ANSALDO STS has been awarded a $A 44m ($US 33m) contract to supply signalling and telecommunications systems for Perth’s Forrestfield – Airport Link.

MELBOURNE’s extensive tram network could soon be running on electricity supplied by large-scale solar power plants under plans unveiled by the government of the Australian state of Victoria.

THE New South Wales (NSW) state government has announced that following the granting of final planning approvals, construction will begin this year on stage 2 of the Sydney Metro project from Chatswood through the Sydney central business district to Sydenham and on to Bankstown.

ACCORDING to a number of recent Australian media reports, Indian mining company Adani has requested a $A 1bn ($US 745m) loan from the Australian government’s Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (Naif) to support the construction of the 389km line linking its coal mine in North Queensland to the port of Abbott Point.

THE Australian subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming (G&W), United States, has completed the acquisition of Glencore Rail (GRail) for $A 1.14bn ($US 846m) and issued a 49% equity stake in Genesee & Wyoming Australia (GWA) to funds and clients managed by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets.

FOLLOWING a competitive tender, Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW) has awarded Downer EDI a $A 1.7bn ($US 1.3bn) contract to supply and maintain 24 Waratah double-deck suburban EMUs, which will provide additional capacity on the Sydney Trains network.

AUSTRALIAN rail freight operator SCT Logistics has announced it will launch its first services on the Melbourne - Brisbane interstate corridor in January 2017, the first time a private operator has challenged the two major players already operating on the route, Pacific National and Aurizon.

VICTORIA state minister for public transport Mrs Jacinta Allan announced on November 22 that the Evolution Rail consortium, which comprises Downer Rail, CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles and Plenary Group, has reached contractual close on Melbourne’s $A 2bn ($US 1.5bn) High Capacity Metro Trains (HCMT) public-private partnership (PPP).

THE government of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) has announced a new metro line will be built between Parramatta and the Sydney business district, with construction expected to commence within the next five years.

AUSTRALIAN rail freight operator Aurizon has released figures for the third quarter of 2016 which show that rail volumes are consistent with expectations, and that there is a continued decrease in total coal volumes but an improvement in its intermodal business.