ŠKODA Transportation unveiled its new 27T low-floor LRV for the Chinese market at the UrTran 2015 exhibition, which was held recently at the China International Exhibition Centre in Beijing.

MAXWELL Technologies, United States, has signed a long-term strategic partnership with CRRC subsidiary China Qingdao Sifang Rolling Stock Research Institute (CRRC SRI) to jointly develop new rolling stock energy storage solutions for the Chinese market.

THE first of 10 ground-power LRVs being built by CRRC Dalian for the first light rail line in Zhuhai has been commissioned.

CHINA Railway Corporation has awarded a Yuan 118.7m ($US 19.1m) contract to Hollysys Automation Technologies, China, for on-board and lineside high-speed signalling equipment.

GLOBAL logistics company UPS has expanded its China - Germany intermodal railfreight operation to accommodate smaller consignments with the addition of a less-than-container load (LCL) service between Zhengzhou and Hamburg.

CHINA Railways Corporation (CRC) says China has invested more than Yuan 265.1bn ($US 42.67bn) in domestic railway construction in the first half of 2015, an increase of 12.7% from the first half of 2014. In the first six months of the year, operations commenced on 2226km of new lines.

CHINA Railway Investment Corporation (CRIC), the procurement arm of China Railway Corporation (CRC), published six tenders on July 17 for a total of 351 high-speed trains with an estimated combined value of around $US 10.6bn.

A consortium of Shenzhen Metro Group and China Railway Construction Investment Group has secured a build-operate-transfer PPP contract for the inaugural light rail project in Shenzhen, an 11.9km 1435mm-gauge line in the northern Longhua district.

GHANA plans to rehabilitate the Dunkwa - Awaso branch line of the 340km 1067mm-gauge western main line that links Takoradi, Dunkwa and Kumasi.

INDONESIA's president Mr Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has urged that construction of a high-speed link between Jakarta and Bandung start "next month" during a cabinet meeting on high-speed rail systems for Indonesia held on July 13.