ODAKYU Electric Railway, Japan, will be the launch customer for Mitsubishi Electric's new traction inverter with all-silicon carbide (SiC) power modules using SiC transistors and SiC diodes.

THE World Bank has sanctioned a second loan of $US 1.1bn for construction of the 393km Mughalsarai - Bhaupur section of India's Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC).

THE SECOND phase of Tehran Metro Line 3 was inaugurated on April 22, when the city's Mayor Mr Mohammad Qalibaf officially opened the 12km extension from Vali-e Asr to Azadegan.

TAIWAN's Railway Reconstruction Bureau (RRB) announced on April 22 that it has adopted a preferred route for a direct line between Taipei and the island's East Coast.

THE FIRST of 20 metro trains for Dalian metro Line 2 was unveiled at the CNR Dalian Locomotive & Rolling Stock plant on April 21.

IRAN's New Towns Development Corporation (NTDC) has issued an international invitation to prequalify for a contract to finance, design, build, and commission a 40km suburban line running northeast from Mashhad to the new city of Golbahar.

NIPPON Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation (NS&SMC) announced on April 16 that it has upgraded rail production and handling facilities at its Yawata steel works in the Japanese prefecture of Fukuoka to produce and distribute 150m-long rails, which the company claims are the longest in the world.

SINGAPORE Land Transport Authority (LTA) issued an invitation to tender on April 11 for a contract to carry out an engineering feasibility study for the Singaporean section of the Singapore – Kuala Lumpur high-speed line.

CSR Nanjing Puzhen Rolling Stock has unveiled the first of 18 low-floor Flexity 2 LRVs for the first phase of the city of Suzhou's under-construction light rail network.

CHINA Railways Corporation (CRC) has announced it will increase its 2014 investment budget to Yuan 720bn ($US 116.3bn), Yuan 20bn more than previously planned.