TOLL Group, Australia, announced on December 22 that it has divested its 55% share in the Toll Royal Railway concession to its joint venture partner, Royal Group, Cambodia.
CONSTRUCTION of the 857km link from Guiyang to Guangzhou, the first high-speed line in China's southwest karst region, was completed on December 21, with test operations set to begin by the end of this week.
CHINA Railway Corporation confirmed on December 19 that construction has begun on a 402km line linking Lhasa in Tibet with Nyingchi, close to the disputed Indian border region of Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as part of Tibet.
JR East outlined its future procurement strategy at the EU-Japan 2nd Railway Industrial Dialogue earlier this month, pledging to strengthen links with European suppliers.
JR Central hosted ceremonies at Shinagawa station in Tokyo and at Nagoya station on December 17 to mark the start of construction on the Yen 5.5 trillion ($US 46.45bn) Chuo maglev line between the two cities.
DEDICATED Freight Corridor Corporation (DFCC) finance director Mr M K Mittal and World Bank country director for India Mr Onno Ruhl signed a $US 1.1bn loan agreement in Delhi on December 11, which will finance the 393km second phase of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) between Bhaupur and Mughalsarai in Uttar Pradesh.
JSC Lokomotiv Kurastyru Zauyty (LKZ), Kazakhstan, has delivered the first of a batch of 1520mm-gauge TE33A six-axle diesel locomotives for Turkmenistan Railways (TPK).
CHINA marked the completion of a key international rail project in its southern Yunnan province on December 1 with the opening of a 142km line from Mengzi to Hekou on the border with Vietnam.
ALSTOM has agreed to purchase an additional 25% stake in its Kazakhstan locomotive joint venture EKZ from Kazakhstan Railways (KTZ) increasing its holding to 50%, which will expand the company's scope to include maintenance activities through a dedicated facility in Astana.
KOREA's national passenger operator Korail has placed a Won 154.4bn ($US 138m) order with Hyundai Rotem for 22 EMUs for commuter services. The trains will be deployed on the Donghae Nambu line in southeast Korea and the new Seongnam - Yeoju Line, work on which is due to be completed by the end of 2015.
