THE first fully-painted ES43ACmi Evolution Series diesel locomotive for Indian Railways (IR) has emerged from GE Transportation’s plant in Erie, Pennsylvania on August 3 and is due to be shipped to India within the next few weeks.
THE autonomous region of Inner Mongolia joined China’s high-speed network on August 3 with the opening of the 126km Hohhot - Ulanqab section of the 287km Hohhot - Zhangjiakou high-speed line.
INDIA’s cabinet gave the go-ahead on August 3 for three track-doubling and electrification projects in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, which have a total value of Rs 36.2bn ($US 569m).
PRASARANA Malaysia has awarded a Ringgits 1.56bn ($US 360m) contract to supply 42 driverless trains for Kuala Lumpur metro Line LRT3 to a consortium of CRRC Zhuzhou, Siemens China, and Malaysian partner Tegap Dinamik.
CHINA’s bold Belt and Road Initiative to develop new rail links to Europe and southeast Asia poses difficult questions regarding the title and security rights of rolling stock crossing borders, says Howard Rosen, chairman of the Rail Working Group.
THE first low-floor LRV for Foshan’s light rail Nanhai Line was officially unveiled at the CRRC Qingdao Sifang plant in China’s Shandong province on July 28.
TRIAL operation began on the first light rail line in Wuhan on July 28, with the launch of 28 days of free travel on the 16.8km Line T1, which serves southwestern districts of the city.
THE Thai cabinet has approved a Baht 101bn ($US 3bn) project to double the length of the Purple Line of the Bangkok metro by adding 23.6km from Tao Poon south to Rat Burana.
INDIAN Railways (IR) has shortlisted three bidders for a public-private partnership contract to build a factory to produce 5000 EMU cars over a period of 12 years. The selected supplier will also maintain the trains for 13 years.
THE CEO of China’s Exim Bank Mr Sun Ping and the CEO of Iran’s Bank of Industry and Mining, Mr Ashraf Afkhami, signed a $US 1.5bn loan agreement in Tehran on July 25, which will finance the electrification of the 926km Tehran - Mashhad line.
