Akiem joins autonomous railpod project
FRANCE: Rolling stock leasing company Akiem has signed a letter of intent paving the way for a financial and industrial partnership to develop the Taxirail concept for an autonomous ‘railpod’ ultra light rail shuttle vehicle.
Metro and monorail proposed to serve western Los Angeles
USA: The Los Angeles Metro board has selected two consortia to develop detailed concepts for the Sepulveda Transit Corridor, a proposed metro or monorail line to provide a high speed and high capacity connection between San Fernando Valley, the Westside and eventually Los Angeles International Airport as an alternative to ...
‘Bold, pioneering’ design concepts for Cambridgeshire metro unveiled
UK: ‘Thought-provoking’ design concepts have been published to show the ‘radical, innovative thinking’ behind Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority’s ambitious Cambridgeshire Autonomous Metro proposal for a network of automated services connecting housing and employment across the region.
Bangkok monorail extension approved
THAILAND: Approval has been granted for an extension of Bangkok’s future Pink Line monorail.
Smart windows on Paris airport peoplemover
FRANCE: One of the Orlyval shuttles at Paris Orly airport has been fitted with smart LCD windows which show information including flight departures and weather forecasts for the destinations. .
Financing package enables Bombardier’s Derby plant to go ahead with Egyptian monorail production
EGYPT: Bombardier Transportation’s factory at Derby in the UK is to go ahead with the production of 70 four-car Innovia Monorail 300 trainsets for two lines being built in Cairo, after the British government confirmed a £1·7bn export finance guarantee.
Sillim Line operating contract awarded
SOUTH KOREA: Concessionaire NamSeoul Light Rail Co has awarded a 329·5bn won contract to a joint venture of Hyundai Rotem and Gwangju Metropolitan Rapid Transit Corp for operation and maintenance of the Sillim Line automated light metro, which is due to open later this year.
Bangkok Gold Line peoplemover opens
THAILAND: The first section of Bangkok’s Gold Line peoplemover opened for revenue service on December 16, with Prime Minister Prayuth Cha-o-cha presiding over the launch ceremony.
Marconi Express monorail opens in Bologna
ITALY: A 5∙1 km monorail linking Bologna’s Marconi Airport with the city’s main line station opened for revenue service on November 18.
Faster monorail on trial
CHINA: Test running has started with a prototype 100 km/h monorail train being developed by CRRC Qingdao Sifang.
First REM light metro trainset unveiled in Montréal
CANADA: The first cars to be supplied by Alstom for the Réseau Express Métropolitain automated metro network in Montréal were formally unveiled by Groupe PMM on November 16.
Skytrain monorail on test
CHINA: A driverless suspended monorail vehicle with a design speed of 80 km/h is being tested on an 800 m elevated track in Wuhan.
Light metro cars bring a fresh breeze to Tokyo’s waterfront
JAPAN: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering has completed delivery of eight six-car Series 7500 rubber-tyred light metro trainsets which were ordered in September 2016 to replace Series 7200 sets on Tokyo’s Yurikamome Line.
Ulaanbaatar’s yurt settlements to be served by cable car
MONGOLIA: A consortium of French aerial transport specialist Poma and rail consultancy Egis is to build an urban cable car route in Ulaanbaatar.
Panamá City monorail rolling stock and rail systems contract signed
PANAMA: The HPH joint venture which is prime contractor for the Panamá City metro Line 3 monorail has signed a US$883m contract for Hitachi Ltd, Hitachi Rail STS and Mitsubishi Corp to supply rolling stock and railway systems.
Salvador monorail design contract awarded
BRAZIL: Salvador monorail PPP concessionaire leader BYD has awarded SENER a contract to prepare detailed designs for the railway systems.
Bangkok monorail trains arrive
THAILAND: Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha joined a ceremony at the port of Laem Chabang on October 1 to mark the arrival of the first monorail trainsets for the Bangkok’s future Pink and Yellow lines.
Hiroshima Rapid Transit Co orders more rubber-tyre light metro trainsets
JAPAN: Hiroshima Rapid Transit Co has awarded Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering a contract to supply a further 13 six-car Series 7000 Automated Guideway Transit rubber-tyre trainsets to replace existing vehicles on the 18·4 km New Transit Line 1, known as the Astram Line.
Wuppertal Schwebebahn services suspended amid tyre trouble
GERMANY: Weekday services on the Wuppertal Schwebebahn suspended monorail are to be withdrawn for up to a year to enable urgent guideway repairs, the operator has confirmed.
Bangkok Gold Line peoplemover car delivered
THAILAND: Bangkok Mass Transit System has taken delivery of the first of three two-car Bombardier Transportation Innovia 300 automated peoplemover sets for the future Gold Line