THE Barcelona metro network was extended by 20km on February 12 with the opening of the southern section of the automated Line 9 from Zona Universitària to El Prat International Airport, 10 years after construction began on the €2.9bn project.

LIGHT Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC) has awarded a consortium of Alstom and Bouygues Travaux Publics a €450m contract to upgrade and extend Manila light metro Line LRT1.

NORWEGIAN open-access rail freight operator Cargolink ceased operations on February 11 after the company's board decided to file for insolvency.

PARIS Transport Authority (RATP) has awarded a five-year 24/7 contract to Ansaldo STS to maintain the signalling on 17 metro and light rail lines in the French capital.

IN the first deployment of its type in France, telecoms operator Orange has completed the rollout of a public LTE network on the Paris - Lyon high-speed line, providing continuous onboard 4G coverage on TGV services at speeds of up to 300km/h.

TORONTO and Hamilton transit authority Metrolinx outlined the four options being considered for the core of the Toronto Regional Express Rail (RER) network at a board meeting on February 10.

ALSTOM has acquired an additional 25% stake in the Kazakh EKZ joint venture locomotive manufacturer from Kazakhstan Railways (KTZ) to become the main shareholder with a 50% holding.

ANSALDO STS and Linbrooke Services, Britain, have been awarded a £34.5m contract by Britain's infrastructure manager Network Rail (NR) to resignal and upgrade a 56km section of the Leeds/Doncaster - Hull line between Gilberdyke and Ferriby.

METRANS, the open-access railfreight subsidiary of Hamburg Ports and Logistics (HHLA), has awarded Alstom a contract to supply two Prima H3 hybrid shunting locomotives.

SWITZERLAND's Federal Office of Transport (BAV) published a report on January 14 detailing the reasons behind the deterioration in the condition of the country's standard-gauge infrastructure and outlining potential solutions to the problem.