North America – Page 69
-
NewsKeltbray eyes Canada as UK electrification ‘looks less certain’
CANADA: Construction company Aecon and British engineering and construction firm Keltbray Group have signed a memorandum of understanding with a view to developing a joint venture to bid for rail electrification contracts in Canada. This is Keltbray’s first venture into the international market, having entered the UK electrification sector in ...
-
NewsVIA Rail begins procurement of new Québec – Windsor fleet
CANADA: National passenger operator VIA Rail formally launched the process to procure a new fleet of trainsets for the Québec City – Windsor corridor when it issued a request for qualifications on April 16. Following the government’s allocation of funding in the 2018 federal budget announced in March, VIA Rail ...
-
Metro Report InternationalHamilton LRT request for proposals issued
CANADA: Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx have issued a request for proposals to the three groups shortlisted for the contract to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the Hamilton Light Rail Transit project. The Hamilton LRT project is to be undertaken using IO’s Alternative Financing & Procurement DBFOM model. The east–west ...
-
Metro Report InternationalPreferred bidder selected to build Toronto’s Finch West light rail line
CANADA: Greater Toronto & Hamilton Area transport authority Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario announced on April 11 that they had selected Mosaic Transit Group as preferred bidder to build the Finch West light rail project in Toronto. The consortium comprises Aecon, ACS Infrastructure Canada and CRH Canada Group, each with ...
-
Metro Report InternationalMontréal automated metro contracts signed
CANADA: CDPQ Infra signed the contracts for the Réseau Électrique Métropolitain automated metro project in Montréal on April 12, and a groundbreaking ceremony was held on the same day. The 67 km network is intended to link the south shore suburbs, the city centre, the airport, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue ...
-
NewsCSX agrees short line spin-offs
USA: CSX Transportation has reached agreement to sell almost 300 km of railway in Alabama and Georgia to Denver-based HGS Railway Holdings, following its announcement earlier this year that up to one-third of its total network was being reviewed for possible closure or sale. HGS has established two wholly-owned subsidiaries ...
-
NewsThe Canadian coaches to be refurbished
CANADA: VIA Rail has awarded Cad Railway Industries a C$46m contract to upgrade 25 coaches used on The Canadian service between Toronto and Vancouver. Announcing the contract on April 10, VIA Rail said the stainless steel coaches dating from the 1950s would be ‘completely refurbished and transformed to better meet ...
-
NewsAlstom opens Canadian light rail vehicle factory
CANADA: Alstom opened an assembly plant for light rail vehicles in Brampton, Ontario on April 10. The factory will be used to produce 61 light rail vehicles that Greater Toronto & Hamilton Area transport authority Metrolinx ordered in May 2017. The C$528m contract includes an option for ...
-
Metro Report InternationalSiemens to supply rolling stock for Orange County Streetcar project
USA: Orange County Transportation Authority has approved a $51·5m framework contract for Siemens to supply up to 18 S70 vehicles for the OC Streetcar project. The bidirectional vehicles would be 26·8 m long with capacity for 180 passengers including 70 seated. The base order for eight vehicles and ...
-
NewsAccessibility upgrade for VIA Rail long-distance fleet
CANADA: National passenger operator VIA Rail has awarded Bombardier Transportation a C$54m contract to upgrade 17 coaches used on long-distance services to bring them into line with current and planned accessibility standards. The stainless steel bodied coaches dating from the 1950s will be equipped with two wheelchair lifts, two accessible ...
-
Metro Report InternationalFirst Edmonton Valley Line LRV completed
CANADA: The first light rail vehicle for Edmonton’s Valley Line has been completed at Bombardier Transportation’s factory in Kingston. It is scheduled to arrive in Edmonton in mid-2018. Bombardier is supplying 26 LRVs for the first phase of the Valley Line project as part of the TransEd Partners consortium, ...
-
Metro Report InternationalFirst Milwaukee Streetcar delivered
USA: Brookville Equipment Corp delivered the first of five trams that it is supplying to Milwaukee on March 27. The three-section bidirectional Liberty Modern Streetcar is 20·4 m long and 2 600 mm wide with capacity for 150 passengers including 32 seated. Due to open in mid-2018, the ...
-
NewsMARC operating contract extended
USA: Maryland Transit Administration has awarded Bombardier Transportation a $288m five-year extension to its contract to operate the Maryland Area Regional Commuter network’s Brunswick and Camden lines. The existing contract awarded in 2012 covers the operation and maintenance of the fleet of diesel locomotives and coaches, including Bombardier vehicles, as ...
-
NewsHopes rise on Gateway tunnel funding despite Trump opposition
USA: Hopes of progress in the Gateway Programme to build new tunnels between New York and New Jersey were raised on March 22 when $650m of federal funding was directed to Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. The Gateway Programme covers a series of enhancements worth approximately $30bn to the busiest section ...
-
Metro Report InternationalBrookville to supply trams to Portland
USA: Portland City Council approved the purchase of two trams to operate on Streetcar routes A and B on March 21. The vehicles from Brookville Equipment Co are to enter service in 2020. The vehicles are being ordered as an option on a contract signed between Brookville and Seattle’s ...
-
NewsD-Train to target US transit market
USA: Next year could see the deployment of Vivarail D-Train diesel multiple-units in North America, under proposals being developed by Railroad Development Corp. RDC Chairman Henry Posner III told Railway Gazette that the remanufactured London Underground trainsets offered a unique opportunity to test the market for urban rail services in ...
-
Metro Report InternationalCharlotte’s LYNX Blue Line extended
USA: The LYNX Blue Line in Charlotte almost doubled in length on March 16 with the inauguration of a 15 km extension from 7th Street to UNC Charlotte Main. The northwestern extension adds 11 stops and includes a 300 m tunnel. The Blue Line is now 31·1 km long, ...
-
Metro Report InternationalSound Transit picks expansion partners
USA: Seattle-Tacoma transport authority Sound Transit has selected the South County Transit Partners joint venture of Mott MacDonald and SNC-Lavalin to provide project management services for the 11·5 km light-rail extension from Angle Lake to Federal Way. Expected to open in 2024, the southern extension of the existing line from ...
-
NewsCalifornia high speed rail plan revised
USA: California High-Speed Rail Authority has published for public consultation a draft 2018 business plan which ‘acknowledges and responds to changed circumstances and emphasises a new way of doing business moving forward’. CHSRA said the draft plan ‘transparently identifies the project’s challenges’, which include putting back the completion date and ...
-
NewsVIA Rail fleet replacement funded
CANADA: Funding for the procurement of 32 push-pull trainsets to replace the locomotive-hauled stock which VIA Rail operates on the Québec – Montréal – Toronto – Windsor corridor was confirmed in the 2018 federal budget presented by Minister of Finance Bill Morneau on February 27. The value was not released, ...