PASSENGER traffic on the Egyptian National Railway (ENR) network has plummeted by 87% year-on-year as a result of continuing political turmoil, according to annual figures released by the country's railway authority.

A consortium of Alstom, Isolux Corsan and Algerian construction company Cosider has been selected as preferred bidder for a contract to build the second phase of the light rail network in Algeria's third-largest city Constantine.

NIGERIA's Federal Ministry of Transport signed a $US 13.1bn framework contract with China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) on May 6 for construction of the 650km coastal railway from Calabar, the capital of Cross River State, to Port Harcourt, Benin City, and Lagos.

THE Chinese premier Li Keqiang and the president of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta signed an agreement on May 11 for the construction of a 609km standard-gauge railway linking the port city of Mombasa to the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

A CEREMONY was held in Setif, Algeria, on May 8 to mark the official start of construction on the city's light rail network.

CAIRO inaugurated the second phase of metro Line 3 on May 7 when Egypt's president Mr Adly Mansour, prime minister Mr Ibrahim Mahlib and transport minister Mr Ibrahim El Demeiri officially opened the 7.2km eastern section between Abbasiya and Haroun El Rachid station in the district of Heliopolis.

Heavy-haul railway projects are proposed across Africa as a means of extracting the continent's mineral wealth. However, many of these schemes face problems with securing rights to land and delivering benefits to local residents. Malcolm Dowden, consultant at Charles Russell LLP, suggests how these issues might be overcome.

Despite considerable investment to upgrade its Richards Bay coal line, Transnet is under continuing pressure from both mining companies and the port terminal to boost capacity even further, reports Paul Ash.

SOUTH Africa's Treasury is being blamed for a four-month delay in concluding the country's largest rolling stock contract and for putting a cap on the total cost which could reduce the number of commuter trains being acquired.

THE WORLD Bank has approved the allocation of $US 300m towards Tanzania's Dar es Salaam - Isaka railway upgrade project, which is part of a larger scheme to link Dar es Salaam with Kigali in Rwanda and Gitega in Burundi.