Metro news – Page 231
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NewsRed Line to proceed
THAILAND: An 8·7bn baht contract for construction of the first phase of the Red Line in suburban Bangkok was signed on December 12. State Railway of Thailand has finalised the agreement for a 15·3 km line from Taling Chan to Bang Sue with the Unique-Chun Wo joint venture of ...
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NewsCeremony starts Sofia Line 2
BULGARIA: Mayor of Sofia Boyko Borisov, Minister of Transport Petar Mutafchiev and Meglena Plugchieva, Deputy Prime Minister responsible for EU funding, attended a ceremony on December 15 to mark the start of work on metro Line 2. The route comprises a 6·4 km first phase running south from Nadezhda to ...
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WMATA fleet renewal
USA: Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority issued a request for proposals on December 4 for the supply of 64 metro cars, with an option for an additional 620. The contract would also include work to refurbish Wmata’s Series 4000 fleet, which is around 25 years old. The 64 new ...
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NewsHelsinki metro to go fully automated
FINLAND: Helsinki city transport operator HKL signed a €100m contract with Siemens Mobility on December 11 covering the complete resignalling of the capital's 21 km Y-shaped metro paving the way for fully-automatic operation by 2013. HKL has been looking at driverless operation for some time, and HKL Chief Executive ...
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NewsMTR signs Shenyang operating agreement
CHINA: MTR Corp, Shenyang municipal government and Shenyang Metro Group have signed an agreement in principle for the Hong Kong metro company to operate and maintain Shenyang Metro lines 1 and 2 for 30 years. Under the November 26 agreement MTR Corp will hold a 49% stake in a ...
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NewsManchester voters reject TIF proposal
UK: Voters in the 10 boroughs of Greater Manchester have voted to reject the plans for transport investment outlined in the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities’ application for funding from the government’s Transport Innovation Fund. The £2·8bn TIF submission would have paved the way for Phase 3B of the expansion ...
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NewsMTR orders from the Mainland
CHINA: On December 10 Changchun Railway Vehicles signed a HK$1·1bn contract to supply Hong Kong's MTR with 10 eight-car trainsets which will enable an increase in service frequencies on the Island, Kwun Tong, Tsuen Wan and Tseung Kwan O lines. Russell Black, Projects Director at MTR Corp, said it ...
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NewsAirport S-Bahn to open
GERMANY: From December 11 passenger services will begin running on the branch of Hamburg S-Bahn Line S1 from Ohlsdorf to the city’s international airport. The 3 km double-track branch diverges from the existing network north of Ohlsdorf and runs underground to the airport station. The 1·2 kV DC third ...
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NewsMeasure R approved
USA: Los Angeles County Metro confirmed on December 2 that voters had approved Measure R with a 67·9% majority, and as a result a 0·5% sales tax increase will come into force on July 1 2009. This is expected to raise more than $650m for transport projects in its ...
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NewsLonger trams in Helsinki
FINLAND: Verkehrs Industrie Systeme of Halberstadt has begun supplying Helsinki city transport company HKL with low-floor centre sections to lengthen 41 two-section articulated trams dating from the mid-1980s. A prototype centre section was designed by HKL two years ago, with VIS supplying components. After positive feedback for passengers VIS won ...
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NewsDublin orders another eight trams
IRELAND: The Railway Procurement agency has ordered a further eight Alstom Citadis trams for use on Dublin 's Luas network from early 2010. The €21m contract announced on December 1 is an option on a March 2007 agreement. Alstom has previously supplied Dublin with 40 Citadis cars, and another ...
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NewsBombardier to keep SFO peoplemover running
USA: Bombardier Transportation has signed an €80m contract to operate and maintain the peoplemover at San Francisco International Airport for a further eight years. Bombardier has operated and maintained the SFO AirTrain since its opening in 2003. A fleet of 38 CX-100 vehicles serves nine stations along 10 ...
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NewsUTO target to boost metro capacity
SIGNALLING: Presentations to the IRSE Aspect 2008 conference in London on September 25-26 served to remind delegates not only of the benefits of communications-based train control, but also that it is quite feasible to install CBTC on existing lines without interfering with passenger services. This is because it can be ...
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NewsAnkara signalling contract
TURKEY: The city of Ankara has selected a consortium of Ansaldo Segnalamento Ferroviario and Alsim Alarko Sanayi Tesisleri Ve Ticaret as preferred bidder for a €175m contract to design, supply and commission signalling for metro lines M1, M2, M3 and M4 and undertake electro-mechanical works on M1 and M3. ...
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NewsUrban rail news in brief - December 2008
A 100m taka feasibility study for the Dhaka mass transit project is due to start in December, financed from government funds. Originally proposed in 2002, progress on the proposed rail network in the capital of Bangladesh has been hampered by lack of finance. Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority is ...
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NewsIstanbul metro expands
TURKEY: Test running on the extension of Istanbul heavy metro Line M2 between Taksim and Sishane began on November 7, in preparation for the opening of two extensions to the existing 8·5 km line early next year. Mayor Kadir Topbas has confirmed that the extensions will open for revenue service ...
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NewsAnkara awards
TURKEY: The city of Ankara has selected a consortium of Ansaldo Segnalamento Ferroviario and Alsim Alarko Sanayi Tesisleri Ve Ticaret as preferred bidder for a €175m contract to design, supply and commission signalling for metro lines M1, M2, M3 and M4 and to undertake electromechanical works on lines M1 and ...
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NewsEIB funds for Sofia Line 2
BULGARIA: The European Investment Bank has announced a €105m loan to the city of Sofia to co-finance the construction of metro extensions totalling 12·8 km and the acquisition of an additional 15 trainsets. As part of the city's development master plan metro Line 1 is to be extended a ...
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NewsExtension deferred
USA: Citing the world economic crisis, Utah Transit Authority is to postpone the opening of its FrontRunner South commuter rail extension from Salt Lake City to Provo from mid-2012 to early 2013. UTA will accelerate construction of two TRAX light rail lines; the Salt Lake City International Airport extension ...
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News'Little Bang' work underway
UK: Work has begun to extend Greater Manchester's Metrolink network under the ‘Little Bang' programme. Bridge inspections have begun along the railway from Manchester Victoria to Oldham and Rochdale and utility surveys and diversions are in progress along the new route to Droylsden. Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority Chair Councillor ...