BELGIAN infrastructure manager Infrabel has finally signed a €510m contract for the rollout of ETCS Level 2 across 36% of Belgium's mainline network, almost a year after selecting a consortium of Siemens and Cofely Fabricom, Belgium, as preferred bidder.

TRANSPORT for London (TfL) has awarded Thales a £760m contract to resignal London Underground's Sub-Surface Lines (SSL), encompassing the Circle, Metropolitan, District and Hammersmith & City lines, following the cancellation of its original deal with Bombardier.

CHINA Railway Corporation has awarded a Yuan 118.7m ($US 19.1m) contract to Hollysys Automation Technologies, China, for on-board and lineside high-speed signalling equipment.

NEW YORK Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has given preliminary approval for two contracts totalling $US 205.8m for the first phase of the Queens Boulevard Line (QBL) CBTC rollout.
The Siemens contract is worth $US 156.2m, while the total value of the Thales contract is $US 49.6m.

TURKISH State Railways (TCDD) has awarded CGA, a joint venture between Çeliker, Gülermak, and AŽD Praha, a contract to upgrade the 378km line from Kalin west of Sivas to Samsun.

DEDICATED Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DCCIL) has awarded Alstom a Rs 15bn ($US 234.4m) systems contract for the 342km section of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) from Bhaupur to Khurja. The contract encompasses design and construction of electrification, signalling, telecommunications, buildings and other associated works.

GHANA plans to rehabilitate the Dunkwa - Awaso branch line of the 340km 1067mm-gauge western main line that links Takoradi, Dunkwa and Kumasi.

IRJ at the UIC High-Speed Rail World Congress, Tokyo: SIGNALLING suppliers will need to commit to the second release of ERTMS Baseline 3 if the technology is to finally become truly interoperable, European Railway Agency executive director Mr Josef Doppelbauer told delegates at the UIC High-Speed Rail World Congress in Tokyo on July 8.