MONTENEGRO’s privatisation council launched a tender on October 19 for the sale of a 51% stake in rail freight operator Montecargo.

INFRASTRUCTURE Ontario (IO) and Metrolinx have issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) for a contract to build, finance, operate and maintain the Hurontario LRT project in Mississaugua, Canada.

HELSINKI City Transport (HKL) confirmed on October 18 that it has signed a €60m loan agreement with the Nordic Investment Bank to finance an order for Artic low-floor LRVs from Škoda Transportation subsidiary Transtech.

THE Dutch government has agreed to adopt a proposal by the secretary of state for infrastructure Mrs Sharon Dijksma to bring infrastructure manager Prorail under direct state control, according to reports in the Dutch press on October 16.

PAVLODAR Tram Management Company, Kazakhstan, invites bids by December 5 for the supply of 25 low-floor trams for delivery within 12 months of the contract being signed.

PESA concluded its first order for its new Elf 2 family of EMUs on October 18, when the Polish manufacturer signed a Zlotys 206m ($US 52.5m) contract with the Silesian regional government and Silesian Railways (KS) for 13 trains.

EUROTUNNEL announced on October 18 that it has received an irrevocable offer from Swedish private equity group EQT Infrastructure II for the acquisition of Britain’s third-largest rail freight operator GB Railfreight (GBRf).

GERMAN Rail’s (DB) British rail freight subsidiary DB Cargo UK confirmed on October 17 that it is planning to reduce its workforce by 893 staff, including 391 drivers, blaming a “dramatic decline in core markets.”

RUSSIAN Railways (RZD) International started work on October 17 on a $US 38m project to reconstruct the Vinarci - Dzordzevo line in Serbia, which is the last of the three southern sections of TEN-T Corridor X to be reconstructed by RZD.

THE first two CRRC diesel locomotives for Argentina’s metre-gauge Belgrano Cargas network were loaded onto a ship at Lujong port in Shanghai on October 15 in readiness for the start of their sea voyage to Buenos Aires.