Sound Transit’s 1 Line reaches Federal Way as major fleet procurement to launch next year

USA: The Federal Way Link light rail extension in the Seattle-Tacoma area opened on December 6, and Sound Transit expects a major fleet procurement to start early next year.

Contract awarded for Palermo tram extensions

ITALY: The city of Palermo has awarded a contract for the design and construction of tram extensions E1, E2 South, and F.

Contract to fit out and operate Melbourne’s Suburban Loop awarded

AUSTRALIA: Project promoter Suburban Rail Loop Authority has awarded a A$6·7bn Linewide contract package to supply rolling stock, fit out and then operate the Suburban Rail Loop East in Melbourne.

Regionaltangente West tram-trains to offer easy access from three platform heights

GERMANY: The Fahma rolling stock subsidiary of Rhein-Main transport authority RMV has awarded Stadler a contract to supply 27 Citylink tram-trains for use on the Regionaltangente West orbital line.

Heywood and Denton on the map as Manchester’s tram-train ambitions inch forward

UK: Transport for Greater Manchester is working with Stockport Council to develop a business case to bring trams from East Didsbury to Stockport.

Opened in the last month

  • November 28 - Dongguan: metro - new Line 1 (57·5 km: Dongguan West – Meitang)
  • November 29 - Graz: tram - new central link, introducing new routes 16 & 17 (1·1 km: Jakominiplatz – Roseggerhaus)
  • November 30 - Melbourne: mainline - new  cross-city Metro Tunnel (9·0 km: Arden – Anzac)
  • December 1 - Santos: streetcar - extension, loop (4·3 km: Conselheiro Nébias – Valongo)
  • December 6 - Jinan: peoplemover - new loop line (30·6 km: loop from Pengjiazhuang metro station)
  • December 6 - Seattle: light rail - extension 1 Line  (12·5 km: Angle Lake – Federal Way Downtown)
  • December 7 - Toronto: light rail - new Finch West LRT (10·3 km: Finch West – Humber College)
  • December 10 - Fuzhou: metro - extension Line 4 (4·0 km: Fenghuangchi – Banzhou)
  • December 10 - St Petersburg: light rail - new Slavyanka Line (11·0 km: Kupchino – Shushary)
  • December 14 - Göteborg: tram - new branch Lines 10 & 12 (2·2 km: Frihamnen – Lindholmen)
  • December 15 - Guadalajara: light rail - new Line 4 (21·7 km Las Juntas – Tlajomulco Centro)
  • December 16 - Chengdu: metro - new Lines 13 and Line 30 (29·1 km: Wayaotan – Long’an / 28·0 km: Shuangliu Airport T2 East– Longquanyi Station South)
  • December 16 - Roma: metro - extension  Line C (2·4 km: San Giovanni – Colosseo)
  • December 19 - Nanjing: metro - extensions to Lines 3 and 13 (3·3 km: Mozhoudonglu – Moling / 13·3 km: Andemen – Dongqilu)
  • December 20 - Montpellier: tram - new Line 5 (6·6 km: Grés de Montpellier – Saint-Denis + 4·5 km: Saint-Éloi – Clapiers)
  • December 21 - Bhopal: metro - NEW METRO, Orange Line (6·3 km: Subhash Nagar – AIIMS)
  • December 24 - St Petersburg: tram - new Slavyanka Line (4·6 km: Kupchino – Valdayskaya ul.)
  • December 28 onwards - CHINA: Wuhan due to open new metro lines. Extensions to existing lines are also expected in Beijing / Chongqing / Guangzhou / Kunming / Qingdao / Shanghai / Shenzhen / Tianjin amongst others. See City Track  on February 2 2026 for a review of Chinese metro expansion.

A full digest of line openings, further details on the above stories and more can be found at the Railway Gazette’s Urban Rail news hub.