A Memorandum of Understanding on the construction of a direct rail link between Indore and India’s largest container port was signed on August 28 by representatives of India’s railway and shipping ministries, the state governments of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT).

INDIAN Railways’ (IR) Rs 780bn ($US 12bn) plan to install ETCS Level 2 across its entire 67,368km network has run into a hurdle after India’s prime minister Mr Narendra Modi rejected the proposals on cost grounds.

INDIAN Railways (IR) plans in mid-April to re-float a global tender for a Rs 27bn ($US 415.5m) contract to manufacture 15 inter-city EMUs in collaboration with a foreign partner, after the Stadler-Medha consortium emerged as the sole qualified bidder after technical bids were opened for the original tender on February 6.

THE Indian government has allocated Rs 15bn ($US 2.78bn) from the federal budget for Indian Railways (IR) infrastructure upgrading projects in the Bangalore area, ahead of assembly elections in the state of Karnataka, which are scheduled for later this year.

INDIAN Railways (IR) has received five bids from international suppliers for a contract worth around Rs 50bn ($US 800m) to supply 200 6.7MW electric locomotives for the 1534km Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC).

INDIAN Railways (IR) says it has successfully converted two class Alco diesel-electric locomotives to electric traction to operate as a prototype WAG-C3 12-axle twin locomotive.

GE Transportation officially presented the first of 1000 Evolution Series diesel locomotives for Indian Railways (IR) to Mr Ashwin Lohani, chairman of the IR board, at a ceremony at Alambagh depot in Lucknow on February 22.

INDIA’s Rs 27bn ($US 417m) project to manufacture the first lot of 15 inter-city EMUs under a transfer-of-technology agreement with a foreign partner appears to have hit a roadblock once again, with just the Stadler-Medha consortium emerging as the sole qualified bidder after technical bids were opened on February 6.

Ashwani Lohani, chairman of Indian Railways, talks to Srinand Jha.