Warszawa metro Line M2 goes west
POLAND: Warszawa’s M2 metro line was extended by 3·4 km west from Rondo Daszyńskiego to Księcia Janusza on April 4. The opening was low-key owing to coronavirus travel restrictions, with regular operations starting at 04.45.
Sydney light rail Kingsford branch opens
AUSTRALIA: The 3·2 km five-stop light rail branch from Moore Park via Anzac Parade south to Juniors Kingsford was opened for revenue service on April 3, completing Sydney’s CBD & South East LRT network.
DART depot upgraded with bespoke safety system
IRELAND: Zonegreen has installed a bespoke warning system on three tracks used for servicing DART suburban EMUs at Iarnród Éireann’s Fairview depot in Dublin.
Federal Transit Administration releases $25bn in Covid-19 grants
USA: The Federal Transit Administration is to make $25bn available in emergency funding to help the public transport sector through the coronavirus pandemic.
Boston consolidates light rail stops
USA: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has awarded MAS Building & Bridge a $17·8m contract to replace four existing light rail stops on Boston’s Green Line into two new stops.
Bodyshells ordered for Praha tram rebuild programme
CZECH REPUBLIC: Praha transport operator DPP has awarded Pragoimex a contract to supply its VarCB3LF partly low-floor tram bodies to replace the life-expired and corroded bodies of the city’s Tatra Type T3R.P and T3R.PV trams.
Porto extensions win EU funding support
PORTUGAL: The European Commission has announced €107m of EU Cohesion Funds for expansion of the Metro do Porto light rail network. This adds to €75m allocated in the national government’s 2020 budget.
SMRT receives multi-functional driving and control centre simulators
SINGAPORE: Spanish supplier Lander Simulation has completed delivery of a suite of training simulators and laptop computers to metro operator SMRT.
Use data to tailor coronavirus timetables to current needs, says Zipabout
UK: Passenger data systems supplier Zipabout says train operators should revise their emergency timetables based on passenger behaviour and real-time demand data, to ensure their reduced services can meet the needs of key workers during the coronavirus pandemic.
Osaka’s Hankai Line expands low-floor tram fleet
JAPAN: A three-section low-floor tram supplied by Alna Sharyo has entered service on the Hankai Tramway in Osaka, where it is operating alongside the oldest trams in the country which are still in commercial service rather than run as heritage vehicles.
Contractual wrangles delay São Paulo metro schemes
BRAZIL: The São Paulo state government has extended the contract for construction of metro Line 6 by two months, pending further discussions on how the project should be taken forward.
Northern Lights tram delivered to Bremen
GERMANY: The first of 77 Avenio trams ordered by Bremen operator BSAG arrived in the city from Siemens Mobility’s Wien plant on March 31. Another is currently undergoing trials at the Wildenrath test centre.
Data4PT multimodal transport data interoperability project launched
EUROPE: The Data4PT project has been formally launched to support the development of multimodal transport data exchange standards and models to fulfil the needs of travel information service providers.
Urban transport news round-up
EBRD intends to appoint a consultancy to undertake a feasibility study to determine the scope and viability of plans to modernise the Almaty trolleybus network. The city envisages the acquisition of 200 hybrid trolleybuses to replacing the existing deteriorating fleet, provide vehicles for new routes should it decide to expand ...
Berlin studies U-Bahn extensions
GERMANY: Three extensions of the Berlin U-Bahn network have been deemed ‘structurally and technically’ feasible, according to a study commissioned by the city government.
Moscow Metro’s Line 15 completed
RUSSIA: Mayor Sergei Sobyanin inaugurated a 14·4 km six-station extension of Moscow Metro’s Line 15 from Kosino to Lefortovo on March 27.
Low-key opening for København metro Line M4
DENMARK: ‘It was different to what we had imagined,’ said Henrik Plougmann Olsen, CEO of København metro operator Metroselskabet after planned celebrations to mark the opening of Line M4 on March 28 were cancelled because of the coronavirus. ‘The trains just started running over the new section, and that was ...
Paris metro simulators updated
FRANCE: Corys has completed the renovation of Paris operator RATP’s metro train driving simulators.
Moscow Metro disinfects tunnels
RUSSIA: Moscow Metro has been using modified infrastructure inspection vehicles to spray all its tunnels with liquid disinfectant.
Region-wide Fairtiq app roll-out adds weekly capping
GERMANY: Check-in/check-out ticketing using the Fairtiq app is now available across trains, trams and buses in the Verkehrsverbund Mittelthüringen region covering Erfurt, Weimar, Jena, Gera and Gotha. This is the first time that Fairtiq has been rolled across an entire German fares area, and the deployment adds weekly fare capping ...