WORK to excavate a 14m-deep trench that will contain twin tunnels under Britomart Station and Lower Queen Street as part of Auckland’s 3.45km double-track underground City Rail Link (CRL) began on July 24.

BRAZIL’s Investment Partnership Programme (PPI) Council confirmed on July 6 the inclusion of two new railways in the government's concessions programme: the Rio - Vitoria line and the northern section of the North-South Railway (FNS).

THE state government of South Australia and the Australian government have formalised an agreement that will see $A 220m ($US 163.3m) of federal funding provided towards full electrification of the 78km line linking Adelaide and the outer suburb of Gawler.

THE first stage of the Abuja light rail network opened on July 12, the first light rail line in the Nigerian capital.

BANGLADESH Railway (BR) started work on the Padma Rail Link project on July 3 after signing a $US 2.6bn loan with Chinese Exim Bank for the project on April 27.

TWO new lines and the extension of another, announced by Chilean president Sebastian Piñera in his June 1 address to the nation, are set to almost double Santiago´s metro, already the most extensive in South America at 103.5km.

ITALY’s infrastructure manager Italian Rail Network (RFI) awarded a €1.65bn contract to the Cepav Due Consortium on June 7 for the construction of the first section of the Brescia - Verona high-speed line.