THE government of the Australian state of Western Australia announced on September 7 that it has allocated a budget of $A 1.34bn ($US 1.08bn) over the next four years for its Metronet expansion of the Perth suburban rail network.

AS part of its ongoing freight strategy for the Melbourne to Brisbane rail corridor, Australian logistics and interstate rail freight operator SCT Logistics officially opened its Bromelton Intermodal Estate freight hub in south east Queensland on August 23.

EIGHT Auckland Transport (AT) DMUs together with spare parts are being shipped from New Zealand to Mozambique to operate commuter rail services in Maputo.

BOMBARDIER has rolled out the 200th VLocity DMU from its Dandenong factory for Public Transport Victoria for operation on regional services in the Australian state of Victoria.

THE government of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) has reaffirmed its intention to replace its entire regional rolling stock fleet and has also announced a new depot will be constructed in the regional centre of Dubbo to maintain the new trains.

AUSTRALIAN rail freight operator Aurizon has announced that it will withdraw from both the intra and interstate Intermodal rail businesses through a combination of closures and sales in the coming months.

NEW Zealand’s National Railway KiwiRail says it expects to re-open the Christchurch - Picton section of the South Island Main Trunk Line by September, 10 months after an earthquake caused significant damage to the route.

ALSTOM has delivered the first of 60 Citadis X05 LRVs to Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW) in Sydney, as part of the CBD and South East Light Rail project.

AUCKLAND Council’s Finance and Performance Committee agreed in principle on July 26 to go ahead with the purchase of 17 Independently-Powered Electric Multiple Units (IPEMUs), which will replace DMUs on Auckland Transport (AT) suburban services to Pukekohe and expand the fleet as ridership grows.