THE UKRANIAN government has reportedly secured a $US 950 million loan from China to finance the construction of a rail link to Kiev Borispol International Airport. According to the People's Daily newspaper, the agreement was signed in Beijing yesterday during the state visit of Ukrainian President Mr Viktor Yanukovych to China. The report suggests the project will be implemented by a Chinese company.

PRELIMINARY engineering work on Ottawa's north-south light rail line is set to begin soon after the provincial government of Ontario signed off its $C 600 million ($US 576 million) contribution to the $C 2.1 billion project.

DB SCHENKER Rail, the railfreight subsidiary of German Rail (DB), says investment in its fleet of locomotives and wagons will reach a record high of Euros 410 million this year.

BOMBARDIER Transportation revealed today that it received $US 4.3 billion of new orders in the second quarter of this year, bringing its order backlog to $US 30.3 billion on July 31, compared with $US 27.1 billion on January 31.

THE FIRST appearance of a German Rail (DB) high-speed train in London will take place on October 19, according to CEO Dr Rüdiger Grube, who confirmed today that an ICE will run through the Channel Tunnel next month.

NJ Transit has awarded Bombardier a $US 267 million contract to supply an additional 100 double-deck coaches, with options for up to 79 further vehicles, as part of a major investment in its commuter rail network. Bombardier has already supplied 329 of these coaches under a contract placed in 2003.

ELEVEN years after construction began, the first regular passenger trains ran yesterday on Sweden's Bothniabanan with the launch of commercial services on the 112km Umeå - Nordmaling - Örnskoldsvik section.

NETWORK Rail (NR) has laid the final section of track on the new 24km line between Airdrie and Bathgate, the longest passenger line with new stations to be constructed in Britain in over a century.

EGYPTIAN private equity firm Citadel has finally been confirmed as the major shareholder of Rift Valley Railways (RVR), the consortium operating Kenya and Uganda's railways, following months of protracted negotiations.

The German transport minister was due to meet his French counterpart in Berlin at the end of last month with the aim of settling a dispute between DB and SNCF over access to the French network. Keith Barrow asks whether the row reflects an indifference to liberalisation in France or broader failures in European policy.