Alstom’s Taubaté factory in Brazil has completed the first stainless steel bodyshell for 37 five-car Metropolis metro trainsets it is to supply for the future 26 km Santiago Line 7. The cars will feature four wide doors on each side, open gangways, air-conditioning, a passenger information system providing route and station updates, USB charging ports and a cybersecurity system.
The creation of a fund for the reconstruction of Ukraine’s infrastructure, including the development of public transport, was announced at the fourth Ukraine Recovery Conference held in Roma. Tram manufactuirter Tatra-Yug said ‘this initiative will be an important step towards accelerating the sustainable modernisation of Ukrainian cities’.
Vancouver transport agency TransLink has appointed Pattison Outdoor as the main provider of advertising across its network. Plans include improved real-time customer information plus dynamic brand and product ads, replacing older overhead platform screens with high-definition motion displays, fewer paper ads to reduce the need for on-site changes, and the roll-out of digital tools to share service alerts, emergency messaging and customer updates more quickly. The agreement ‘will help generate vital revenue to support transit services across our region’, said TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn.
EFE Trenes de Chile has awarded Alstom a further contract to continue to maintain the signalling on the 23 km Santiago – Nos suburban line. This includes maintenance of the control centre, and runs to 2030 with an option for a five-year extension. ‘The renewal of the agreement with Alstom allows us to rely on top-level technology and a strategic partner with in-depth knowledge of the operation, resulting in fewer interruptions and a better, safer, and smoother experience for our passengers’, said Daniel Padilla, Maintenance Engineering Manager at the operator.
Moskva Metro has conducted its first digital rouble payment with insurance group SOGAZ, with the support of VTB Bank, as part of a smart contract for insuring the capital’s autonomous tram. Moskva Metro said a test payment proved the safety, transparency and speed of fulfilling obligations using digital roubles, with a simulation showing that the online calculation of damages and the payout of compensation could be completed within one day. ‘In the future, digital roubles will become one of the payment methods for fares and other transportation services in the capital’, said Deputy Mayor for Transport Maksim Liksutov.
Chicago Transit Authority ran a celebratory train on July 20 to mark the reopening of Lawrence, Argyle, Berwyn and Bryn Mawr stations which have been rebuilt by a joint venture of Fluor and Walsh Construction Co as part of the $2·1bn Red & Purple Modernisation Phase One Project. The rebuilt stations are larger and more accessible, with better lighting and security, real-time information boards and ‘a brighter, cleaner and more aesthetically pleasing pedestrian environment’.
Project promotor MRT Corp issued civil works contractor SRS Consortium with the notice to proceed with construction of the 23·7 km Penang LRT Mutiara Line medium capacity metro line on July 15. Completion is planned for 2031.
New York MTA deployed a standard (non-walkthrough) Kawasaki Rail Car R211 trainset on the B Line on July 21, marking the first time the trains have run in the Bronx and meaning the cars are now operating in all five boroughs. The R211s will eventually replace all R44s on the Staten Island Railway and the current fleet of R46 Subway cars, which have been in service on the A and C lines as well as the N, Q, R and W lines for several decades. New York City Transit will also begin replacement of the R68s, which entered service in the mid-1980s and primarily operate on the B, D, N and W services.