Luxembourg: Luxtram eyes an expanding network
As Luxembourg City’s first modern light rail line nears completion, work is getting underway on two branches to form a second route. Two more routes are being planned, along with an interurban link to the country’s second city.
St Louis orders light rail vehicles with onboard energy storage
USA: Bi-State Development Agency has formally awarded Siemens Mobility a contract supply 55 high-floor light rail vehicles with battery onboard energy storage for the MetroLink network serving the greater St Louis region.
Netherlands: TINA on course to reshape HTM tram fleet
Dutch operator HTM has unveiled a mock-up of its next-generation trams from Stadler’s expanding modular TINA range. Dr Harry Hondius reports from Den Haag.
Porto Pink Line signalling contract awarded
PORTUGAL: Metro do Porto has awarded Alstom a contract to supply signalling, safety and control systems for the Pink Line project.
Maryland’s Purple Line project pushed back
USA: The opening date for the 26 km Purple Line light rail route between New Carrollton and Bethesda in the Maryland suburbs of Washington DC has been pushed back again.
Rail skills and innovation collaboration
UAE: A strategic partnership to develop rail sector skills and innovation in the UAE and the wider region has been agreed by Dubai metro and tram operator Keolis MHI and the UK’s University of Birmingham, which has a campus in Dubai.
Le Mans trams to be lengthened to boost capacity
FRANCE: Le Mans Métropole has awarded Alstom a €57m contract to extend the city’s 34 Citadis trams from 32 m to 44 m. This will increase capacity by 85 passengers to 296.
Leeds and Bradford trams in West Yorkshire mass transit plan
UK: Plans for two tram lines in Leeds and Bradford have been set out by West Yorkshire Combined Authority, ahead of the Mayoral election in May.
Bochum light rail vehicle modernised as B80-Neo
GERMANY: Stadler has completed work on the first of 25 Bochum light rail vehicles which it is to extensively modernise over the next four years.
Trams for three cities under construction
GERMANY: Officials from Frankfurt an der Oder, Brandenburg and Cottbus have visited Škoda Group’s factory at Plzeň in the Czech Republic to see the first of the ForCity Plus FCB trams being produced under a joint order.
Tram training transformation
UK: The Light Rail Safety & Standards Board has launched a sector-wide initiative to ‘revolutionise’ training and development at tram operators.
Pesa delivers first new generation Twist tram to Wrocław
POLAND: Pesa has delivered the first of 40 Twist 146N tram vehicles it is supplying to Wrocław.
Istanbul’s Sirkeci – Kazlıçeşme ‘light rail’ line opens
TURKEY: A ‘light rail’ line on the alignment of the former railway to the historic Sirkeci station on the European side of Istanbul was opened by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan February 26.
Milano northern tram link takes shape
ITALY: Construction started on February 16 on the initial 1·3 km Cascina Gobba – Quartiere Adriano section of Milano’s tangential tramway linking districts to the north of the city.