Boring of the first 7·3 km section of the Metro Manila Subway between the future Quirino Highway and North Avenue stations was launched on January 9, with six tunnel boring machines working on the tunnels and a top-down construction method being used for the stations. ‘Today’s start of tunnelling work signifies the point of no return’, said Secretary of Transportation Jaime Bautista. ‘We are going full-speed ahead to complete the country’s first subway’.
Tracklaying has been completed on extensions of Paris metro Line 14 north from Mairie de Saint-Ouen to Saint-Denis Pleyel and south from Olympiades to Orly Airport, RATP announced on January 11. Revenue services are expected to commence in June 2024.
Metro de Santiago has awarded Thales two contracts to build and maintain for 10 years the operation control centre for Line 7, which is scheduled to open in early 2027. The OCC will supervise energy equipment and auxiliary systems, including lifts, escalators, lighting and ventilation equipment at the 19 stations. A back-up centre will ensure continuity of service in the event of a failure or emergency.
Construction of 2·5 km five-stop extension of the Vitoria-Gasteiz tram network from Florida to Salburua has been completed, Basque rail infrastructure manager Euskal Trenbide Sarea announced in early January. Testing will now be undertaken ahead of the start of revenue services in April.
Philadelphia operator SEPTA is to make six stations fully accessible on the Broad Street and Market-Frankford metro lines using funding from the Federal Transit Administration‘s All Stations Accessibility programme.
Mohamed Mezghani has been reappointed as UITP Secretary General for five years from January
The US Department of Transportation is providing a $27·5m Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing loan for double-tracking of the South Shore Line between Gary and Michigan City southeast of Chicago. Work is already underway and scheduled for completion at the end of 2024.
Compagnie des Transports Strasbourgeois has renewed Keolis’s technical assistance contract for a further four years. Keolis will support projects in the Strasbourg area including recruiting 400 employees by 2025 to support northern and western extensions of the tram system, extending bus rapid transit Route G by December 2023, and restructuring the bus network in the Neuhof and Meinau districts by September 2023.
Portland operator TriMet is working with Siemens Mobility and Wi-Tronix to pilot a cloud-based Transit Signal Priority programme providing light rail vehicles with priority at road junctions. Connected vehicle will send constantly updated location information to the cloud, providing traffic lights with a more accurate arrival time to enable LRV priority while avoiding traffic jams.
Franck Garçon has succeeded Gilles Fargier as Managing Director of Keolis Lille.