THE Alstom-led Gibela consortium has completed manufacturing of the first complete stainless-steel bodyshell for the 20 X'Trapolis Mega EMUs it is supplying to Passenger Rail Authority of South Africa (Prasa) from Alstom's Lapa plant in Brazil as part of an order for 600 trains.

METROLINX, the regional transport authority for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton region, has awarded Alstom a contract worth more than $US 250m to resignal the 6.4km Union Station Rail Corridor (USRC).

Construction is finally underway on Sydney's North West Rail Link which is scheduled to open in 2019. The project could revolutionise urban transport planning in Australia, as Mark Carter reports.

THE first 1520mm-gauge trials of Alstom's NBT slab track system began on November 15, when testing was launched at the VNIIZhT test centre at Shcherbinka near Moscow in the presence of Russian Railways (RZD) senior vice-president Mr Valentin Gapanovich.

MEXICO City Public Transport System (STC) has awarded Alstom Transport Mexico a Pesos 5.8bn ($US 343m) contract to modernise 85 rubber-tyred trains, which are used on metro lines 4, 5, 6, 7, and B.

SHEIK Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Ruler of Dubai, has officially opened the emirate's first light rail line.

IN the run up to the election on November 29 in the Australian state of Victoria, the Liberal/National coalition government has promised to invest $A 3.9bn ($US 3.4bn) in new rolling stock for the state's suburban, regional and light rail networks, should it be re-elected.

DELHI Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has awarded Alstom an €85m contract to supply 25 standard-gauge three-car trains for the initial phase of the metro network in the Indian city of Kochi.

NEW South Wales (NSW) transport minister Ms Gladys Berejklian has announced that the Connecting Sydney consortium has been selected as preferred bidder to build and operate Sydney's CBD and South East Light Rail line.

THE TramRus joint venture of Transmashholding and Alstom announced on October 21 that it will deliver a prototype low-floor LRV to St Petersburg by December 1.