ESTONIAN Railways (EVR) has completed a two-year project to upgrade 57km of track on the Tapa - Tartu line.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held in the Philippines on January 5 to mark the start of preliminary construction on the first phase of the Manila North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) project.

ALSTOM announced on January 8 that the regions of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and Grand Est have exercised options for 14 additional Coradia Polyvalent multiple units under a framework contract signed in 2009.

CHINA added nearly 700km to its high-speed network at the end of December with the opening of three new lines.

BIELEFELD public transport operator MoBiel has placed a €90m order with a consortium of Heiterblick and Kiepe Electric for 24 additional GTZ8-B Vamos high-floor LRVs.

KENYA Railways (KR) celebrated the first day of commercial freight operations on the new standard-gauge Nairobi - Mombasa line on January 1.

SHANGHAI Metro started trial running on an extension to Line 9 and the new Line 17 on December 30 which has expanded the network to 637km and 387 stations, thereby maintaining its position as the world’s largest metro network.

UNITED States freight railways transported 27,489,960 wagonloads and intermodal units in 2017, an increase of 3.4% compared with 2016.

BERLIN Transport (BVG) has published a tender requesting planning services for the first major expansion of tram services in the historic centre of Berlin since World War II.

THE Chinese city of Xiamen opened its first metro line on December 31. The 30.3km line runs north-south and links the mainland with Xiamen Island.