China: The Ministry of Railways has announced plans for a US$422m bond issue to domestic investors including three- and five-year bills. China’s third railway issue would fund completion of the Houma - Yueshan and Nanning - Kunming routes, electrification of the Chengdu - Kunming line and work on the Beijing - Hong Kong corridor.
Hong Kong: Mass Transit Railway Corp has completed syndication of a five-year revolving credit facility, increased from HK$3·5bn to HKS5bn owing to strong demand.
New Zealand: Tranz Rail Holdings has been assigned a BBB+ corporate credit rating by Standards and Poor’s.
Turkey: A loan of DM147m from the German government, repayable over 30 years, is to fund work on the Bursa light rail network (RG 1.97 p12).
USA: On January 8 Los Angeles City Council approved a US$1·8bn finance package for the Alameda Corridor project (RG 11.96 p710). The 32 km freight link will provide dedicated access to Los Angeles and Long Beach ports from an inland distribution hub.
