Argentina: Metrovías has received 12 of 30 cars for Buenos Aires Line D from Nagoya Metro, costing 25m pesos. They have been refurbished for 1·5 kV DC overhead by Osaka Sharyo Kogyo Co Ltd with electronic traction equipment.

China: On March 5 Hong Kong MTR Corp awarded an HK$1·1bn contract to a joint venture of Leighton Asia and China State Construction Engineering for construction of two running tunnels and a station with public transport interchange on its Tseung Kwan O extension.

France: Paris transport authority RATP is to open a new station at Serris-Montévrain between Bussy-St-Georges and Marne-la-Vallée-Chessy on RER Line A at the end of 2000.

Germany: Motorola’s Worldwide Smartcard Solutions Division and ERG have won a contract from BVG for trials of smart card ticketing in Berlin, covering 25000 users on metro, tram, bus and S-Bahn routes. Full implementation by 2002 will see flat fares replaced by a structure based on time and distance.

Great Britain: Docklands Light Railway Ltd has selected a 3·6 km route from Canning Town with three intermediate stations as the preferred option for its £80m extension to London City Airport, now expected to open in January 2003.

Italy: Regional and local governments have signed an agreement for the extension of Milano Metro Line 1 from Sesto San Giovanni to Monza.

Netherlands: On March 11 the Randstad Rail Steering Committee invited private sector proposals for its light rail scheme by April 30.

Poland: Warszawa has chosen Ascom Monétel to supply a Fr140m smartcard ticketing system for metro, tram and bus services by October 2000.

Spain: The Madrid regional government has approved a 6·5 km metro route from Mar de Cristal to Nuevos Ministerios, to provide direct service between the city centre and Barajas Airport (MR98 p46). Funding for the Pts20bn project may not become available until 2000.

A light rail vehicle was due to begin trials last month in Alicante, using 700m of reserved track from the central Plaza del Mar to FGV’s Alicante terminus, and then a 2·3 km electrified section of the Denia line to Albufereta.

Switzerland: Gemplus Germany is to supply smart cards to Genève Transport and Lausanne Transport, who are buying 1050 ticket vending machines from IEM SA that will accept payment using cards available in a choice of values.

USA: MBTA was expected to introduce the first Type 8 low-floor LRV to Boston’s Green Line on March 15, with deliveries scheduled for completion by December 2000. Breda Transportation Inc is assembling 100 vehicles at a plant in Littleton, Massachusetts.

Siemens Transportation Systems Inc of Sacramento has assembled the first of 25 AC-motored LRVs for the St Louis MetroLink, ordered at a cost of $2·09m each. The first 10 vehicles are due to be delivered by July this year.

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