INDIAN Railways (IR) inaugurated ETCS Level 1 on the 68km Basin Bridge - Arakkonam suburban line in Chennai on December 21, the first deployment of ETCS by Thales in India.

INDIA's cabinet gave the go-ahead on December 7 for the 31.2km first phase of the metro network in the city of Pune in Maharashtra state.

TESTING of the first metro line in the Indian city of Lucknow was officially launched on December 1, when Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mr Akhilesh Yadav flagged off a trial run on the initial 8.4km section of the north-south line between Transport Nagar and Charbagh, which is due to open on March 26.

INDIA’s cabinet granted approval on November 30 for the Rs 109.5bn ($US 1.6bn) Mumbai Urban Transport Project Phase 3 (MUTP 3) project, which aims to expand rail infrastructure in the Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and Raigad districts of the western state of Maharashtra.

ABB announced on November 15 that it has won an order from Alstom to supply 1600 traction transformers for 800 double-unit prima electric new freight locomotives for India.

ALSTOM presented the first metro train for the Indian city of Lucknow to Mr Yasar Shah, Uttar Pradesh commercial taxes minister, in a ceremony at its plant in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, on November 4.

INDIA’s Ministry of Railways has awarded Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) a Rs 8.89bn ($US 133m) contract to electrify four lines totalling 761 route-km as part of a programme to electrify 24,000km of the Indian Railways (IR) network over the next five years.

MUMBAI Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) launched construction on the city’s third metro line on October 21 with groundbreaking ceremonies at seven locations along the route.

DEDICATED Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL) has awarded a consortium of Larson & Toubro (L&T) Construction, India and Sojitz Corporation, Japan, a Rs 38bn ($US 569m) to build the 128km northern section of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor between Rewari in Haryana and Dadri in Uttar Pradesh.

CRRC Corporation has confirmed it will construct a facility in India to assemble metro cars after securing a Rs 8.5bn ($US 127m) contract to supply 23 three-car trains for the first metro line in Nagpur.