A milestone was reached in the construction of Israel's 70km Ashkelon-Beer-Sheva line at the beginning of August when the signalling system was activated making the line operational.

NEW ZEALAND's prime minister Mr John Key attended a ceremony at Auckland Transport's Wiri depot on August 13 to mark the delivery of the last of 57 AM class EMUs from CAF.

CROATIAN rail infrastructure manager HŽ Infrastruktura has issued an invitation to tender for a contract for upgrading and track-doubling on the 36km Dugo Selo - Križevci section of the line from Zagreb to Koprivnica and the border with Hungary near Gyékényes.

ST PETERSBURG Metro announced on August 12 that it has selected Oktyabrsky Electric Car Plant (OEVRZ), a subsidiary of Transmashholding (TMH), as preferred bidder for a contract to supply 20 eight-car trains for the city's 1524mm-gauge 113km metro network.

MARYLAND Transit Administration (MTA) has decided to phase out its fleet of four AEM7 and six HHP8 electric locomotives used on Marc commuter services on the Northeast Corridor (NEC) and replace them with eight new 200km/h Siemens Charger diesel locomotives.

BRITISH rolling stock leasing company Eversholt Rail has revealed details of the £60m upgrade being carried out by Wabtec on 30 four-car class 321 EMUs currently leased by Abellio Greater Anglia (AGA) for services from London Liverpool Street to Essex and Suffolk.

ISTANBUL Metropolitan Municipality announced on August 12 that it will launch tenders next month for contracts to build two new metro lines as part of plans to expand the city's urban rail network to 441km by the end of the decade.

BELARUSSIAN Railways (BC) in partnership with PKP Intercity is planning to launch a new cross-border Minsk - Warsaw service in December in an effort to improve the attractiveness of its rail services.

BRASILIA's metro operator Metro-DF is planning to open Latin America's first entirely sustainable metro station next month following the installation of photovoltaic panels at Guariroba station on the network's Green Line.

THE Mongolian cabinet gave its approval on August 10 for the country's investment agency to proceed with the implementation of a concession agreement to build and operate the 547km Erdenet - Ovoot line, which will connect new coal mining developments in northern Mongolia to the rail network and eventually form part of a new China - Russia link.