China: China Southern Locomotive & Rolling Stock Industry Co is reported to be planning an initial public offering for early next year, with the aim of raising at least US$2·5bn.
France: The Centre and Limousin regions have agreed to provide 50% of the €4m annual operating cost of a daily return TGV service between Brive and Lille, calling at Juvisy and Roissy. The experimental service will run for three years from December 9.
Germany: On August 15 Babcock & Brown Public Partnerships was named as the successful bidder for a 49% stake in BeNEX, the subsidiary of Hamburger Hochbahn established to grow the company's local transport activities outside the Hamburg region. As well as bus operations, BeNEX has stakes in German rail operators Cantus, Metronom, NBE Nordbahn and ODEG.
Mozambique: CFM is to invest US$30m in upgrading its wagon fleet in an effort to reduce the US$100m in leasing fees it currently pays to South Africa's Transnet Freight Rail. Last month an initial batch of 45 wagons was sent to South Africa for refurbishment, and 775 more are to follow.
Netherlands: On July 11 ProRail announced plans for a €1·2bn rebuilding of five major stations. Arnhem and Breda will be completed by 2010, Rotterdam and Den Haag Centraal in 2011 and Utrecht in 2013.
New Zealand: Auckland Regional Council has approved NZ$450?000 of capital funding for the Regional Transport Authority to begin work on the restoration of commuter services to Helensville from mid-2008. Services were withdrawn in 1980.
Spain: The Ministry of Development has agreed to provide €112m of the €137m cost of civil works for a new 1?668 mm gauge freight bypass to the east of Valladolid. The balance is to be provided by Sociedad Valladolid Alta Velocidad 2003 SA.
Ukraine: UZ has secured a US$550m loan from Barclays Capital to fund the completion of a bridge over the Dnieper in Kyiv and the acquisition of rolling stock.
USA: The Surface Transportation Board is seeking comments on revising its method of calculating the rail industry's cost of capital, a criterion used annually to evaluate the adequacy of carrier revenues. STB is proposing to adopt capital asset pricing instead of di scounted cash flow methods.
