Passengers were welcomed with rosebuds and sweets to mark the start of services on a 5 km five-station underground extension of Kanpur Metro Line 1 (Orange) from Moti Jheel to Kanpur Central on May 31, after a formal inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi the previous day. A consortium led by Afcons Infrastructure built Kanpur Central metro station and 2·4 km of tunnel, and Alstom supplied rolling stock and CBTC. ‘This expansion of the Kanpur metro is no ordinary project’, said Modi. ‘It stands as proof that with the right intentions, strong willpower and honest governance, real efforts can be made for the development of the state and the country.’
A ceremony on May 16 officially launched construction of the 2·3 km K2A extension of the Luxembourg tramway from a junction at Pfaffenthal/Kirchberg, along Boulevard Konrad Adenauer to École Européenne. Opening is planned for 2027. The project will include public realm improvements ‘from façade to façade’, with cycle paths, traffic calming and more than 400 trees.
On May 22, Egypt’s National Authority for Tunnels signed a €363m contract with a joint venture of Arab Contractors and Hassan Allam for the comprehensive reconstruction of Alexandria‘s Raml tram network. The investment covers the renewal of 13·2 km of tramway and 24 stops, while the electrical and mechanical equipment, signalling and communications systems and the ticketing and fare collection equipment are to be upgraded. One section of route is to be abandoned and a 1 km extension is to be built to serve Ahmed Orabi Square.
Düsseldorf operator Rheinbahn has ordered a Vossloh HSG-city rail grinding machine for use from this summer. The high speed grinding capability will allow the machine to be used between services. ‘It is important to us that rail maintenance can be performed during operation and does not require track closures’, said Project Manager Andreas Busch.
Mayor of Moskva Sergey Sobyanin has officially opened Yuzhnoye depot on the metro’s Zamoskvoretskaya Line, which will handle the overhaul and medium repair of cars from the entire network. It has 46 buildings, 6·2 km of track and at full capacity will employ 1 300 people. It will undertake the overhaul of 300 cars/year and medium repair of 550 cars, as well as overhauling 6 400 traction motors and 8 500 wheelsets.
On May 29, New Taipei Metro introduced ‘Peace Shield Kits’, consisting of steel-plated shields, anti-cut gloves and anti-stab umbrellas for knife attacks. These are being offered to staff at Circular Line metro stations, select stops on the Ankeng and Danhai light rail lines, and in all driving cabs. They are also being made available to passengers in vehicle saloons next to the fire extinguishers.
Automatic Train Operation was reintroduced on the Washington DC metro’s Green and Yellow lines on May 23, following introduction on the Red Line in December. Train operators in the cab will monitor operations and close the doors. ATO was installed when the metro opened in 1976, but it was turned off following a fatal collision in June 2009. It will not be used during inclement weather, single-track running or when workers are on the tracks.
A 1·4 km extension of Nantes tram Route T1 from Ranzay to Babinière opened in May 23. Babinière is being developed as a multimodal transport hub, with pedestrian and cycle routes, an interchange with the Nantes - Châteaubriant tram-train service and secure bicycle parking. A park-and-ride facility is to open in November.
Following a national search the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority board appointed Scott Sauer as General Manager on June 2. He has been Interim General Manager of the Philadelphia area transport agency since November 2024. On June 26 the SEPTA board will consider a proposed budget which aims to address a $213m structural deficit through a 45% cut in services, major fare increases, workforce reductions and ending rail services at 21.00.
American Express cards can be used for contactless fare payment in Singapore with effect from May 15.
UKTram has appointed Chris Hopkinson, Head of Metro Operations at Transport for West Midlands, as Chair of the Owners & Authorities Group. Stuart Lowrie, Public Transport Manager for the City of Edinburgh Council, is Vice-Chair. They succeed Danny Vaughan of Transport for Greater Manchester and Mark Davis of London Trams. ‘Working with colleagues I hope we can look at opportunities to collaborate in order to improve our systems and also look at how we can support those authorities looking to implement light rail’, said Hopkinson.
