Three replacement Alstom Innovia APM R trainsets entered service at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on July 1, operating using newly-upgraded Urbalis Flo (formerly CityFlo 650) communications-based train control. The airport APM replacement project was led by Alstom and a joint venture between IJM Construction and Pestech Technology.
Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa has restarted suburban rail operations on the four-station Nolungile – Chris Hani section of the Central Line in the southeast of Cape Town. This followed extensive repair works of the stations, substations, overhead electrification and the removal of informal settlers from the right of way.
A groundbreaking ceremony on June 26 officially launched construction of Taichung MRT’s 25 km Blue Line metro. Completion is planned for 2034.
Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft has completed a €55m project to double-track the 3·2 km Leingarten to Schwaigern section of the Kraichgaubahn between Karlsruhe and Heilbronn to enable service S4 to run every 15 min at peak times and provide more operational stability.
The Philippines Department of Transportation is planning PPP schemes for the modernisation of Manila light metro lines LRT 2 and MRT 3.
MTR Corp has upgraded the 5G mobile network at eight Hong Kong stations. It said the 3·3 and 3·5 GHz indoor base stations enable ‘more exciting and diverse digital advertising’ in the stations, with large-scale live stream and interactive advertisements as well as AI games in four stations. A further 16 stations are expected to be completed by 2027.
Stadtwerke Augsburg is replacing fluorescent tubes on its 27 Flexity trams with LEDs to save energy and to offer a more pleasant ambience for passengers. The tubes will be reused on older Combino trams, as it is not economical to change their lighting owing to their age.
Eric Miller has been appointed as streetcar operations manager for the city of Omaha. He will work with Interim Executive Director Rick Gustafson and the board to select a company to manage and operate the future 5 km Omaha Streetcar line, and then oversee day-to-day operations. Miller spent more than a decade with Denver’s Regional Transportation District, and worked as a consultant on rail projects in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Chicago, Minneapolis/St Paul and New York City. Most recently, he was a senior transit planner at Felsburg, Holt & Ullevig.
Following the successful inspection of prototypes, Hübner Group is to begin supplying Škoda Group with gangways for 22 trams it is to build for entry into service with Kassel’s KVG from 2027. The gangways will be produced locally ‘from Kassel, for Kassel’, with upper articulation systems from affiliated company Hemscheidt Engineering in Feucht. Hübner will also provide ramps for easy access.