BEIJING's metro network reached 465km on December 28 with the start of public services on two new sections of Line 8, which links the city centre with the northern suburbs.

CHINA has marked the final days of 2013 by opening a number of high-speed lines in various parts of the country totalling 1501km.

A ground breaking ceremony was held in Shenzhen last week to mark the start of construction of MTR Corporation's first "rail-plus-property" project in mainland China.

CHINA Railway Investment Corporation (CRIC), the tendering unit of China Railways Corporation (CRC), has placed orders with subsidiaries of China Northern Rolling Stock Corporation (CNR) and China Southern Rolling Stock Corporation (CSR) for a total of 258 high-speed trains.

CHINA's latest metro which is due to open in Zhengzhou on December 26 will be the first to adopt 4G LTE for its telecommunications.

CHINA added another 287km to its high-speed network on December 1 with the launch of commercial services on the new line between Tianjin and Qinhuangdao in Hebei province.

THE TramWave catenary-free electrification system developed by Ansaldo STS is to be deployed in China for the first time after the Italian company concluded a €26m contract with CNR Equipment Engineering, which will see the technology installed on a new light rail in Zhuhai, Guangdong province.

MTR Corporation unveiled the first of nine high-speed trains for the Guangzhou - Shenzhen - Hong Kong Express Rail Link (ERL) on November 6.

THE first extension of the Shanghai metro network into a neighbouring province was officially opened on October 18, when commercial services began on the 6km western section of Line 11 between Antig and Huaqiao station in Kunshan, which is situated in Jiangsu province.

TEST running started today on the first metro line to be built in the northern Chinese city of Harbin, where temperatures can plunge to -38oC.