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al six Class 57 conversions of Class 47 locos from autumn this year, with both orders financed by Porterbrook Leasing.

Connex Rail has extended to 2011 a 10-year lease on 93 Networker EMUs owned by Angel Train Contracts, due to expire on March 31 2004. Under the new contract, the leasing company is to invest £14·3m to improve the reliability of the trains.

Israel: IR has called tenders for design of a suburban rail link between Rosh-Ha-Ayin and Ben Gurion International Airport; this would involve refurbishing an existing line through the eastern suburbs of Tel Aviv.

Mexico: Pacifico Norte concessionaire Ferromex has awarded a US$5m contract to MotivePower Industries subsidiary MPI de Mexico SA for refurbishment of 12 General Electric diesel locos at San Luis Potosi.

Romania: Under a deal worth US$3m, Azofstal of Ukraine is to supply 6000 tonnes of rail in exchange for spare parts from Romania’s Unimet engineering company.

Singapore: Land Transport Authority has awarded Interfleet Technology of Great Britain a S$2m contract to provide inspection and software auditing services for the new North East line trains. The contract will run for two years.

Slovenia: A contract to supply signalling equipment with solid-state interlockings for Slovenian Railways’ main line from Ljubljana to Sezana has been won by Siemens Austria.

Spain: Tenders are to be called for tracklaying, electrification and signalling on the 7 km Cantoblanco - San Sebasti