THE Colombian government has allocated Pesos 15 trillion ($US 5.1bn) towards urban transport projects in the capital Bogota, with a significant chunk of the funding destined for the city’s first metro line.

TRANSNET, South Africa, has awarded a contract to GE to install its Predix operating system for the industrial internet to connect shippers and transport operators by providing real-time information on the status of shipments.

THE Nigerian federal government has approved construction of the Kano - Kaduna standard-gauge line.

SIEMENS has concluded two further contracts for Vectron electric locomotives with customers in Austria and Switzerland.

BRAZIL’s Court of Auditors (TCU) ruled on January 25 that all transfers of funds from state-owned institutions to the Transnordestina railway project must be halted due to a “serious mismatch between the investments and the physical accounting schedule.”

PASSENGER numbers on the Polish railway network reached their highest level for 14 years in 2016, according to figures published by the Office of Railway Transport (UTK) on January 27.

SYRIA’s transport minister Mr Ali Hammoud visited Aleppo on January 25 to mark the resumption of passenger services in the country’s largest city more than four years after operations were suspended due to the civil war.

BADEN-Württemberg Ministry of Transport announced on January 26 that it has awarded DB Regio a contract to operate regional services on the Rhine Valley line from Karlsruhe to Basle in Switzerland.

THE French Senate adopted a bill on January 26 ratifying the agreement between the French and Italian governments to build the €26.1bn Lyon - Turin high-speed line.

THE Chinese city of Harbin opened the first phase of its circular metro line on January 26, when trial passenger operation began on the 4km southern section of Line 3 between Harbin West Station and an interchange with Line 1 at Yidaeryuan.