THE INDONESIAN government says it will invite bids in May for the construction of a $US 1.5 billion railway that will serve the coalfields of Central Kalimantan province in Borneo. According to the country's planning ministry, the 185km single-track line from Puruk Kahu to the Barito river port of Bangkuang will be built as a public-private partnership (PPP).

AN investigation is underway in Belgium after a head-on collision between two regional trains that left 18 dead and scores injured. The accident occurred at 08.30 this morning when a Quievrain - Liége train ran into a Leuven - Braine-le-Comte service at Buizingen near the town of Halle, 15km southwest of Brussels.

EUROSTAR must take steps to improve communications, winterisation of rolling stock, and emergency and evacuations procedures, according to an independent review into the failure of five trains in the Channel Tunnel on December 18.

 

THE first station in France to be built using the Corus modular platform system has been completed at Gallieni-Canceropôle on the Toulouse - Auch line. The station was built in just two months by contractor Connexinfra, and features two 115m-long platforms, built from Corus lightweight standard modular elements.

 

FRENCH Rail Network (RFF) has awarded a consortium headed by Systra a contract for infrastructure project management on the 12km, five-station Sartrouville - Epinay-sur-Seine section of the new 28km Tangentielle Nord line, a tram-train line that will link the northern suburbs of Paris.

NIGERIA Railway Corporation (NRC) has received the first five of the 25 C25 model diesel locomotives ordered from GE Transportation to be used for both freight and passenger services on the country's 3500km, 1067mm gauge network.

THE FIRST phase of Ireland's Western Rail Corridor will be completed next month with the launch of services between Limerick and Galway on March 30.

THALES has clinched a Euros 40 million contract to supply its SelTrac Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) system for the second metro line in the Korean city of Incheon.

GREEN Cargo, Sweden, reported a loss of Euros 21.5 million in 2009 as the recession took its toll on the freight operator with overall volumes down by 24%. The company, however, says a streamlining process implemented in the second half of the year led to a considerable improvement in results enabling it to achieve a profit and good cash flow for the final six months of 2009. With these programmes set to continue, Green Cargo predicts that it will have reduced its costs by more than Euros 58 million by 2012.