Metro news – Page 211
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NewsMRT-7 contract awarded
PHILIPPINES: A consortium comprising Marubeni Corp, DMCI Holdings and a local partner has been awarded a US$1·12bn contract by Universal LRT Corp to build and commission the 22 km MRT-7 metro line in Manila. The Department of Transportation & Communications has recommended approval of changes to the project design that ...
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NewsRenovated metro cars return to Bucuresti
ROMANIA: On May 26 two renovated Bucuresti metro cars left the Alstom Transport site at Reichshoffen to start a five-day journey, across Germany, Austria and Hungary, to the workshop of Bucuresti metro operator Metrorex. Alstom is in the process of renovating 15 trainsets manufactured by Astra Vagoane Arad around 20 ...
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NewsContactless payment trial in New York
USA: Three transport agencies have launched a six month trial of a Tap & Go fare payment system on selected train and bus routes in New York and New Jersey. The Metropolitan Transportation Agency, Port Authority of New York & New Jersey and NJ Transit have collaborated with MasterCard to ...
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NewsNanjing metro expands
CHINA: Nanjing Metro almost quadrupled the size of its network when it inaugurated a second line and a 25 km southern extension of Line 1 on May 28, increasing route length from 22 km to 85 km and the number of stations from 16 to 57.Line 2 is 38 km ...
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NewsRiyadh monorail contract awarded
SAUDI ARABIA: Bombardier Transportation announced on May 31 that it had won a US$241m contract to supply, install and operate a 3·6 km driverless monorail in the King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh. Intended to serve the city’s new financial and business centre which is currently being ...
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NewsUrban rail news in brief - June 2010
Metrô DF opened Guará metro station in Brasília on May 10 after two years of construction. Guará is located between Arniqueiras and Feira do Guará on the shared section of the Orange and Green lines. Seven stations on Dubai’s 52·1 km Red Line opened on April ...
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Dorion-Rigaud line gets double-deckers
CANADA: On May 25 Joël Gauthier, President & CEO of the Agence Métropolitaine de Transport in Montréal, was joined by Québec officials to witness the start of double-deck commuter services on Montréal’s Dorion-Rigaud Line. Two more trainsets are due to arrive in the next few months. AMT placed a C$386m ...
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NewsSão Paulo metro Line 4 opens
BRAZIL: The initial 3·6 km central section of the Yellow Line between Paulista and Faria Lima was officially inaugurated by Alberto Goldman, Governor of the state of São Paulo, on May 25. Guests were entertained by Japanese taiko drummers Ryukyu Koku Matsuri Daiko at Faria Lima station and the ...
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NewsWashington metro confirms Kawasaki deal
USA: Meeting on May 27 the board of Washington DC metro operator WMATA voted to approve a contract with Kawasaki Rail Car for 428 new vehicles, valued at $886m. Kawasaki was selected through a competitively negotiated procurement, and was judged to be offering the best overall technical proposal and the ...
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NewsBombardier to test wireless trams in Augsburg
GERMANY: The Primove induction-based catenary-free electrification system developed by Bombardier Transportation is to be piloted on the tram network in Augsburg, the manufacturer announced on May 26. Formally unveiled at Bombardier's Bautzen factory in January 2009, Primove uses cable buried beneath the track to produce a magnetic fields which ...
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NewsSecond Avenue Subway tunnelling starts
USA: Tunnelling for the first phase of New York’s Second Avenue Subway project got underway on May 14 when a 485 tonne TBM began boring through Manhattan bedrock south from a launch pit between 96th Street and 92nd Street. The machine will dig two tunnels, each around 2 350 m ...
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NewsUrban rail news in brief
Canadian National has sold a section of track west of Toronto Union station to Greater Toronto transport authority Metrolinx for C$168m. It is part of the busiest GO Transit commuter corridor and provides access to a depot. Queensland's Gold Coast rapid transit project team is evaluating expressions of interest from ...
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NewsHajj trains shipped to Makkah
SAUDI ARABIA: Chinese manufacturer CNR Changchun Railway Vehicles has shipped the first 24 of 204 metro cars which will be used to transport pilgrims around Makkah, Mina, Muzdalifah and Arafat during the 2010 Hajj (MR 9.09 p12). The cars were due to arrive in Jeddah on May 20. The order ...
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NewsGroundbreaking in Boston
USA: A groundbreaking ceremony was held on May 3 marking the start of a $17·4m project to double-track 6·4 km of the Haverhill commuter line between Lawrence and Andover. Transportation Secretary Jeffrey Mullan led a group of local elected officials in wielding shovels at Andover station, the starting point of ...
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NewsMünchen unveils refurbished tram
GERMANY: The first of München’s 50 Type R2.2 low-floor trams to undergo a mid-life refit was revealed by operator MVG on May 17. Supplied in 1994-97, the three-section cars are all to be refurbished by the end of 2011 under a programme valued at €15m. Following a European tender, the ...
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NewsTram testing starts in Alger
ALGERIA: On May 15 Algerian Transport Minister Amar Tou witnessed the start of trial running on Alger’s first tram project, which will run from Carrefour des Fusillés, near Hessein Dey railway station, to Dergana in the eastern suburbs of the capital city. The initial trials are being carried out ...
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NewsPesa presents Warszawa Swing tram
POLAND: On May 12 Pesa Bydgoszcz presented the first Swing Type 120Na 100% low-floor tram for Tramwaje Warszawskie’s standard gauge network. The vehicle will be shipped to Warszawa at the end of May to start trial running. The five-section tram is 30·1 m long and 2 350 mm wide with ...
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NewsTrams return to Washington
USA: Plans for a 60 km, eight-route tram network were formally unveiled by District of Columbia Mayor Adrian Fenty and other city officials on May 5, at the start of a four-day DC Tram Showcase. Centrepiece of the event was one of three low-floor cars purchased from Czech supplier Skoda-Inekon ...
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NewsMarseille metro extended
FRANCE: Line 1 of Marseille’s rubber-tyred metro was extended to La Fourragère on May 6. Construction of the 2·5 km extension from La Timone, with intermediate stations at La Blancard, Louis Armand and Saint-Barnabé, started in September 2005 and cost €417·5m.The new service to the predominantly residential western suburbs ...
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NewsTramwaje Warszawskie signs EBRD loan
POLAND: Tramwaje Warszawskie signed a loan agreement with EBRD on May 11 which will provide up to 200m zloty towards the operator’s 3·2bn zloty investment programme. EBRD will provide 50% from its own funds with the rest syndicated to commercial banks. The programme includes buying 186 trams to replace part ...