Argentina: Tenders are to be called for the supply of four locomotives and 100 wagons for the Río Turbio - Río Gallegos route operated by mining company YCRT, and the refurbishment of 190 existing wagons. This follows the award of a 108·2m pesos track renewals contract (RG 2.06 p65) which is due to be completed within 36 months.
Canada: Thales is to supply smart card ticketing and back-office systems as a subcontractor to Accenture, which has been awarded a 10-year contract worth C$250m to install and support an integrated fare collection scheme for nine transport operators in the Greater Toronto region.
China: Czech manufacturer Bonatrans has won a KC100m order to supply 3 000 wheels to Hong Kong's MTR Corp in 2007-09.
Denmark: Banedanmark awarded Strukton Railinfra a contract to measure 3 200 km of track and catenary during December. Measurements were undertaken using Eurailscou's UFM?120 inspection train, with analysis and graphical display using the Irissys package from Erdmann Software.
France: On November 24 Bombardier announced an additional k467m order for 112 AGC multiple-units for SNCF, representing a number of French regional authorities. Deliveries of the dual-mode and dual-voltage units from Bombardier's Crespin plant will begin in October 2007, and the order brings the total number of firm orders for AGC units to 612.
Netherlands: At the end of November Arriva placed a €30m order with Stadler for one two-car and six three-car 1·5 kV DC GTW electric multiple-units for use on the 49 km Dordrecht - Geldermalsen line which Arriva took over in December under a 12-year operating concession. To be delivered in late 2008, the trains are an electric version of the 43 aluminium-bodied DEMUs which Stadler is supplying for Arriva's services in Groningen and Fryslân (RG 7.05 412).
Russia: Bryansk Machine Building Factory has delivered to Uralkali the last of 400 fertiliser wagons ordered in March. Design modifications have increased the capacity of the Type 19-3116 to 70·5 tonnes, with a 71 tonne model to be launched in 2007. Eurosib has received 350 hoppers.
South Africa: Spoornet has announced plans to purchase a further 212 diesel and electric locomotives for its General Freight Business division at a cost of R6·1bn.
Spain: Within a budget of €62·78m, tenders are to be called for the construction of 3·58 km of new infrastructure between Redondela and Soutomaior on the Vigo - Pontevedra route. The double-track formation will be designed for electrification and conversion to 1 435 mm gauge at a later date.
Sweden: On December 5 Skånetrafiken signed an order for 49 Coradia Lirex EMUs to be supplied by Alstom at a cost of €240m. They will be delivered from Salzgitter to the southern Swedish region's transport operator in the second half of 2009.
Strukton Railinfra has been awarded a €35m contract to lay 95 km of single track between Örnsköldsvik and Umea on the northern section of the Botniabanan. Work is expected to begin in May, and take three years.
UK: Serco Assurance has been awarded a contract to carry out testing of the Class 395 EMUs being built by Hitachi for domestic services on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. Static testing will begin in Japan this spring, with dynamic testing on CTRL and Network Rail conventional lines to be completed in autumn 2008.
USA: California High Speed Rail Authority has appointed a consortium of Parsons Brinckerhoff, Systra and local companies to provide programme management for the proposed 1 100 km 350 km/h line between San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles and San Diego. Voter approval for the issue of $10bn of bonds will be sought in 2008 and trains could begin running in 2020.
