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.

ZAMBIA's new president Mr Edgar Lungu has pledged to prioritise construction of the new 590km line in the northwest of the country that will link with Angola's Benguela Railway.

Transnet Freight Rail is investing unprecedented amounts in new assets. Paul Ash speaks to chief executive Siyabonga Gama about the state-owned railway's bold plan to win traffic back from South Africa's roads.

THE African Union (AU) is seeking private investors to support an upgrade of the 1000mm-gauge single track Dakar - Bamako line to improve connectivity and boost trade between Senegal and landlocked Mali.

CONSTRUCTION of the second phase of Kenya's new standard-gauge railway from the capital Nairobi to the Lake Victoria port of Kisumu will start in July.

TRIAL operation of the Addis Ababa light rail network was officially launched on February 2 in the presence of Ethiopia's prime minister Mr Hailemariam Dessalegn, deputy prime minister Mr Demeke Mekonnen, foreign affairs minister Dr Tedros Adhanom and the city's mayor Mr Dirba Kuma.

GHANA's junior transport minister Ms Joyce Mogtari says that a contract to rebuild the 330km eastern railway corridor will be awarded by the end of the year.

THE bidding process for a tender to construct a 280km railway from Semera east to the Djibouti port of Tadjourah on the north bank of the Gulf of Tadjourah has been postponed for a fifth time.

THE High Court in Tanzania has declared the strike by Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority (Tazara) workers illegal, bringing the week-long protest over five month salary arrears to an end.