This week’s round-up of news from the urban transport sector.
On July 8 the European Investment Bank and Hamburger Hochbahn signed a €173m loan agreement to finance the purchase of 41 new DT6-F two-car metro trains ordered from Alstom last year. They are expected to enter service on Hamburg lines U1 to U4 from 2028. ‘The DT6 contract is the largest single investment in Hochbahn’s history’, said CEO Robert Heinrich. ‘We are thrilled at how quickly we were able to negotiate and sign a loan agreement with the EIB for the first order. Naturally, we are also very pleased to know that the project is in line with the EIB’s policy objectives, and that we can therefore benefit from an excellent interest rate.’
Maharashtra Metro Rail Corp has awarded Siemens Ltd two contracts totalling Rs7·73bn to supply communication-based train control signalling and telecoms for Nagpur Metro Rail Phase 2, covering a total of 43·8 km and 32 stations.
The ETERIA consortium of Vianini Lavori, Itinera and Icop, with CMB and Ghella has been awarded a €362m contract to build a 3·3 km western extension of Milano metro Line 1 in bored tunnel from Bisceglie to Valsesia, Olmi and Baggio. Work could start in October and is expected to take six years and three months. There are options to award the same companies a €44m contract to build a depot in Baggio and a €54m contract to extend Line 1 north from Sesto Primo Maggio to Monzato, should funding be secured.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has given N100bn towards the development of a light rail line in Kaduna, and the federal government expressed its willingness to collaborate on the project with the Kaduna state government on a July 4 visit. A groundbreaking ceremony is planned for September.
Metro de Madrid has appointed a joint venture of Systra and Ardanuy to provide specialised technical assistance with system integration for the conversion of the circular Line 6 to GoA4 unattended automatic operation. ‘It is our first major order for the Madrid metro, after many other contracts for the Bilbao and Barcelona networks, and we are supporting the first automation of an existing metro line in Spain’, said Systra Ibérica Vice-President Joan Serrano on July 16. ‘This is an experience in which Systra is a specialist with many similar contracts in Europe and worldwide.’
Trakcja has been awarded a 80·8m złoty contract to modernise 2·9 km of tram track on ul Konstytucji 3 Maja and ul Kościuszki in Toruń. This will include reconstruction of the Olimpijska loop, construction of a traction substation and a sander filling installation.
Alstom’s Hornell plant is to supply Kawasaki Rail Car with traction equipment for 435 R211 metro cars ordered by New York MTA at the end of 2024. Alstom said more than 80% of the New York City Transit fleet will be equipped with its propulsion equipment once delivery of all 1 610 R211 cars in the 2018 framework agreement has been completed.