ISRAELI transport minister Mr Yisrael Katz announced on August 13 that the National Infrastructure Committee has approved the initial phase of Israel Railways' (IR) national electrification programme.

ARRIYADH Development Authority (ADA) has appointed a joint venture of Parsons, Egis Rail, and Systra to supervise construction of the metro network in Riyadh.

TATA Steel has been awarded a contract to supply 60,000 tonnes of rail for the 444km Haramain high-speed line between Mecca, Jeddah, and Medina, which is currently under construction.

FOLLOWING an international tender, Saudi Railways Company (SAR) has awarded Italferr, the engineering subsidiary of Italian State Railways (FS), a €28m contract to design the Landbridge, Saudi Arabia's first rail link between the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.

ARRIYADH Development Authority (ADA) announced the winning bidders on July 28 for three design and build contracts worth almost $US 22.5bn for the construction of a 176.7km six-line automated metro network in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

THE Development Commission of Mecca and Mashaaer (DCOMM) has selected Parsons Brinckerhoff as the project management office consultant for the Mecca Public Transport Programme (MPTP) in a five-year contract worth $US 93.6m.

IRAQI Republic Railways has issued two calls for tender for the supply of track maintenance equipment as part of the long process to rehabilitate the 1900km railway after the devastating war.

SAUDI Railways Organisation (SRO) and Indra, Spain, have chosen Kapsch CarrierCom to install GSM-R on the 450km Haramain high-speed line under construction between Mecca, Jeddah, and Medina.

THE first of 11 Citadis 402 low-floor LRVs for Dubai’s Al Sufouh Tramway was presented to Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) chairman His Excellency Mattar Al Tayer at Alstom’s La Rochelle plant on June 14.

THE High Commission for Riyadh Development (HCRD) says that "three major global consortia" have submitted technical and financial offers for the Riyadh Metro project, a six-line driverless network which will eventually encompass 177km and 96 stations in the Saudi capital.