THE first of 30 new metre-gauge diesel-electric locomotives built by Chinese rolling stock manufacturer CRRC Ziyang arrived in Argentina on February 8.

RIO de Janeiro added a second line to the Porto Maravilha light rail network on February 6, when the city’s mayor Mr Marcelo Crivella inaugurated the initial section of Line 2 between Saara and Praça XV (Barcas).

SÃO PAULO state governor Mr Geraldo Alckmin inaugurated the final section of the initial Reais 1.3bn ($US 410m) phase of the light rail network in the Brazilian port city of Santos.

ARGENTINA’s Ministry of Transport and Argentinean Trains (TA) have held a series of technical consultations with international rolling stock suppliers as part of preparations for procurement for the Buenos Aires RER project.

THE Colombian government has allocated Pesos 15 trillion ($US 5.1bn) towards urban transport projects in the capital Bogota, with a significant chunk of the funding destined for the city’s first metro line.

BRAZIL’s Court of Auditors (TCU) ruled on January 25 that all transfers of funds from state-owned institutions to the Transnordestina railway project must be halted due to a “serious mismatch between the investments and the physical accounting schedule.”

RUMO is now Brazil and Latin America’s largest rail freight company. Operating a network of over 12,000km covering four rail concessions in Mato Grosso, São Paulo, Paraná, and southwestern Brazil, the railway’s fleet of 1000 locomotives and 25,000 wagons primarily transports agricultural products from the heartlands of the country to port for export.

BRAZIL’s National Transport Agency (ANTT) invites funding offers by January 27 to enhance a technical and economic feasibility study conducted last year into a public-private project (PPP) to construct a 209km passenger railway between Brasilia and Goiãnia.

SIEMENS announced on January 4 that it will provide traction power supply equipment for the first 9km section of metro Line 1 in Lima.

ALSTOM announced on January 9 that it has been awarded a contract by Mexican railway operator Ferromex to provide maintenance for 219 locomotives for five years.