PROPOSING a radical new business model, Quebec's huge public pension fund announced on April 22 that it will directly undertake construction and operation of a 67km, double track, electrified and fully-automated rail network serving Montreal and its immediate hinterland.

THE City of Calgary announced on April 18 that an underground alignment has emerged as the most viable option for the city centre section of the LRT Green Line in the first stage of evaluation for the core part of the project.

CANADIAN national passenger operator Via Rail says it is planning to seek federal funding for its proposed $C 4bn ($US 3.1bn) upgrade of the Montreal - Ottawa - Toronto line, which would significantly reduce journey times and increase capacity on Canada's principal passenger corridor.

CANADIAN Pacific (CP) announced on April 11 that it has abandoned its bid to merge with Norfolk Southern (NS), including the withdrawal of a resolution asking NS shareholders to vote in favour of good-faith negotiations between the two railways.

MONTREAL's Metropolitan Transit Agency (AMT) has awarded ABB a contract to supply 26 new auxilliary converters for the fleet of Bombardier MR-90 commuter EMUs used on the Deux-Montagnes Line.

CANADIAN finance minister Mr Bill Morneau announced details of phase 1 of the federal government's new infrastructure plan, which was unveiled as part of the 2016 budget on March 22.

A pre-feasibility study by the University of Calgary's Van Horne Institute suggests that it would be feasible to build a railway to transport bitumen and minerals between the Canadian province of Alberta and the US state of Alaska.

THE City of Edmonton, Canada, has awarded a public-private-partnership (PPP) contract to the TransEd Partners consortium to design, build, operate, maintain, and finance the first phase of the Valley Line, a 13km light rail line from Downtown to Mill Woods.

TORONTO and Hamilton transit authority Metrolinx outlined the four options being considered for the core of the Toronto Regional Express Rail (RER) network at a board meeting on February 10.

IN what some industry observers believe may be a final attempt - short of a proxy battle - by hedge fund manager Mr Bill Ackman at a hostile takeover of Norfolk Southern (NS), Canadian Pacific (CP) notified NS on February 9 of its intent to submit a resolution to NS shareholders "to ask their board of directors to engage in good faith discussions with CP regarding a business combination transaction."