GE has announced it is to expand its strategic partnership with Tülomsaş, which will see the Turkish manufacturer become the main supplier of PowerHaul diesel locomotives for Europe, Turkey, the Middle East, and North Africa.

PROVISIONAL traffic figures for December 2012 show that about 4 million Israelis travelled by train, which means that for the first time ever annual passenger traffic exceeded 40 million journeys.

A BIDDERS conference held in Tel Aviv today by NTA for a tender for a fleet of LRVs was attended by representatives from 22 companies from Israel and several European countries.

THE ISRAELI government has approved a Shekels 130m ($US 34m) investment in freight equipment with the aim of increasing railfreight volumes from seven million tonnes to 13.5 million tonnes within five years.

THE first batch out of 240 wagons being supplied by CSR, China, to Etihad Rail has arrived in Abu Dhabi's port of Mina Zayed.

TEL AVIV Metropolitan Mass Transit System (NTA) issued an invitation to bid on November 8 for a contract to design, supply, commission, and maintain a fleet of 90 LRVs for the city's light rail network, with options for 30 additional vehicles.

FEASIBILITY studies have been completed and land acquisition is underway on the first phase of Jordan's proposed 897km national railway network, the country's transport minister Mr Alaa Batayneh told delegates at the International Union of Railways (UIC) Regional Assembly of the Middle East High Level Conference in Amman on November 5.

THE global railway track system market remains on course for steady growth despite the budget crisis in the Euro zone and the slowdown in upgrades in China, according to the latest market study by German consultancy group, SCI Verkehr.

ISRAEL Railways (IR) has signed a cooperation agreement with the National Roads Company (NRC) for the electrification of the country's railway network, and issued an invitation to prequalify for the first phase of the project.

BAHRAIN is aiming to complete its rail masterplan which includes mainline connections to neighbouring GCC countries Saudi Arabia and Qatar as well as plans for metro, light rail, and monorail systems by the end of the year, the country's minister of transport Mr Kamal Ahmed confirmed this week. These would be the first railways to built in Bahrain with the plans due to be realised by 2030.