A memorandum of cooperation between China and Russia was signed in the Kremlin on May 9 which Russia's Tass news agency says will result in China investing Roubles 104bn ($US 2bn) in the Roubles 1 trillion Moscow – Kazan high-speed project.

THAILAND's government has approved construction of the 187km metre-gauge line from Chira junction to Khon Kaen, which is part of the Transport Ministry's new infrastructure development plan.

MORE than 7100 passengers took part in six hours of complimentary trial operations on Dalian metro Line 2 on April 30, with 11 trains carrying out more than 100 pilot runs.

RUSSIAN Railways (RZD) has selected a consortium led by Mosgiprotrans and including Nizhegorodmetroproekt and China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group (CREEC) to provide preliminary surveys and design for the proposed Moscow - Kazan high-speed line.

THE first of 28 six-car trains for the initial phase of the metro network in Fuzhou, the capital of China's Fujian province was ceremonially rolled out of the CNR Tangshan Railway Vehicle plant in nearby Quanzhou on April 18.

A construction plan for the first phase of the metro network in the Inner Mongolian capital Hohhot was approved by China's State Council on April 15.

RUSSIA's prime minister Mr Dmitry Medvedev has instructed the minister of transport Mr Maxim Sokolov to remove all obstacles to allow the start of construction of the Russian section of a rail link across the Amur River to China by May 5.

EGYPTIAN National Railways (ENR) has awarded a $US 600m track upgrading contract to China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), a subsidiary of China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC).

THE German rail industry achieved a 25% increase in revenue last year to €12.5bn, with domestic orders rising 26% from €5.3bn to €6.7bn and exports increasing by 23% from €4.7bn to €5.8bn. The results were announced on April 14 at the annual press conference of the German Rail Industry Association (VDB) in Berlin.

SHANGHAI Songjiang Tramway Investment and Operation Company has awarded a joint venture of Alstom and Shanghai Rail Traffic Equipment Development Company (Satco) a €72m contract to supply 30 low-floor LRVs for the first phase of the Songjiang tram network.