THE municipal government of Zhangjiakou in China's northern Hebei province announced on November 3 that China's National Development and Reform Commission has approved the construction of the Yuan 58.4bn ($US 9.2bn) Beijing North - Zhangjiakou high-speed line, a key component of the transport infrastructure for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games and Paralympics, which will be hosted by the Chinese capital.

A ceremony was held on October 30 at Shenyang East station in China to mark the first trial run of a Far East Land Bridge (Felb)-operated railfreight service to Hamburg using the northern route of the Transsiberian Railway.

CHINA Railway International signed a contract with a consortium of Indonesian companies on October 16 to build a new 160km railway between Jakarta and Bandung which will accommodate speeds of up to 250km/h.

URUMQI Urban Rail Group has awarded CRRC Corporation subsidiary Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive a contract to supply 27 six trains for the Chinese city's first metro line.

INDONESIA's National Development Planning Ministry says an offer has been accepted from a Chinese consortium to build a new 140km railway between Jakarta and Bandung after Japanese bidders were forced to concede that they could not meet Indonesia's demands for no-strings finance for the $US 5bn project.

Current prospects for the global rail track system market are mixed according to the latest study by German consultancy SCI Verkehr. CEO Maria Leenen and senior consultant Karl Strang profile the results.

CHINA's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) approved the construction of three new lines representing a total investment of Yuan 109.3bn ($US 17.2bn) on September 28, as the government seeks to reverse a slowdown in economic growth by boosting spending on infrastructure projects.

INDIAN Railways (IR) awarded contracts on September 24 to carry out feasibility studies into the construction of three high-speed lines as part of the country's proposed Golden Quadrilateral network.

KENYA Railways has signed an agreement with China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) to extend the 609km standard-gauge line under construction between Mombasa and Nairobi by 120km north to Naivasha.

BEIJING Metro is planning to start construction of three new lines and extensions to two existing lines before the end of this year. Designs for these extensions went on public display on September 10 for 20 days to allow the public to vote on which designs they prefer.