20 Nov 2008 | Shinkansen prototype launched

JAPAN: West Japan Railway and JR Kyushu have unveiled the first of 29 eight-car Shinkansen trainsets which will operate through services between Shin-Osaka and Kagoshima-Chuo when the second phase of the Kyushu Shinkansen has been completed. Unit S1 is expected to undergo extensive testing before the remainder of the fleet is delivered. The 121·1 km northern section of the Kyushu Shinkansen More...

 20 Nov 2008 | Loan targets western China development

CHINA: The Asian Development Bank has announced a US$300m loan towards the US$8·6bn cost of building a 820 km railway from Lanzhou in Gansu province, through Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces to the manufacturing city of Chongqing. Intended to bolster economic growth More...

 20 Nov 2008 | Counting the kilos

CHILE: Metro de Santiago is to install three additional Railweight APC4000 automatic passenger-counting systems alongside seven already fitted. The equipment works by weighing and identifying individual carriages to calculate the number of passengers on board. An initi More...

 19 Nov 2008 | London agrees new Oyster smart card contract

UK: Transport for London announced on November 14 that it had agreed a new contract for the management of the Oyster smart card ticketing system. In August TfL gave the required two years' notice that it was exercising a break option in the 17-year Prestige Private Fi More...

 19 Nov 2008 | Urban rail news in brief - November 2008

Praha city council approved the extension of metro Line A to Ruzyne Airport on September 18. Construction of the 13 km route from Dejvicka to Ruzyne, which will have nine stations, is due to begin next year and be completed by 2018, at a cost of KC20bn. Metro Transport More...