ETHIOPIAN Railway Corporation has awarded a contract worth around $US 1.2bn to China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) to build the second phase of a 657km standard-gauge electrified line between the capital Addis Ababa and the Djibouti border to replace the existing metre-gauge railway.
East German Railway Company (Odeg) took over operation of Berlin Wannsee - Jüterbog and Brandenburg - Rathenow regional services south of Berlin from German Rail (DB) in December.
MORE than 23 years after construction began, Kazakhstan's first metro line finally opened on December 1, with the inauguration of Almaty Line 1.
THE Ethiopian government has awarded China Eryuan Engineering Group a contract worth around $US 400m to build the city's 37.4km light rail network.
EGYPTIAN National Railways (ENR) reportedly lost £E 70m ($US 11.6m) between January 28 2011 and January 12 2012 in the midst of the uprising to overthrow the regime of former president Mr Hosni Mubarak.
DB REGIO has ordered an additional 90 class 430 emus from Bombardier and Alstom in a deal worth approximately e500m.
USIMINAS Mechanica, Brazil, has agreed to build a second wagon manufacturing plant in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais as the company aims to tap into Brazil's expected need to buy 4500 wagons per year.
UNION Pacific reported net income of $US 964m in the fourth quarter of 2011, and $US 3.3bn for the full year, an 18% increase on 2010.
CHINA Southern Rolling Stock (CSR) subsidiary CSR Qingdao Sifang has unveiled a new-high-speed test train which is designed to operate at speeds of up to 500km/h.
AFTER several false starts and cancellations, construction will finally begin this October on Jakarta's first metro line, according to the city's governor Mr Fauzi Bowo.