SULTAN Qaboos of Oman has issued a Royal Decree declaring the second phase of the country's rail project a public utility project which paves the way for acquisition of the land required for the 240km line from Haifait to Fahoud.

BOMBELA Concession Company, which operates and maintains South Africa's Gautrain commuter network, has issued a request for qualification for the design, manufacture, supply and maintenance of 12 four-car EMUs.

GERMAN Rail (DB) has announced the outcome of months of strategic review, assisted by consulting firm McKinsey, confirming a programme of measures to tackle the company's worsening financial performance.

CANBERRA Capital Metro minister Mr Simon Corbell announced on December 22 that the Australian Capital Territory has approved development applications for construction of the first phase of the city's light rail network.

SHANGHAI launched commercial services on three metro extensions on December 19, taking the total length of the network to 617km with 366 stations.

PRELIMINARY construction was officially launched on Auckland's $NZ 2.5bn ($US 1.7bn) City Rail Link (CRL) on December 21, when around 80 people attended a Manawhenua dawn blessing of the initial worksite at the intersection of Victoria Street and Albert Street in the city centre.

THE Polish city of Olsztyn launched regular services on its light rail network on December 19, with operator MPK Olsztyn offering two weeks of free travel on the 10.5km two-line system.

BERLIN Transport Authority (BVG) has exercised an option with Bombardier Transportation for an additional 47 bi-directional Flexity low-floor LRVs at a cost of €176m.

LITHUANIAN Railways (LG) has signed a €50m loan agreement with the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) to aid the funding of various railway infrastructure improvement projects.

GERMAN Rail (DB) has confirmed that as part of its planned cost reductions for next year it will cease operating all overnight trains with sleeper, couchette and specially-equipped overnight seating coaches from December 15 2016.