PRESIDENT Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya has officially launched the construction of the 120km Phase 2A of the 489km standard-gauge railway linking Mombasa with the Ugandan border.

XI’AN, the capital city of China’s Shaanxi province, expanded its metro network significantly on October 15 with the opening of the 39.1km Line 3.

CHINA’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has approved the second phase of the metro networks in cities of Urumqi and Xiamen, representing a total investment of Yuan 133.9bn ($US 20.1bn).

CHINA’s top economic planner the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) gave the go-ahead on October 11 for two new lines in western China, representing a total investment of Yuan 79.5bn ($US 11.8bn).

WHILE the Chinese passenger rail market remains stable, the country’s freight sector is under pressure due to slowing economic growth, intermodal competition, and a crisis in the steel, iron and coal sectors, according to a report by SCI Verkehr which was released on October 4.

THE Ethiopia - Djibouti standard-gauge railway was inaugurated on October 3, creating a new transport corridor between landlocked Ethiopia and the Red Sea.

AN agreement to develop mail coaches for operation between China, Russia and western Europe was signed by managing director of Tver Carriage Works (TVZ) Mr Taras Spivak, Deputy director general of Russian Post Logistics Mr Alexey Skatin, and head of Siemens Mobility Russia Mr Jörg Liebscher at last week’s Sochi International Investment Forum.

IRJ at InnoTrans 2016: ALL of China's new metro line projects are now required to utilise long term evolution (LTE) as the basis for their communications network, with many set to host CBTC for metro train operation over the platform.

KENYA’s National Environment Tribunal has suspended the construction of the $US 1.5bn standard-gauge railway line extension from Nairobi to Naivasha.

CHINA Railway Group (CRG) announced on September 8 that three of its subsidiaries have been awarded contracts with a total value of Yuan 8.1bn ($US 1.2bn) by Laos-China Railway Company to build three sections of a 414km standard-gauge line running south from China-Laos border at Boten to Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng, and the Laotian capital Vientiane.