This week’s round-up of news from the urban transport sector.
The consortium of Swietelsky Magyarország Kft and Swietelsky Vasúttechnika Kft have been awarded a HF26·9bn contract for the construction of a 2·8 km seven-stop tramway extension in Budapest. The route will diverge from the existing network at Szent Gellért tér and run along the Buda side of the River Danube to Budafoki út/Dombóvári út on Route 1.
Work to build four tramway extensions totalling more than 40 km in the southern districts of St Petersburg is set to begin in 2027, following the signing of an agreement by operator Gorelektrotrans and construction company Natproektstroy. The extensions will run along Sofiyskaya Ulitsa, Volkhonskoye Shosse and the Southern Latitudinal Arterial, and will also extend to the future satellite town of Yuzhny.
On March 3, the Japan International Cooperation Agency signed a ¥21·635bn loan agreement with the government of the Philippines covering Phase 3 of the modernisation of Manila’s MRT3 light metro line. The scope includes enhancements to signalling, more track renewals plus station renovation and refurbishment of more LRVs.
Discussions are underway for Göteborgs Spårvägar to donate 40 M29 trams dating from 1969-72 to the Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, which has an ageing and war-damaged fleet. ‘We are proud to be able to enable the trams that have served the people of Göteborg for almost 60 years to continue rolling in a city where they are really needed’, said Göteborgs Spårvägar Chair Johanna Hector Lund. The Swedish operator would also obtain information about operating during times of high alert and war. ‘Being able to share their experiences would strengthen our own preparedness and knowledge’, said CEO Linda Rudenwall.
Singapore’s Land Transport Authority has awarded China Railway Tunnel Group the final civil contract for the Downtown Line 2 extension project, a S$199m agreement to design and build the twin 1·8 km tunnels between the existing Bukit Panjang station and the future DE1 station. Construction is scheduled to begin in Q3 2026 for opening in 2035.
Sheffield‘s Supertram and media and entertainment group Global have completed an upgrade of the tram network’s advertising estate, installing energy-efficient LED-lit advertising units featuring brighter displays, reduced energy use and a more contemporary look and feel. Brands can also now take over tram stops with wrapped shelter formats offering significant visibility at high-footfall locations. ’By improving quality and consistency across our estate, we expect to see stronger advertising interest which in turn supports revenue generation that directly contributes towards improving the operation of Supertram services and customer experience’, said Nigel Wragg, Commercial Manager at Supertram.
Yekaterinburg city council has approved funding for the lease-purchase of 50 three-section trams for a total of 13·2bn roubles. A call for tenders is planned to be announced later this year. Half of the funds will be contributed by the city itself, with the remaining half coming from the Sverdlovsk region. The leasing programme is scheduled to run from 2026 to 2033.
Toshkent Metro has taken delivery of four AGM track maintenance machines manufactured by the Tikhoretsky Machine-Building Plant.