Brazil: BNDES is lending R$231·9m to Ferronorte, to fund construction of 290 route-km between Alto Taquari and Rodonópolis and a bulk freight terminal.
China: CR was due to issue last month three-year bonds totalling 2bn yuan to fund the construction of new railways.
On January 8 Beijing Subway Co and Eximbank agreed loans worth 14·1bn yuan to fund work on the 40·5 km light rail ring.
France: RFF, SNCF, the government and local authorities have signed an agreement to provide funding for capacity enhancements costing Fr1·4bn at Bordeaux, including the construction of a four-track bridge across the Garonne downstream of the existing structure. The first phase is expected to be complete by 2007.
The government has given its approval for SNCF Participations to cede its coach subsidiary Cariane to Via GTI. Under the transaction, SNCF Participations is set to increase its stake in Via GTI to 43·5%.
India: Canada’s Export Development Corp has concluded an agreement with the Indian Railway Financial Corp to provide C$33·8m for purchase of 10 fully-assembled diesel passenger locos and spare parts.
Poland: The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development is to provide a 100m euro loan to PKP to cover redundancy payments for around 20000 staff.
Spain: The European Investment Bank has approved a Pts110bn loan to Barcelona transport authority ATM that will help fund construction of metro Line 9, costed at Pts197bn. Catalunya regional government had already agreed to provide Pts60bn for the initial Badalona - La Sagrera section.
USA: Maryland Department of Transportation is to provide $6m of state funds and $24m of federal money for upgrading CSX Transportation infrastructure used by MARC commuter services. In return, CSX will pay penalties if performance drops below 90%.
