THE Australian Capital Territory (ACT) government announced on March 17 that it has shortlisted two consortia to submit bids for the contract to design, build, and operate Canberra's Capital Metro light rail line.

AUSTRALIAN Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) has issued an invitation to tender for engineering design and environmental consultancy services for the Inland Rail project, the first contract to be tendered for the new freight link from Brisbane to Melbourne.

THE Premier of the Australian state of Victoria Mr Daniel Andrews announced on March 3 that the state will place an order for five additional six-car X'Trapolis EMUs for the Melbourne suburban network, safeguarding the immediate future of the Alstom assembly plant at Ballarat.

SYDNEY's CBD and South East Light Rail line light rail project took another step towards the start of construction on February 25, when the Altrac Light Rail consortium of Acciona Infrastructure Australia, Transdev Sydney, Alstom Transport Australia and Capella Capital confirmed it had reached financial close on the $A 2.1bn ($US 1.72bn) PPP project.

GENESEE & Wyoming (G&W) announced on February 24 that it has agreed to acquire a 95% stake in Britain's Freightliner Group from Arcapita and other shareholders for $US 755m in cash.

Melbourne's Regional Rail Link project is set to transform rail travel in the city when it is completed later this year. The project offers valuable project management lessons to other undertakings in Australia and around the world, as Allen Garner, CEO of Regional Rail Link Authority, explains.

AUSTRALIAN railfreight operator Aurizon has increased net profit by 188% to $A 308m ($US 240m) for the first half of the 2014-15 financial year ending December 31 2014, compared with the first half of 2013-14, despite a decline in traffic.

THE government of the Australian state of Victoria has indicated its commitment to the Melbourne Metro Rail project by providing $A 40m ($US 31.1m) in funding to immediately establish a statutory authority to oversee planning works, develop the reference design and undertake detailed site investigations.

THE South West Rail Link (SWRL) extension to the Sydney Trains suburban network from Glenfield to Leppington was officially opened to the public on February 7.

THE government of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) has announced that the option for an extension to the Capital Metro light rail network from Canberra city centre to the suburb of Russell will be included in the upcoming request for proposals for the first stage of the project.