BRITAIN's chancellor of the exchequer Mr George Osborne announced on September 24 that HS2 Ltd has begun the prequalification process for seven major civil works contracts for the initial 190km phase of High-Speed 2 from London to Birmingham and a junction with the West Coast Main Line (WCML) near Lichfield.
CONSTRUCTION of the 18.5km light rail extension to Los Angeles' Gold Line from Sierra Madre Villa in Pasadena to Azusa has been completed and handed over to Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) for commissioning.
THE board of Amtrak is believed to have selected Alstom to negotiate a contract to supply a fleet of high-speed trains as part of Amtrak's $US 2.5bn project to upgrade the Northeast Corridor linking Boston, New York and Washington DC.
SINGAPORE's Land Transport Authority (LTA) has awarded a $S 136.8m ($US 96m) contract to a consortium of Kawasaki Heavy Industries and CRRC subsidiary CSR Qingdao Sifang for 12 six-car trains for the North-South and East-West metro lines (NSEWL).
THE Israeli prime minister Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, together with Israel's transport minister Mr Israel Katz, and Israel Railways' general manager Mr Boaz Zafrir, officially opened the 70km Ashkelon - Beer-Sheva line on September 17.
FRECCIAROSSA ETR 500 high-speed trains are now running from Milan to Bari in southeastern Italy for the first time following the replacement of a Frecciabianca train on a daily round trip.
KENYA Railways has signed an agreement with China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) to extend the 609km standard-gauge line under construction between Mombasa and Nairobi by 120km north to Naivasha.
AUSTRIAN open-access operator Westbahn has announced it will introduce additional Friday, Saturday and Sunday peak services between Vienna and Linz from October 2 to accommodate rising demand.
THE first of 47 CAF Urbos LRVs ordered by Budapest Transport Centre (BKK) for the tram network in the Hungarian capital entered service on Line 3 on September 17.
THE FIRST modern light rail line in Sub-Saharan Africa was inaugurated on September 20, when passenger operations began on Addis Ababa Line 1.
