On June 6 Alstom announced that it had been awarded a €92·5m contract by the Dominican Republic's transport authority Opret to supply 19 three-car Metropolis trainsets for the 14·5 km first metro line in Santo Domingo, which is due to open in 2008.
Mayor of London Ken Livingstone and UK Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander visited the new Western Ticket Hall serving London Underground's Circle Line platforms at Kings Cross on May 25, before it opened to passengers on May 28. On May 25 LU awarded a £115m contract to Balfour Beatty for completion of the part-built Northern Ticket Hall which will serve the Eurostar terminal at St Pancras and Network Rail's new Western Concourse at Kings Cross Completion of the NTH is scheduled for 2010, with the Western Concourse above to be ready in time for the 2012 Olympic Games
Spanish company Acciona Infraestructuras and its local partner Mostostal Warszawa have been awarded a 217·7m zloty contract to build a 1·5 km extension of Warszawa metro Line 1 from Stodowiec, including new stations at Stare Bielany and Wawrzyszew. Mainly using cut and cover construction, work is due to be complete within 15 months, giving a completion date of October 2007.
Northstar Corridor Development Authority signed a Memorandum of Understanding with BNSF Railway and the state of Minnesota on May 9, paving the way for the start of commuter rail services between Minneapolis and Big Lake in 2009. NCDA will pay $107·9m for rights to operate six trains each way per day on the 64·3 km route, serving intermediate stations at Elk River, Anoka, Coon Rapids/Riverdale and Fridley.
EGYPT: Thales has been subcontracted to supply signalling, security and ticketing systems for the first metro line in Alexandria. The 21·7 km line is being developed by a consortium of Orascom Construction and Colas Rail under a €1·3bn contract awarded by the National Authority for Tunnels ...
UAE: Construction of Dubai’s 30 km metro Blue Line was formally approved on November 24 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Expected to cost Dh18bn to complete, the fully automated Blue Line will ...
EGYPT: Test running on Cairo’s East Nile Monorail and on two branches of metro Line 3 started on November 5. East Nile Monorail Following a site visit on November 16, Minister of Transport Kamel Al-Wazir announced that the East Nile Monorail line will be handed over ...