THE Australian federal government published its 2017-2018 budget on May 9, committing up to $A 20bn ($US 14.7bn) in current and forward investment in rail projects that it says will cut congestion in cities, provide growth in regional areas and create new employment opportunities.

THE government of the Australian state of New South Wales has unveiled its preferred route for the first stage of Parramatta Light Rail project, which will connect a major hospital at Westmead with central Parramatta and Carlingford.

THE New South Wales (NSW) state government has announced that following the granting of final planning approvals, construction will begin this year on stage 2 of the Sydney Metro project from Chatswood through the Sydney central business district to Sydenham and on to Bankstown.

FOLLOWING a competitive tender, Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW) has awarded Downer EDI a $A 1.7bn ($US 1.3bn) contract to supply and maintain 24 Waratah double-deck suburban EMUs, which will provide additional capacity on the Sydney Trains network.

THE government of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) has announced a new metro line will be built between Parramatta and the Sydney business district, with construction expected to commence within the next five years.

THE first tracks were laid on August 8 on the 12km CBD and South East light rail line under construction in Sydney, Australia.

THE government of the Australian state of New South Wales has announced the two consortia that have been shortlisted for the contract to construct twin tunnels under Sydney Harbour that will link Sydney Metro North West project, which is already under construction with the planned Sydney Metro City & Southwest.

CONSOLIDATED Land and Rail Australia (Clara), a private Australian consortium, has launched an ambitious bid to build a high-speed rail network linking Melbourne and Sydney, which it says will not require any government funding, but instead will be financed by value capture from increases in adjacent local land values.

THE Australian state of Victoria has signed a seven-year, $A 700m ($US 525m) contract with NTT Data for the continued operation of its myki smart card public transport ticketing system that covers Melbourne and many parts of Victoria.

ALSTOM has successfully installed and tested Australia’s first ETCS Level 2 deployment as part of a pilot covering the trackside and on-board equipment of four test trains in an area of 11km in the south of Sydney.