BRAZILIAN mining conglomerate Vale has cleared a significant hurdle in its plans to build a railway to serve the new Carajás Serra Sul (S11D) mine in the state of Pará after the project was granted environmental approval by the federal government.

BRAZILIAN rail freight operator MRS Logistics signed an agreement with Rio de Janeiro state governor Mr Sergio Cabral on April 25 authorising the construction of an intermodal terminal in Queimados, 25km northwest of the city of Rio de Janeiro.

VOITH has placed a follow up order with MAN for 68 D2876 under-floor engines for use in conjunction with its DiwaPacks powerpack on passenger trains being built by Brazilian manufacturer Bom Sinal.

A CONSORTIUM led by Brazilian companies CCR Group and Invepar has been selected as the preferred bidder for a PPP contract to design, build, operate, and maintain the 28km light rail network in Porto Maravilha, Rio de Janeiro.

SPANISH rolling stock manufacturer CAF has reported a 19.1% drop in net profit to €22.2m for the first quarter of 2013.

KNORR-Bremse opened a new manufacturing facility in Itupeva in São Paulo state, Brazil, on April 17 following a Reais 111m ($US 55.6m) investment.

CONSTRUCTION has reportedly been suspended on a 468km railway in Venezuela because the government has failed to pay the Chinese contractor for work already carried out on the project.

PREQUALIFICATION bids are invited by Quito Metro by May 27 for phase 2 of a $US 1.5bn project to build the first metro line in the Ecuadorian capital. Construction is underway of the 22.5km, 15-station line following the award in November 2012 of a contract for phase 1 to Acciona Infrastructure, Spain.

TESTING has begun in Barcelona of the first Alstom Metropolis train for Panama metro Line 1, which is due to open next year.

DESPITE a slowdown in economic growth, Brazil's freight railways invested nearly Reais 4.9bn ($US 2.4bn) in new infrastructure and equipment last year, a 6.6% increase over 2011, according to figures released by the National Association of Rail Transport (ANTF) on April 3.