PASSENGER capacity on Auckland’s new City Rail Link, currently under construction, is set to be expanded as a result of patronage on the city's rail network rising faster than original projections.

NEW Zealand national operator KiwiRail will restart its South Island Coastal Pacific passenger service on the Main North Line between Picton and Christchurch from December 1, two years operations were suspended due to the Kaikoura earthquake on November 14 2016, which damaged a large section of the coastal line.

ALSTOM has signed a €60m contract with Transport for Victoria (TfV), the Australian state’s public transport authority, to supply five additional six-car X’Trapolis EMUs for Melbourne’s suburban rail network.

WORK to excavate a 14m-deep trench that will contain twin tunnels under Britomart Station and Lower Queen Street as part of Auckland’s 3.45km double-track underground City Rail Link (CRL) began on July 24.

THE government of the Australian state of Victoria has announced that if re-elected in the forthcoming November state election it will provide up to $A 5bn ($US 3.5bn) towards the construction of a dedicated rail link from the Melbourne city centre to the international and domestic airport at Tullamarine.

THE New Zealand government has announced that it will allocate $NZ 250,000 ($US 170,000) through the provincial growth fund for a feasibility study to investigate the viability of a daily, two-way scenic train service between Westport, Greymouth and Hokitika, on the West Coast of the South Island.

THE NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), which is leading the procurement and delivery of the Auckland Light Rail programme, has announced will conduct market engagement with interested suppliers and industry participants in August.

THE state government of South Australia and the Australian government have formalised an agreement that will see $A 220m ($US 163.3m) of federal funding provided towards full electrification of the 78km line linking Adelaide and the outer suburb of Gawler.

MINING company Rio Tinto has achieved the first delivery of iron ore by an autonomous, driverless train as part of its $US 940m AutoHaul programme focused on automating trains running to its port facilities in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

ALSTOM has been awarded a 15-year contract by Metro Trains Sydney (MTS) for the maintenance of rolling stock and signalling on the 36km Sydney Metro Northwest Line, which is currently under construction and due to open in the first half of 2019.