Algeria: A consortium of Semaly and Ingerop has been awarded a €9·6m contract to design, tender and supervise construction of a 9 km tramway in Constantine on behalf of Alger Metro Co. Running from Place des Martyrs to the Rhumel Industrial Zone and Zouaghi, the topography will demand substantial engineering works including a 500m viaduct. Opening is planned for 2010.

Argentina: Bids were due to be opened on June 12 for the refurbishment of 85 metro cars with Siemens equipment operating on Buenos Aires Line C as well as 64 cars with GE equipment. The government has set a budget of 119·6m pesos for the work under its railway investment programme (RG 2.06 p62).

Austria: On May 31 Bombardier Trans-portation Austria rolled out its tenth three-car Class 400 EMU for Wiener Lokalbahnen. This completes a 2004 order for four additional units which followed an initial batch of six ordered in 2000.

Belgium: Brussels Transport authority STIB has placed an order with Windhoff for two OB40 powered crane vehicles for maintenance work, and four KW40 crane vehicles for rail transport. They will be delivered in the third quarter of 2007.

The city of Charleroi has applied for planning permission for the civil works required to complete the loop of the TEC light metro system between Sud and Parc.

Canada: On May 24 the Mayor of Toronto officially launched a C$90m project to provide a second platform to relieve pressure on the current single island platform at Toronto's Union subway station, which was built in 1954 to handle 25000 passengers/day but now serves 75000. Work will begin in 2008 for completion in 2011.

China: Skoda has won a KC30m contract to supply Changchun Railway Vehicles Co with 80 asynchronous traction motors which will be used on 20 trams being built for the city's tramway, which is being modernised in readiness for the 6th Asian Winter Games.

Beijing Metro has awarded Westinghouse Rail Systems Australia a contract to supply its Systematics integrated supervisory control system for the 27·6 km Line 5 which is now under construction for opening by 2008.

France: Free travel and a concert marked the opening of Grenoble tram Line 3 on May 20. The 9·5 km route with 16 new stops starts at the university on tracks shared with Line B, then runs west to serve Condillac and Porte des Glairons, terminating at Le Prisme in Seyssins.

On June 8 RATP took delivery of the last of 21 Citadis 402 LRVs ordered for route T3 (RG 4.06 p200) from Alstom Transport. Driver training began on May 2.

Test running on the Aulnay - Bondy tram-train route in eastern Paris was due to begin between Bondy and Gargan on June 6. The first train was due to run over the Gargan - Aulnay-sous-Bois section on June 29.

Germany: Tram-train services between Kassel and Melsungen began on June 1. Following a Europe-wide call for tenders, DB Regio AG and Regionalbahn Kassel have been selected by NVV to operate the Kassel RegioTram network for six years from 2007. The Seehäsle route between Radolfzell and Stockach is to be operated by Hohenzollersche Landeseisenbahn from December 2006.

India: The national government has approved the Bangalore metro project, and will contribute 15% of the Rs64bn cost to match the Karnataka government's contribution. Japan Bank for International Co-operation will lend 45% of the cost, with the remainder to be borrowed elsewhere. Two 15 km lines are planned, linking Jalahalli Circle to Jayanagar and Mysore Road to Byappanahalli by 2011.

Israel: Tel Aviv municipality has agreed to pay 100m shekels over the first six years towards the Red Line project (MR 03 p54), and 75m shekels over 15 years. The franchisee will pay 6·8m shekels in property taxes, and this will be transferred to the state for the first 10 years.

Mexico: Mexico City metro operator STC has taken delivery of the last of 45 nine-car rubber-tyred trainsets for Line 2, built by CAF and Bombardier.

South Africa: On June 6 Department of Transport spokesman Collen Msibi said plans are being drawn up to devolve responsibility for commuter rail services to provincial governments and local transport authorities 'to improve service delivery and control'.

Sweden: On June 8 Bombardier announced a €26m order from Storstockholms Lokaltrafik for another nine 2 650mm wide Flexity Swift low-floor bi-directional LRVs, to be delivered between March and August 2008.

United Kingdom: Trelleborg Industrial has won a €1·5m contract to supply Metronet SSL with Metalastik secondary suspension springs for the refurbishment of around 400 D78 cars used on London Underground's District Line. The hourglass bearers are to a new, lower design required for the introduction of a flexible frame bogie.

USA: Clark County Department of Aviation has signed a $43m contract for Bombardier to supply a 366m automated peoplemover with six CX-100 vehicles for Terminal 3 of McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas.

Siemens is to supply AC traction drives for 340 metro cars being built by Kawasaki for Port Authority Trans-Hudson. Derived from New York City Transit's R142 cars, the stainless steel vehicles will be delivered from late 2008. Siemens will also supply propulsion systems for 28 works locos to be delivered to NYCT by Wabtec in 2007-09.

Siemens has delivered to Charlotte the first of 16 S70 LRVs being built for the LYNX Blue Line at a cost of $52·5m. The 15·4 km route between 7th Street and Interstate 485 is scheduled to open in autumn 2007.

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