways (RZD) has drawn up two investment scenarios for the period 2010-20 for the new Federal Passenger Company (FPC) which it plans to set up as an independent subsidiary responsible for long-distance passenger services. The baseline scenario calls for an investment of Roubles 257.4 billion ($US 8.5 billion) while the ambitious scenario would see Roubles 442.5 billion being invested.

IRJ at Nordic Rail, Sweden
BOMBARDIER unveiled today in Jönköping, Sweden, a low-emissions version of its Itino dmu designed to meet European Union Stage IIIb exhaust emissions standards, which come into force in 2012. The catalyst-based low emission application (Clean) is designed to reduce exhaust emissions by up to 83%, and produce a weight saving of 20%, compared with the previous Itino power pack.

GERMANY's transport market analyst SCI Verkehr says it expects the size of the world market for new equipment and after-sales services to grow by at least 4% a year between now and 2014. This would increase the size of the market from Euros 126.5 billion (an average of 2008-10) to Euros 155 billion by 2014.

PATRICK Kron CEO of Alstom has signed two cooperation agreements at a Franco-Kazakh business forum during President Sarkozy of France's visit to Kazakhstan.

THE Vice-President of the European Investment Bank Mr Phillipe de Fontaine Vive Curtaz, and the Deputy Mayor of Paris Ms Anne Hidalgo have signed a Euros 500 million agreement to finance the eastern extension of Paris Transport Authority (RATP) light rail Line T3.

CONSTRUCTION will begin next year on a rail network that will link seven of the kingdoms of the United Arab Emirates. The newly-appointed chairman of the Union Railway Company (URC) Mr Hussain Jasem Al Nowais, says tenders will be issued in the first quarter of 2010 for the initial phase, which involves construction of a 574km line from Ghuweifat, on the Saudi/Abu Dhabi border, to Jebel Ali port near Dubai. This line will be extended to Khor Fakkan in Sharjah on the Gulf of Oman. A second line will link Abu Dhabi with Al Ain near the border with Oman.