The planned Rail Baltica high-speed rail corridor connecting Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to Poland and the European rail network could end up costing €19bn more than planned, state auditors in the three countries warned on Wednesday.

China Railway Tunnel Group (CRTG) says it used “Eight Intelligent Systems” to build China’s deepest and highest-water-pressure tunnel under the Pearl (Zhujiang) River Estuary.

Thailand’s project to build a high-speed railway between Bangkok and China through Laos will be delayed by at least two years after State Railway of Thailand agreed to elevate an 8km section of it following complaints by locals, broadcaster Thai PBS World reports.

Russia has started to build a railway over annexed Ukrainian territory between the Russian border city of Rostov-on-Don and Crimea, Newsweek reports.

The Philippines has abandoned plans to seek Chinese loans for three railway projects, together valued at more than $5bn, Bloomberg reports.