ALGERIAN National Railways (SNTF) and Stadler Rail are set to establish a joint venture company in Algeria under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by the two companies in Algiers on November 10 in the presence of Algeria's minister of transport Mr Boudjnâ Talai and Swiss secretary of state for the economy Mrs Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch.

EGYPT's National Authority for Tunnels (NAT) has awarded Alstom and its consortium partners contracts worth €187m to supply signalling, telecommunications and electromechanical equipment for the phase 3 extension of Cairo Metro's Line 3.

CAMRAIL, the concessionaire operating 517km of Cameroon's 1104km metre-gauge network, has unveiled nine new GPR 3000 locomotives it has acquired as part of a $US 383m modernisation programme.

EGYPTIAN National Railways (ENR) has issued a general procurement notice regarding its plans to upgrade the passenger service on the busy 208km Cairo – Alexandria corridor and possibly on the 879km main line from Cairo south to Luxor and Aswan.

ALGERIAN National Railways and Systra signed a memorandum of understanding to create an Algerian rail engineering joint venture at a meeting of the Algerian-French Economic Joint Committee (Comefa) on October 26, which was attended by Mr Laurent Fabius, French foreign and international development minister, and Algerian industry and mines minister Mr Abdeslam Bouchouareb.

PLANNING for the northern extension of Algiers metro Line 1 from Place des Martyrs to Chevalley has been "paused" due to budgetary pressures, according to Algiers Metro Enterprise CEO Mr Aomar Hadbi, although work is set to continue as planned on other extensions, which are already under construction.

THE government of Ivory Coast has signed a memorandum of understanding with Italian State Railways' (FS) engineering subsidiary Italferr to carry out feasibility studies and a preliminary project report on a 1000km line linking Ivory Coast and Mali.

A new chapter began for Benin's railways on October 14 when private concessionaire Bénirail took over operation of the 438km metre-gauge network of the former Benin-Niger Railway Transport Organisation (OCBN).

A NEW control centre for the Gauteng area has been commissioned by Siemens for the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) and will start to control trains in January.

CASA Transport has awarded Alstom a contract worth around €100m to supply 50 Citadis low-floor LRVs for the second light rail line in Casablanca.