Keith Barrow

THE government of Sri Lanka has selected a Chinese contractor to build the 88km extension of the Colombo – Matara – Beliatta line to Kataragama in the south of country.

THE expansion of Positive Train Control and upgrading of a key section of the Washington DC – New York – Boston Northeast Corridor (NEC) for 257km/h operation are among the highlights of Amtrak's 2014 infrastructure programme, which was announced on March 10.

HANNOVERIANS had their first opportunity to sample the city's new type TW 3000 light rail vehicles on March 8, when two of the trams carried a total of 3200 passengers on free demonstration trips between Main Station and Allerweg in the city centre.

BRITISH infrastructure manager Network Rail has awarded an £87m design and build contract to a joint venture of Carillion and Buckingham Group Contracting to carry out infrastructure works on Chiltern Railways' new London Marylebone – Oxford link.

BANGALORE welcomed its second metro line on February 28, with the inauguration of the northern section of the Green Line between Sampige Road in Malleshwaram and Peenya Industry.

RUSSIAN Railways (RZD) subsidiary Central Suburban Passenger Company has awarded a contract to Demikhovsky Machine Building Plant (DMZ), part of the Transmashholding (TMH) group, to supply 26 class ED4M emus for suburban services in the Moscow area.

CREA, the public transport authority in Rouen, France, has sold 28 Alstom trams to the Turkish city of Gaziantep in a deal worth €5.2m.

ŠKODA Transportation announced on March 5 that it has completed testing and certification of its new Catfree catenary-free propulsion system for light rail vehicles, which has been undergoing trials at the company's facility in Plzen, Czech Republic.

SWEDISH infrastructure manager Trafikverket published a new report on February 28 outlining potential options for a high-speed line linking Stockholm with Gothenburg and Malmö.

THE FIRST of 50 trains being supplied by China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock (CSR) to Kuala Lumpur for the Ampang Line extension was presented to representatives of the city's transport authority Prasarana at the CSR Zhuzhou plant on February 27.