THE government of Azerbaijan has secured a €277m loan from a consortium of Societe Generale, BNP Paribas and the French branch of HSBC Bank to purchase 50 locomotives for use on the Baku - Tbilisi - Kars line.

ANKARA’s fourth metro line was inaugurated on January 5 by the president of Turkey Mr Recep Erdoğan, prime minister Mr Binali Yildirim, minister of transport, maritime affairs and communications Mr Ahmet Arslan, and the city’s mayor Mr Melih Gökçek.

TURKISH State Railways (TCDD) inaugurated Ankara’s new $US 235m high-speed station on October 29 with a celebration that was attended by president Mr Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and prime minister Mr Binali Yildilrim.

THE first of eight LRVs being supplied by Durmazlar, Turkey, to Samsun arrived in the Turkish city on October 26 after completing its road journey from the company’s plant in Bursa.

ISTANBUL has moved a step closer to its target of completing 400km of metro line by 2019 with the opening of the 4.5km extension of Line M4 from Kartal to Kaynarca.

THE first of 19 metro trains being supplied by CRRC Corporation to Izmir arrived in the Turkish city on September 10.

ESKISEHIR Light Rail Transportation Company (EsTram) has awarded Škoda Transportation a contract worth around €26m to supply 14 28T ForCity Classic low-floor LRVs, which will be equipped with batteries for catenary-free operation.

ANKARA Metro Line M4 from Atatürk Cultural Center to Gazino in Keçiören, has been completed 12 years after the foundations were laid in 2004, and Turkish prime minister, Mr Binali Yildirim announced on August 31 that the line would open at the end of the year.

LIMAK Construction, Turkey, signed a €224m contract on July 28 to build a 4.5km metro line in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine.

THE municipality of Eskişehir, Turkey, invites bids by July 21 for the supply of 14 LRVs for operation on the city's 45km EsTram light rail network.