MALAYSIA's Mass Rapid Transit Corporation (MRTC) has awarded two contracts worth a total of Ringgits 1.18bn ($US 387m) for the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (KVMRT) Sungai Buloh – Kajang Line in Kuala Lumpur.

HURRICANE Sandy, the worst storm of its type to hit the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area in generations, has had a devastating impact on the rail network.

THE mayor of Mexico City, Mr Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon, accompanied by Mexico's president, Mr Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, officially opened Line 12 yesterday.

FREIGHT and passenger operators across the northeast of the United States are endeavouring to assess damage left by Hurricane Sandy and restore train services where possible.

IN preparation for the arrival of Hurricane Sandy in Atlantic City this evening, rail services have been suspended along the eastern seaboard of the United States from Washington DC through Philadelphia and New York to the south of Boston.

THE City of Rome has signed a €113m contract with CAF to supply 15 six-car metro trains and maintain them for five years.

THE preliminary findings of a feasibility study into the construction of a metro network in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu suggest a 77km five-line network could be developed over a 10-year period at a cost of Rs 330bn ($US 3.88bn).

THE Executive Board of Helsinki City Transport (HKL) has approved the acquisition of 20 metro trains from CAF at a cost of €140.4m, with options for additional sets to support further expansion of the network.

THE first of 73 three-car Bombardier Movia C951 driverless metro trains for Singapore's Downtown Line was unloaded today at the port of Jurong, two weeks ahead of schedule.

CONSTRUCTION of the first phase of the ambitious Grand Paris express metro network has moved a step closer after the planned 5.8km extension of Line 14 from St Lazare to Mairie de St Ouen was granted public utility status.