THE United States Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has granted conceptual planning approval to the construction of a $US 1.34bn starter light rail line in the city of Durham, North Carolina.

MEMBERS of the European parliament today voted to amend several key elements of the Fourth Railway Package during a plenary vote on its six legislative proposals, a move that has drawn criticism from European Commission vice-president Mr Siim Kallas.

MONGOLIAN State Railways (MTZ) says it expects freight traffic to almost double on its 1815km network by 2020 after volumes reached record levels in 2013.

THE FRENCH region of Rhône-Alpes announced on February 21 that it is forming an association with eight other regions with the aim of taking over the procurement and ownership of rolling stock for regional services from French National Railways (SNCF).

THE Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (Path) has opened the first platform at the new World Trade Center (WTC) Path station, a major milestone in the development of the new $US 3.44bn WTC Transport Hub.

GREATER Wellington Regional Council has sold 34 redundant class EM emus built by Ganz-Mavag, Hungary, in 1982, to an unnamed buyer in South Africa, which will refurbish the trains for re-use in Africa.

ANNOUNCING financial and operating results for the first half of its 2013-2014 financial year, Australian rail and port operator Asciano, the parent company of the PN Coal and PN Rail freight businesses, says it will undertake a major restructuring and reintegration of these two divisions from July 1.

THE UZBEK Reconstruction and Development Fund has allocated a $US 280m loan to help finance the construction of a new railway through the Kamchik pass in eastern Uzbekistan, which will allow east-west freight traffic to bypass northern Tajikistan.

CHINA Southern Locomotive and Rolling Stock Corporation (CSR) formally presented the first of a fleet of ten diesel trains for Iraqi Republic Railways (IRR) to Iraq's ambassador to Beijing Dr Abdul Karim Mostafa and other dignitaries at the CSR Sifang plant in Qingdao on February 17.

CHINA Southern Rolling Stock Corporation (CSR) subsidiary CSR Sifang has been awarded a contract to supply 32 four-car emus for the first phase of the Wenzhou City Railway network.