Metro news – Page 144
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NewsStorm damaged tunnels reopen after 13 months
USA: The Montague Tubes metro tunnel linking Brooklyn and Manhattan in New York has reopened following extensive repairs to damage caused by Superstorm Sandy. Services on the R Broadway Local line through the tunnel restarted on September 15. The $250m renewal project was funded by the Federal Transit Administration. ...
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NewsMinneapolis light rail moves forward
USA: Construction of the 25·4 km Southwest LRT linking Minneapolis with St Louis Park, Minnetonka and Eden Prairie is expected to get underway in 2016. The Metropolitan Council’s Southwest LRT Project Office submitted a New Starts application to the Federal Transit Administration on September 10 seeking permission to start final ...
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NewsManila selects LRT Line 1 concessionaire
PHILIPPINES: On September 12 the Department of Transportation & Communications selected the Light Rail Manila consortium to extend and operate Manila LRT Line 1. The consortium of Metro Pacific Investments Corp, Ayala Corp and Macquarie Group was the sole bidder. It now has 20 days to comply with post-award ...
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NewsNavi Mumbai orders metro trains
INDIA: CSR Zhuzhou signed a contract on September 10 to supply rolling stock for the first phase of Navi Mumbai metro’s Line 1. The contract is worth 300m yuan, including maintenance. The three-car trainsets would be 64·6 m long and 3 160 mm wide, with capacity for 1 128 ...
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NewsAuckland electrification complete
NEW ZEALAND: Auckland Transport’s Western Line was energised on September 4, completing the electrification of the city’s suburban network. Electric services on the Newmarket – Swanson route are scheduled to begin running next year. The first electric services started running in April on the Southern Line between Britomart and ...
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NewsFirst Kaohsiung trams arrive
TAIWAN: The first low-floor trams for the Kaohsiung light rail project arrived in the city on September 11. CAF is supplying a fleet of bidirectional trams from its Urbos family, equipped with CAF’s ACR onboard energy storage technology for catenary-free operation. The five-section vehicles are 34·2 m long with ...
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NewsBasel takes delivery of first Flexity tram
SWITZERLAND: The first Flexity Basel tram from Bombardier Transportation arrived at the Wiesenplatz depot in Basel in the early hours of September 4. It took four days for the tram to be transported by Universal Transport on a low-loader from Bombardier’s Bautzen plant. It will now undergo testing on ...
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NewsTfL consults on Barking Riverside extension
UK: Transport for London has begun public consultation on plans to extend London Overground services on the Gospel Oak – Barking line to a new station at Barking Riverside, where up to 10 800 new homes are planned along with commercial and leisure facilities. The 4 km extension would ...
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NewsBattery trams running in Nanjing
CHINA: The Hexi Line of the Nanjing tramway opened for passenger service during the Youth Olympic Games, following a period of test running that started on July 1. Two trams have entered service, with a further two delivered. There will eventually be eight trams operating services on the 8 ...
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NewsTunnelling starts on Sydney's North West Rail Link
AUSTRALIA: Tunnelling for Sydney’s North West Rail Link started on September 8 with a ceremony in Bella Vista. Elizabeth is the first of four hard rock tunnel boring machines delivered by NFM Technologies. The 120 m long, 6·99 m diameter TBM was assembled at Bella Vista over the past ...
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NewsUrban rail news in brief - September 2014
The European Investment Bank is providing a €128m loan towards the extension of Paris tram route T3. The 4·3 km extension from Porte de la Chapelle to Porte d’Asnières will have eight stops. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has authorised a study into converting the Orange ...
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NewsToronto welcomes new generation trams
CANADA: Toronto’s first Bombardier Flexity Outlook trams entered service on the 510 Spadina route on August 31. The 100% low-floor cars are part of the first new generation of streetcar in the city for 30 years. The air-conditioned five-section vehicles are 30·2 m long, 2 540 mm wide and ...
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NewsRio metro train on test in China
BRAZIL: The first of 15 trainsets ordered for Rio metro Line 4 is undergoing testing at the CNR Changchun Railway Vehicles factory in China. In mid-October it will leave for Rio, with arrival scheduled for December. Deliveries are due to be completed in 2015, in time for the opening of ...
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NewsCAF to refurbish Lyon metro fleet
FRANCE: Lyon transport authority Sytral has awarded CAF a €23m contract to undertake heavy overhaul and refurbishment of 36 two-car MPL 85 trainsets. Built by Alsthom, the rubber-tyred driverless cars entered service in 1991 on Line D of the Lyon metro. Due to start during autumn 2014 for completion by ...
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NewsFeature articles in the September 2014 issue of Metro Report International
Articles in the September 2014 issue of Metro Report International. Comment Licensing agreements are helping Škoda Transportation develop its activities in China, says Petr Vízdal News Review Round-up of world metro, light rail and tram news City digest London goes contactless, Sydney Rapid Transit plans, Paris funding package, Wien metro ...
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NewsTransdev signs new Luas operating contract
IRELAND: The National Transport Authority and the Railway Procurement Agency signed a new contract for incumbent Transdev Dublin Light Rail Ltd to operate the capital’s tram system on September 1. The five-year contract worth €150m starts on September 29, and includes responsibility for infrastructure and rolling stock maintenance through novated ...
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NewsAubagne opens tramway
FRANCE: The Aubagne tramway entered commercial service on September 1. The 2·7 km line runs from Le Charrel to the main railway station with seven stops. Aubagne is the first city to use Alstom’s Citadis Compact tram. According to the manufacturer, this is ‘specially designed to meet the needs ...
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NewsOne-year postgraduate metro programme
INDIA: The Secunderabad-based Institute of Metro & Rail Technology has welcomed its first intake of 17 students for a one-year postgraduate programme in metro and rail technology. Organised in partnership with consultancy firm Barsyl, the IMRT course has extensive industry involvement, providing ‘case study-based learning, individual and group work, industry ...
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NewsBesançon’s low-cost tramway opens
FRANCE: A weekend of ‘modest celebrations’ marked the inauguration of Besançon’s 14·5 km tram line on August 30-31, with local residents attending wearing turquoise-blue to match the trams’ colour scheme. The tramway has been explicitly developed as a low-cost project by the Grand Besançon municipality, which had hoped to reduce ...
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NewsLe Mans launches second tram route
FRANCE: The light rail network in Le Mans was extended on August 30 with the opening of a 3·6 km branch through the northeast of the city. The city’s 15·4 km starter line opened in 2007, consisting of a principal route of 12·6 km from the university in the ...