China Northern was awarded a contract on March 4 to supply 24 six-car Type B trainsets with stainless steel bodies for Shenzhen metro Line 3. Deliveries will run for a year from the end of August 2009. A previous contract signed on January 12 covered 60 Type A cars for Line 2. The trainsets will be built by CNR Changchun Railway Vehicles.
On March 14 the government of Argentina launched tendering for extensions of the Tranvía del Este light rail route in Buenos Aires to Retiro and La Boca, as well as the supply of 15 LRVs. Associated street works including the construction of stops are to be undertaken by the city government.
Trials begin this month of wireless networks which have been installed on the Beijing metro and Capital Airport Express by Andrew Wireless Solutions. The radiating cables will support railway data, security equipment and enable passengers to use mobile devices.
Ireland's Railway Procurement Agency has awarded M-Pact a contract covering infrastructure works on the planned extension of Dublin's Red Line tram route from Connolly station to the Docklands.
On February 18 the city of Khabarovsk selected Vagonmash's St Petersburg Tram Mechanical Factory to supply 10 LM-99 AVMN trams with low-floor access. A prototype supplied last year coped successfully with the extreme cold of Russia's far east.
Transport for London has reached an agreement for a new entrance to London Underground's Bank station to be included within the redevelopment of Legal & General's offices, eliminating the need to dig up the road to provide additional access.
The first sleeper on the 14·6 km suburban line from Móstoles to Navalcarnero in Madrid (RG 11.07 p680) was laid on February 19. Two tunnels totalling 3·8 km in length will be bored with a TBM as part of the project which also includes building a 320 m viaduct across the Guadarrama river.
A consortium of Thales, Alcatel and Shanghai Automation Instrumentation Co has signed an €42m agreement to supply SelTrac CBTC for the automatic operation of the 34 km Shanghai Metro Line 7 and its 10 km northern extension.
Under an agreement signed with Metrovías and CAF, Madrid Metro has supplied a two-car Series 5000 train for trials on Line B in Buenos Aires. A further 18 trains may be acquired for €5m should the trials prove successful.
The second of two 1·3 km tunnels through Beacon Hill for the Central Link light rail line in Seattle was holed through by TBM Emerald Mole on March 5. Opening is planned for late 2009.
Dresden transport operator DVB has ordered a further 11 five-section Bombardier Flexity trams for delivery between July 2009 and May 2010. The €34m contract brings to 83 the total number of cars ordered by DVB under a framework agreement signed in 2000.
