DEDICATED Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFFCIL) has awarded two civil works contracts worth Rs 43.3bn ($US 660m) for sections of the second phase of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) between Delhi and Mumbai to the Express Freight Consortium, which is led by Mitsui & Co, Japan.

AROUND 30 companies attended a prequalification conference in Manila on August 20 for the Philippines' largest public-private partnership (PPP) project, the Pesos 170.7bn ($US 3.66bn) southern section of the North-South Railway Project (NSRP).

CHINA is to construct a second high-speed line between Fuzhou and Zhangzhou, but with a design speed of 350km/h rather than the 250km/h design speed of the existing line which opened in 2010 and is now very busy with trains operating in excess of 100% occupancy.

THE first locomotive produced by First Locomotive Company, the joint venture of Zavod Metallokonstrukcii and Bombardier, was unveiled at a ceremony held at the joint venture's Engels plant in Saratov region, Russia, on August 19.

BANGLADESH Railway (BR) has awarded a Rs 200m ($US 3m) contract to Barsyl, India, to conduct detailed design and construction supervision for the rehabilitation of the Kulaura - Shahbazpur line.

BERN Solothurn Regional Transport (RBS), which operates a 54km metre-gauge network of suburban lines radiating from the Swiss capital Bern, has invited bids for a fleet of 14 EMUs for S-Bahn Line 7.

THE first of 10 Alstom Régiolis trains for the French region of Upper Normandy was officially presented to regional president Mr Nicholas Mayer Rossignol by SNCF Mobility regional director Mr Jean-Philippe Dupont and Mr Jean Williamson, director of Alstom's Reichshoffen plant, at Sotteville depot near Rouen on August 18.

TURKEY's transport minister Mr Feridun Bilgin confirmed on August 19 that a consortium of Turkish construction companies Gülermak and YSE has been awarded a contract to carry out civil works on the 7.4km extension of Istanbul metro Line M4 from Kaynarca to Sabiha Gökçen International Airport.

BRITISH rolling stock leasing company Angel Trains announced on August 18 that two of its existing shareholders, Australian pension fund AMP Capital Investors and PSP Investments, Canada, have acquired the entire stake previously held by Arcus European Infrastructure Fund.

AUSTRALIA's largest railfreight operator, Aurizon has reported a 139% increase in statutory net profit after tax to $A 604m ($US 443.8m) for the 2015 financial year despite traffic remaining relatively flat.