A full-size mock up of the Alstom Citadis X05 LRV for the second tram line in Nice went on public display in Place Garibaldi on October 1.

SAN DIEGO Association of Governments (Sandag) has awarded Mid-Coast Contractors, a joint venture of Skanska, Stacy and Witbeck, and Herzog, a $US 921.8m contract to build the Mid-Coast light rail line.

CONSTRUCTION of the second phase of the metro network in the Brazilian city of Salvador reached a milestone on September 29 with the start of dynamic testing on the east-west Line 2.

AN agreement to develop mail coaches for operation between China, Russia and western Europe was signed by managing director of Tver Carriage Works (TVZ) Mr Taras Spivak, Deputy director general of Russian Post Logistics Mr Alexey Skatin, and head of Siemens Mobility Russia Mr Jörg Liebscher at last week’s Sochi International Investment Forum.

JAPAN’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MILT) announced on September 26 that it has approved plans for the construction of a 14.6km light rail line in Utsunomiya, the capital of Tochigi prefecture north of Tokyo.

THE United States Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has awarded Florida commuter rail operator SunRail a $US 93.4m grant to for its 27.7km southern extension from Sand Lake Road in Orlando to Kissimmee and Poinciana in Osceola County.

CHICAGO Transit Authority (CTA) announced on September 9 that it will publish a draft environmental impact study (EIS) on October 6 for the proposed southern extension of the Red Line from 95th Street to 130th Street on the city’s Far South Side.

POLAND’s largest rail freight operator PKP Cargo slipped back into the red in the first-half of 2016 as a combination of “difficult” market conditions, and challenges facing Czech subsidiary AWT put the company under financial pressure.

THE six best and final bids were submitted to Israel Railways on September 28 for a contract to supply a fleet of 60 double-deck EMUs totalling 330 cars.