Urban rail – Page 325
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NewsComposite light rail catenary offers potential savings
UK: Consultancy Atkins, bespoke composite engineering company Cecence and electrification equipment supplier Brecknell Willis are studying the potential use of advanced composite materials 10 times stronger and four times stiffer than metals to lower the cost of tramway overhead electrification. Copper contact wire would be suspended from a carbon fibre ...
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NewsValencia tests Line 9
SPAIN: Test running on Line 9 of the metre-gauge Valencia metro started on February 2. Line 9 includes a 9·4 km, four-station branch off the western end of lines 3 and 5 at Rosas. After emerging from a short tunnel, the single-track branch runs northwest to Riba-roja del ...
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NewsLeipzig selects Solaris trams
GERMANY: Leipzig transport authority LVB has selected Solaris to supply five trams with options for a further 36. The value of the base order is €7·7m. Deliveries are scheduled to start in 2016 and run until 2020 if all options are called off. The 1 458 mm gauge vehicles ...
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NewsMidland Metro opens refurbished depot
UK: A ceremony on February 5 marked the completion of a £13·8m programme to increase capacity at Midland Metro’s rolling stock maintenance depot in Wednesbury. The second phase of the programme includes a 42 m extension to the existing maintenance shed, new office and staff space and new storage ...
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NewsBerlin U-Bahn unveils pre-series Stadler trainset
GERMANY: Berlin city transport operator BVG officially unveiled the first pre-series Type IK U-Bahn trainset built by Stadler Pankow on February 3. The contract awarded in July 2012 is Stadler’s first to provide metro trainsets, and the design has been derived from its Tango family of light rail vehicles. The ...
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NewsHangzhou opens third metro line
CHINA: The first section of Hangzhou metro Line 4 opened on February 2. This is the third metro line in Hangzhou; Line 1 opened in November 2012 and Line 2 exactly two years later. The 9·6 km northeast section runs along the left bank of the River Qiantang between ...
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NewsAddis Ababa light rail test running begins
ETHIOPIA: Celebrations on February 1 marked the official launch of test running on the Addis Ababa light rail line, ahead of the planned start of revenue services in May. Attendees at the launch included the Prime Minster, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs along with thousands of city ...
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NewsHelsinki - Espoo light rail study commissioned
FINLAND: Ramboll and WSP have been appointed to study the costs, feasibility and wider impact of constructing the proposed 25 km Raide-Jokeri orbital light rail line. The route linking the Itäkeskus district of Helsinki with Keilaniemi in neighbouring Espoo would partially replace the region’s busiest bus service, the Bussi-Jokeri, which ...
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NewsParis awards €2bn metro train framework contract
FRANCE: On behalf of Île-de-France transport authority STIF and Société du Grand Paris, on January 30 Paris public transport operator RATP awarded Alstom a 15-year framework contract potentially worth more than €2bn for the supply up to 217 MP14 rubber-tyred metro trainsets. An initial firm order worth around €500m covers ...
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NewsCAF signs Utrecht tram contract
NETHERLANDS: On January 30 the Utrecht City region formally signed the contract for preferred bidder CAF to supply 27 trams for the future Uithof Line. The 8 km route will link Utrecht Centraal station with the Uithof university campus and a park-and-ride site from mid-2018. The five-section 100% low-floor ...
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NewsCityringen metro tunnel breakthrough
DENMARK: Tunnel boring machines Eva and Minerva broke through the Cityringen metro tunnels being bored beneath København Hovedbanegård station on January 29, watched by the Prime Minister, Transport Minister and Mayor. Civil works for the 15·5 km circular Cityringen automated metro line with 17 stations are being undertaken by the ...
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NewsOttawa Citadis Spirit light rail vehicle mock-up unveiled
CANADA: A full-sized mock-up of the 34 Alstom Citadis Spirit light rail vehicles ordered for the Confederation Line project in Ottawa is on public display at the Aberdeen Pavilion at Lansdowne Park between January 30 and the end of March. Confederation Line design, build, finance and maintain consortium Rideau Transit ...
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NewsNew Orleans breaks ground on Rampart Street line
USA: A groundbreaking ceremony for the North Rampart Street/St Claude Avenue Streetcar Project in New Orleans took place on January 28. The 2·6 km on-street route will connect the French Quarter and Treme to the Canal Street and Loyola Avenue lines, with six stops. The project includes a cycle ...
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NewsEIB agrees £480m loan for London Underground extension
UK: On January 29 the European Investment Bank announced that it had agreed a £480m loan to finance 50% of the cost of the building a 3·3 km branch of London Underground’s Northern Line to Nine Elms and Battersea. The long-term loan is to be repaid using a combination ...
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NewsEU funding for five Polish public transport projects
POLAND: The European Commission has approved €293m from the Cohesion Fund for five public transport projects in four Polish cities. The projects are being financed under the Polish Infrastructure & Environment operational programme, and aim to modernise public transport in a sustainable way to improve comfort and give shorter journey ...
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NewsTest running on transit bridge
USA: Test running of light rail vehicles has started over the Tilikum Crossing over the Willamette River in Portland. Operator TriMet says that the 524 m cable-stayed bridge is the longest car-free transit bridge in the US. It will be used by buses, cyclists and pedestrians in addition to ...
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NewsFour consortia prequalify for Tampere tramway contract
FINLAND: Four consortia have prequalifed to bid for a contract to build the planned 23·5 km two-line light rail network in Tampere, the city council announced on January 19. The consortia were scored out of a total of 160 points: Lemminkainen, Ramboll, Alstom, Insinöörit Suunnittelu (137·75/160 ...
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NewsHelsinki metro extension contracts
FINLAND: Project promoter Länsimetro Oy has awarded further civils contracts for the second phase of Helsinki’s western metro extension to Espoo. Access tunnel excavation contracts have been awarded to Destia (€13m) and Kalliorakennus-Yhtiöt (€7·9m) and run until late 2015. Consulting Group Sigma — which comprises Finnmap Infra, Kalliosuunnittelu ...
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NewsSão Paulo Line 6 CBTC contract
BRAZIL: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has awarded Nippon Signal a contract for the supply of signalling for São Paulo metro Line 6. Nippon Signal is to supply its SPARCS communications-based train control for driverless operation, including ATS, interlockings and ATP. Last year PPP concessionaire Move São Paulo awarded Mitsubishi ...
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NewsRio metro selects Tetra radio supplier
BRAZIL: Communications project leader ENG has selected Kapsch CarrierCom to implement a Tetra digital radio network for Rio de Janeiro metro Line 4. Kapsch is to provide four base stations, 140 handheld portable radios and 30 in-train cab radios for the fleet of 15 six-car trainsets, which CNR Changchun ...
