JOURNEY times between the capitals of China's Anhui and Fujian provinces were cut in half on June 28 with the launch of commercial services on the 813km Hefei - Fuzhou high-speed line.

CHENNAI became the seventh Indian city to launch a metro network on June 29, when the chief minister of Tamil Nadu Dr Selvi Jayalalithaa inaugurated the 9km elevated section of Line 2 from Koyambedu to Alandur.

DELHI Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has awarded Bombardier a contract worth around Rs 15bn ($US 228m) to supply 162 broad-gauge metro cars.

MITSUBISHI Electric has completed the installation of all-silicon carbide (SiC) power modules on an N700 Shinkansen train which JR Central has started to test.

THE Asian Development Bank (ADB) plans to provide about $US 6bn to help fund road, rail and regional connectivity projects in Bangladesh.

TOKYO Metro and Tobu Railway have decided to have a common design of train which will be introduced on their two networks between 2016 and 2019.

THE Indian government's Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the prime minister Mr Narendra Modi, has approved a revised cost estimate for the Eastern and Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) projects of Rs. 814.6bn ($US 12.8bn).

STATE Railway of Thailand (SRT) has invited bids for a Baht 4.4bn ($US 131m) tender to supply a fleet of new trains for the airport rail link between Bangkok and Suvarnabhumi Airport.

SHANGHAI Shentong Metro has awarded a Yuan 808m ($US 130m) turnkey contract to the CSR Puzhen Bombardier Transportation Systems joint venture for a new automated peoplemover. Bombardier's share of the contract is Yuan 89m.

SINGAPORE's Ministry of Transport has expressed surprise at suggestions made by Malaysia's Land Public Transport Commission's (Spad) that the planned Kuala Lumpur - Singapore high-speed line should terminate short of the border between the two countries.