THE government of the Australian state of Queensland has awarded a consortium led by Thiess Australia a $A 650m ($US 583m) contract to build the second phase of the $A 1.15bn Moreton Bay Rail Link.

A new rail link from the Italian city of Bari to Karol Wojtyla Airport was inaugurated on July 19, when the mayors of seven municipalities served by the Bari – Barletta line attended the opening of the 7km electrified connection.

AMTRAK President Mr Joe Boardman, Federal Railroad Administrator Mr Joseph Szabo and Siemens Rail Systems USA president Mr Michael Cahill visited the Transportation Technology Center (TTCI) at Pueblo on July 29 to see the ACS-64 Cities Sprinter electric locomotive being put through its paces.

THE World Bank has agreed to lend $US 205m to the municipality of Quito to support construction of the first metro line in the Ecuadorian capital, which is due to open in 2016.

NEW ZEALAND's national railway KiwiRail has taken delivery of three tampers and three ballast regulators, which were ordered in October 2011 at a cost of $NZ 12m ($US 9.6m).

BUENOS AIRES metro authority Sbase has announced that it is acquiring 73 series 6000 vehicles from Madrid Metro for use on Line B, following the opening of the 2km western extension of the line from Los Incas to Juan Manuel de Rosas on July 26.

OKLAHOMA Department of Transportation and the United States Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) have launched the Tulsa-Oklahoma City Passenger Rail Corridor Investment Plan to evaluate the feasibility of launching passenger services between the state's two largest cities.

CAF announced its first half figures on July 29, which show net profits for the first half reached €50m, 6.4% over net sales.

TRANSPORT authorities in Saxony-Anhalt have published preliminary information for the tendering of regional services on non-electrified lines in German state, the so-called Saxony-Anhalt diesel network.

CORSICAN Railways (CFC) has awarded French National Railways (SNCF) subsidiary SNCF Partnerships a three-year contract to provide staff training and technical assistance on the island's 232km metre-gauge network.