CONTRACTS worth a total of $US 214.7m have been signed for a new 10.5km light rail line in Cuenca during a ceremony held in the Ecuadorian city's Old Cathedral on June 28.

PAULISTA Metropolitan Trains (CPTM), which operates the São Paulo commuter rail network, has announced the winners for two tenders to supply trains.

TOSHIBA, Japan, has won a Yen 6bn ($US 60m) contract from a consortium of China National Machinery Import & Export Corporation and CNR Changchun to provide electrical equipment for 60 emus being built for Rio de Janeiro's commuter rail operator SuperVia.

GUATEMALA's National Alliance Agency for the Development of Economic Infrastructure (Anadie) intends to issue a tender worth $US 120m in 2014 for technical, legal and financial studies required to establish a concession to operate Line 1 of Guatemala City's commuter rail service.

TTRANS Sistemas de Transportes, a member of the VLT RMBS consortium building the 15km light rail line in the Brazilian city of Santos, has selected Thales to supply signalling and communications systems for the project.

THE Argentine government announced on June 3 that it will revoke the two 30-year concessions held by Latin American Logistics (ALL) to operate the former San Martin and Mesopotámico freight networks, which cover a total route length of more than 10,000km.

THE Argentine government has announced a $US 327m order for 300 new 25kV ac emu cars from CSR, China, to replace the existing emu fleet on the General Roca 1676mm-gauge commuter lines south of Buenos Aires.

IRJ at the 60th UITP Congress Geneva: Alstom has developed a modular light metro system called Axonis which is designed to be quick to build and economic to construct and operate.

IRJ at the 60th UITP World Congress Geneva: Vinci, France, together with CAF, Spain, have launched Nextram, a light rail package which could be 30-40% cheaper than conventional systems for cities with a population of between 150,000 and 200,000 which up to now could only afford a bus solution.

COSTA RICA last week restored suburban services on the 21km line between the capital San Jose, and the city of Cartago, following a modest investment of Colon 3.5bn ($US 6.9m).