Local manufacturer Tatra-Yug is using the Dnipro tramway to test the first of 20 K1T306 three-section trams ordered by Kyiv. The €24·5m contract signed on February 25 is being financed by the European Investment Bank.
The Ontario government, Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx have awarded the West End Connectors consortium of Aecon (40%), Dragados Canada (40%) and Ghella (20%) the C$729·2m contract to design, build and finance the tunnels for Toronto’s 9·2 km Eglinton Crosstown West Extension light rail line. Construction is expected to commence this year for completion in Q2 2025.
The Chicago Transit Authority’s Ventra Card can now be used with Google Pay on NFC-enabled Android mobile phones, without needing to carry a plastic card. ‘Whether you’re a resident or visitor, hopping aboard Chicago’s world-class public transit system is now as easy as a tap of your Android mobile device on a bus or at a station’, said Mayor Lori E Lightfoot.
A 4·2 km two station extension of the Seoul metro Line 7 connecting Bupyeong-gu Office with Seongnam in Incheon opened on May 22, taking the line to 61 km and 52 stations.
TES Communication Systems is supplying a voice and data digital radio system for the West Midlands Metro tramway in Birmingham. This will interface with the current Metro Automatic Vehicle Localisation System to provide the data carrier for some onboard systems, replacing the current VHF system that can only operate with voice calls.
Ali Abdullahpour was appointed head of Tehran Urban & Suburban Railway Operation Co on May 1.
Moscow’s municipal transport department plans to integrate control of tram and suburban railway services into the metro’s unified operations control centre by the end of the year. Opened in 2019, the control centre now has 700 staff working in four shifts and has significantly reduced incident response times.
Transdev has appointed Caroline Gonin as Group Chief Human Resources Officer with effect from July 15.
The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development is providing a €10m loan to meet the liquidity and working capital needs of Lviv transport company Lvivelectrotrans and other municipal service providers, and is prepared to lend another €12m. ‘The EU is happy to guarantee this EBRD loan to the municipality of Lviv, as part of our joint support to partner countries facing liquidity shortages generated by the Covid-19 pandemic’, said Katarína Mathernová, Deputy Director General for EU Neighbourhood & Enlargement countries. ’Our joint effort will allow the municipality to continue providing essential services to the local population and will support a green recovery.’
The Tyne & Wear Metro has appointed John Alexander as Operations Director. He joins from Northern, where he was manager of Heaton depot in Newcastle.
Cubic Transportation Systems and the 24 transport operators covered by the San Francisco Bay Area’s Metropolitan Transportation Commission have introduced fare payment through NFC-enabled Android phones using Google Pay or the new Clipper app, expanding on the existing Clipper smartcard. ’We want to make everyday things fast and easy’, said Alan Stapelberg, Product Manager at Google Pay.