A direct metro link between Taipei city centre and Taoyuan International Airport was inaugurated on March 2 by Taiwan’s minister of transport Mr He Che Dan, the mayor of Taipei Mr Ke Wenzhe, and the mayor of Taoyuan Mr Zheng Wencan.

THE Indian government has applied for a loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) towards the cost of the Reach 6 Project to build Line 4 of the Bangalore metro.

INDONESIAN president Mr Joko Widodo and the governor of Jakarta Mr Basuki Tjahaja descended beneath the streets of the capital on February 23 to mark the completion of tunnelling for the first phase of the city’s MRT project.

TUNNEL boring on the Red Line of the Tel Aviv metro started four months ahead of schedule on February 19. Half of the 24km line will be underground.

BRUSSELS Transport (Stib) has awarded a consultancy contract to a consortium of Systra, Geste and Tractebel to assist with the introduction of communications-based train control (CBTC) on metro lines 1 and 5.

THE Iranian city of Mashhad added a second line to its metro network on February 20 with the inauguration of an 8km section of the north-south Line 2 from Shohada to Kashfrood.

THE Prime Minister of Denmark Mr Lars Løkke Rasmussen and the mayor of Copenhagen Mr Frank Jensen witnessed the completion of tunnelling on the Cityringen orbital metro line on the morning of February 20, when TBM Tria broke through at the east end of the Copenhagen Central station box.

SIEMENS has won a €40m contract to install communications-based train control (CBTC) on the initial two lines of the Nagpur metro in India.

PANAMA Metro has invited expressions of interest for a contract to carry out a pre-feasibility study for lines 4 and 5.

NORTH Milan Railways (FNM) confirmed on February 14 that it is talks with Milan urban transport operator Milan Transport (ATM) regarding a possible merger.