CHINA Railway (CRC), the state-owned national operator, has been appropriated a Yuan 800bn ($US 115.13bn) budget for 2017 as it pushes ahead with network and service expansion following a record-breaking 2016.

A flurry of new metro lines and line extensions opened in cities across China in the final week of 2016.

CONSTRUCTION of the China - Laos railway officially got underway on January 1 following a ceremony held in the northern Lao city of Luang Prabang and attended by the prime minister of Laos, Mr Thongloun Sisoulith.

MTR, Hong Kong, and China Railway Corporation (CRC) announced on December 16 that they have signed a letter of intent to explore potential areas of strategic cooperation within the mainland of China and internationally.

BRUNEL Project Cargo, Britain, a provider of complex freight and logistics services, is set to offer an inaugural China - London direct intermodal rail freight service from January 1.

HEFEI became the latest Chinese city to open a metro line on December 26 with the inauguration of the north – south Line 1.

THE Chinese city of Qingdao opened the second phase of its first metro line on December 18, when passenger operations began on the 13km 12-station southern section of Line 3 from Shuangshan to Qingdao Railway Station.

BOMBARDIER announced on December 6 that it won its first contract in China as part of the Bombardier and New United Group Signalling Solutions (BNS) joint venture.

After decades of decline, the government of Argentina has drawn up plans to invest $US 16.6bn in the country’s railway network by 2023. Keith Barrow explains how international expertise - and finance - will play a vital role in realising this bold vision.

COMMERCIAL operations began on the first high-speed line to serve China’s Three Gorges region on November 28 with the opening of the 247km Chongqing - Wanzhou line.