CZECH Railways (ČD) announced on April 13 that it will equip 663 vehicles of 33 different types with ETCS Level 2 as deployment of the system continues under infrastructure manager SŽDC's ERTMS National Implementation Plan.

VIAPORTO, the consortium responsible for operating and maintaining the 67km light metro network in the Portuguese city of Porto, has awarded EMEF, Portugal, a €11.3m two-year contract to carry out light maintenance on its LRV fleet.

The government of the Australian state of New South Wales has announced the start of the tender process to build twin-bore railway tunnels under Sydney Harbour and the city centre for Stage 2 of the Sydney Metro project.

IRJ at Infrarail, London: Max Bögl, Germany, and Tarmac, Britain, have formed a joint venture to market Max Bögl's FFB slab track system in Britain.

ITALIAN State Railways (FS) will participate in the construction of the Teheran - Hamedan and Qom - Arak high-speed lines under a framework agreement with an estimated value of around €3bn, which was signed in Tehran on April 12 by FS CEO Mr Renato Mazzoncini and Dr Mohsen Pour Seyed Aghaei, Iran's deputy transport minister and president of Iranian Islamic Republic Railways (RAI).

CHINA's weakening economic growth continued to dampen rail freight demand in the first quarter of this year, according figures released by China Railways Corporation (CRC) on April 11, which show volumes declined 9.4% year-on-year to 788 million tonnes.

SIEMENS has received contracts to supply a total of 11 multi-system Vectron electric locomotives for two European freight operators.

ISRAEL Railways celebrated a milestone in the construction of the $US 1bn Valley Line from Haifa Lev Hamifratz to Beit Shee'an on April 3, when contractor Leisco completed tracklaying on the 60km line.

KIEV tram operator Kyivpastrans has awarded Pesa, Poland, a contract worth around €11.5m to supply 10 Fokstrot low-floor LRVs for use on the Ukrainian capital's 279km tram network.

VFLI, an open-access railfreight subsidiary of French National Railways (SNCF), has awarded Stadler Rail Valencia a contract via Beacon Rail Leasing to supply three additional Euro 4000 diesel locomotives for use on freight services in France and Belgium.