LONDON Underground reported a record 1.3 billion journeys on its services in its 2014-15 financial year, with the British capital's public transport services now carrying more than a half a billion more people annually than it did five years ago.

THE final section of 42km of bored tunnels for London's Crossrail project has been completed allowing fitting out to commence. The £14.8bn project is now 65% complete, within budget, and on target to open in 2018.

INDIA's Pink City Jaipur inaugurated its first metro line on June 2, when the 9.6km Phase 1A of the Pink Line from Mansarova to Chandpole was officially opened by Mrs Vasundhara Raje, chief minister of the state of Rajasthan.

A MILESTONE was reached on the construction of the eastern section of Santo Domingo metro Line 2 on May 20, with the completion of tunnelling works on the extension from Eduardo Brito to Carretera Malla on San Vinente de Paul Avenue.

VIENNESE public transport operator Wiener Linien has announced the new U-Bahn Line U5 will be the first in the city to operate with driverless trains.

THE president of Ile-de-France region Mr Jean-François Carenco, mayor of Paris Mrs Anne Hidalgo, and the newly-appointed president executive director of Paris Transport Authority (RATP) Mrs Elisabeth Borne, attended a ceremony on June 1 to mark the start of preliminary works on the eastern extension of Paris metro Line 11 from Mairie des Lilas to Rosny-Bois-Perrier.

With Brazil's ambitious programme of railway construction plans stalling, the government is revising its concession model for new projects to rely more on private investment while easing pressure on public debt. Kevin Smith looks at the intricacies of this new policy and how the market might receive it.  

PLANS to extend Budapest metro Line 4 east from its current terminus at Keleti have effectively been abandoned after the municipal goverment voted instead to expand the city's tram network.

CHINA's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) confirmed on May 18 that it has approved the next phase of the metro network in Chengdu, which encompasses the construction of 79.1km of new lines by 2020.

THE government of Panama announced on May 14 that it has selected Consorcio Linea 2, a consortium of Constructora Norberto Odebrecht, Brazil, and FCC Construcciones, Spain, to build the second metro line in Panama City.