GHANA Railway Corporation plans to launch a suburban rail service in the twin cities of Sekondi-Takoradi in the fourth quarter of this year.

RABAT Municipal Council voted unanimously on February 25 to approve the first extension to the two-line light rail network in the Moroccan capital since the opening of the initial 19km phase of the Rabat-Salé Tramway in 2011.

EGYPT's National Authority for Tunnels (NAT) signed infrastructure contracts on February 25 for Phase 4A of metro Line 3, which will extend the line 5.7km from Haroun station in Heliopolis to Al-Nozha 1.

ETHIOPIA's prime minister Mr Hailemariam Desalegn has laid the foundation stone to signal the start of the construction of the 447km Awash - Woldia - Hara Gebeya railway project.

THE board of Moroccan National Railways (ONCF) approved a capital budget of Dirhams 7.5bn ($US 780m) for this year at a meeting in Rabat on February 19, which was chaired by minister for infrastructure, transport and logistics Mr Aziz Rabbah.

RIFT Valley Railways (RVR), which holds A 25-year concession to operate the Kenya-Uganda railway, has asked the Kenyan High to stop the government from charging it the mandatory monthly fuel levy.

NIGERIA's Federal Executive Council has approved the Nigerian Railway Authority Bill 2014, which will open up railway operations to the private sector and relinquish government control of railway infrastructure, which dates back to the 1957 Railway Act.

PASSENGER Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) has confirmed it expects its new Vossloh Afro 4000 diesel locomotives to enter service on long-distance mainline passenger trains within the next two months.

ABB announced on February 5 that it has been awarded a contract worth around $US 50m to supply transformers and associated traction equipment to Bombardier for a new fleet of electric locomotives ordered by Transnet, South Africa.