NANJING opened its second tram line on October 31, when trial passenger operation began on the 9.1km Qilin Line in the east of the city.

TESTING is now well underway on Beijing’s Yanfang Line, the city’s first entirely driverless metro line, which is scheduled to enter service by the end of the year.

CRRC Nanjing Puzhen Rail Transport (NPRT) has secured three orders with a total value of Yuan 2.37bn ($US 360m) to supply metro trains to three Chinese cities.

GUANGZHOU Metro announced on September 30 that it has begun testing on four new sections of line which will add 81.4km to the network by the end of the year.

CHINA celebrated the completion of a key north-south rail artery in the west of the country on September 29 with the start of commercial operations on the final section of the 886km Lanzhou - Chongqing line.

CHINA Railway Corporation (CRC) launched commercial operations on a 224km high-speed line linking Wuhan in Hubei province with Jiuijang in neighbouring Jiangxi on September 21.

CHINA Railway Corporation (CRC) restored 350km/h operation on the Beijing - Shanghai high-speed line on September 21, six years after the maximum operating speed was reduced to 300km/h.

CHENGDU Metro has awarded a €57m contract to Alstom to supply traction equipment for 496 metro cars being built for the 49km Line 5, which is due to open at the end of 2019.

THE first high-speed rail project in China to be implemented as a public private partnership (PPP) moved a step closer to the start of construction on September 11, when China Railway Corporation (CRC) and its commercial partners signed a financing contract for the project in Beijing.

CHINA Railway Investment Corporation (CRIC), the procurement arm of China Railway Corporation (CRC) has awarded CRRC Sifang a contract to supply 10 160km/h EMUs for services to Beijing’s new international airport at Daxing.