Urban rail – Page 342
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NewsHasselt – Maastricht fast tram agreement signed
BELGIUM: Flanders Transport Minister Hilde Crevits signed an agreement with Limburg province in the Netherlands on March 11 to push ahead with construction of a fast tram line between Hasselt in Belgium and Maastricht in the Netherlands. The 32 km Spartacus line would partly use the alignment of Infrabel’s ...
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NewsLinz buys accessible ticket machines
AUSTRIA: Linz city transport operator Linz Linien has ordered 200 Scheidt & Bachmann FareGo Sales ST|40 ticket vending machines meeting TSI PRM accessibility standards, with an option for 110 more. The TVMs will feature menus with audio response via speakers, and tactile elements on the front panel to ensure ease ...
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NewsMendoza light rail Phase 2 contract signed
ARGENTINA: A Ceosa-Sogesic joint venture has signed a contract to build the second phase of the Mendoza light rail network. The 5·4 km northern extension from Central to Las Heras will include three stops. It is to be built in 24 months at a cost of 224·7m pesos. The ...
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NewsDen Haag orders more Siemens Avenio trams
NETHERLANDS: Den Haag city transport operator HTM placed a €55m order for 20 more Siemens Avenio low-floor trams on March 13, as an option on a contract for 40 signed in 2011. As with the original order, these will be produced in Siemens’ Wien factory. This batch of trams ...
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NewsAnkara opens metro line M2
TURKEY: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan officially opened Ankara metro Line M2 on March 13, one month after Line M3 opened and nearly one year ahead of the original schedule. The 16·6 km line runs west from Kızılay to Çayyolu, serving 12 stations. It is operated by the state-owned ...
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NewsSuzhou orders more CSR Nanjing Puzhen metro cars
CHINA: CSR Nanjing Puzhen is to supply 40 six-car trainsets for Suzhou metro Line 4, to be delivered in 2015-16. Škoda Electric is supplying traction motors under a KC1·1bn contract. These will be produced in Suzhou by Škoda Kingway Electric, a joint venture of Škoda Electric and Jiangsu Kingway ...
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News€506m Doha metro Red Line contract awarded
QATAR: Project promoter Qatar Rail has awarded the Citizen Services Group consortium a €506m contract to build a 6·97 km section of the Doha metro Red Line. The consortium is led by Spanish firm FCC and includes Archirodon from Greece, Yüksel from Turkey and local firm Petroserv. The ...
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NewsDebrecen opens second tram route
HUNGARY: The second tram line in Debrecen opened on February 26, followed by five days of free travel. The route runs along the existing track from the main station to Kálvin Tér before branching off on a new alignment to Csokonai Vitéz Mihály Gimnázium, from where services run anticlockwise round ...
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NewsKayseray light rail expansion
TURKEY: Two extensions to the Kayseray light rail line in Kayseri opened last month, and a further extension south from Erciyes Üniversitesi to Talas is due to open shortly. The 9·4 km eastern extension with 14 stops from Dogu Terminali to Ildem 5 opened on February 1. This was ...
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NewsIstanbul Ulasım unveils locally-developed LRV
TURKEY: Under the slogan ‘100% Istanbullu’, urban transport operator Istanbul Ulasım has unveiled the first of a series build of 18 high-floor light rail vehicles which it has specified, designed and commissioned itself. IU has produced a number of prototype and demonstrator LRVs over the past decade as it seeks ...
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NewsCrossrail North East Spur upgrade contract awarded
UK: Network Rail has awarded Costain the £150m Crossrail North East Spur Contract, covering the upgrade of existing railway infrastructure between Stratford and Shenfield as part of London's Crossrail project. The track and the 25 kV 50 Hz overhead electrification is to be upgraded under the contract announced on March ...
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NewsUrban rail news in brief - March 2014
The President of Turkmenistan has backed proposals for the construction of a metro to serve outlying suburbs of Ashgabat which were incorporated into the capital last year. Metropolitan Urban Transport Company of São Paulo has confirmed that test running on the Santos light rail line is to start in ...
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NewsMelbourne suburban investment
AUSTRALIA: Victoria Premier Denis Napthine announced an investment package of A$2bn to A$2·5bn for the Pakenham and Cranbourne suburban lines in Melbourne on March 6. The package includes 25 new EMUs, resignalling, a new depot at Pakenham East, rebuilding three stations and the removal of four level crossings as ...
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NewsMilano extends driverless Line M5
ITALY: A southern extension of Milano metro Line M5 from Zara to Garibaldi with an intermediate station at Isola opened on March 1. The 1·9 km extension provides an interchange at Garibaldi with metro Line M2 and main line routes. Services now run to midnight, from 22.00 previously. Peak ...
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NewsFree wi-fi rolls out across the Moscow Metro
RUSSIA: The line-by-line deployment of free passenger wi-fi across the Moscow Metro network is underway with completion planned for September. Last year Moscow Metro awarded sole bidder Maxima Telecom a contract to provide wi-fi across its network. After evaluating different technologies, Maxima has selected Cisco Systems hardware and FiberinMotionT train-to-track ...
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NewsŠkoda and CSR Sifang unveil ForCity tram
CHINA: A prototype 15T ForCity tram made by CSR Qingdao Sifang for the Chinese market under licence from Škoda Transportation, has started demonstration runs for potential customers in China. The trams are being manufactured under a 10-year technology transfer agreement announced on June 3 2013 that will allow the ...
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NewsSantiago metro car refurbishment contract
CHILE: Metro de Santiago has awarded Alstom a €220m contract to refurbish the 35 seven-car NS74 trainsets by mid-2018, fitting AC traction equipment. The Alstom-built trainsets have been in operation for 40 years and will be modernised at the Neptuno depot starting with the trains operating on lines 2 ...
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NewsŠkoda develops catenary-free tram
CZECH REPUBLIC: Škoda Transportation has launched a tram capable of catenary-free operation. Following certification in January, the tram has been on test at Škoda’s Plzeň factory since February. The battery technology, branded Catfree, enables the tram to cover up to 3 km at an average speed of 30 km/h ...
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NewsFTA announces urban rail funding recommendations for 2015
USA: A total of 32 new and ongoing rail projects are included in the list of urban transport projects which the Federal Transit Administration has recommended should be allocated a total of $2·5bn under President Obama’s budget for the 2015 financial year which starts on October 1 2015. The ...
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Metro Report InternationalBudapest orders CAF trams
HUNGARY: Budapest transport authority BKK signed a €90m contract on March 5 for CAF to supply 37 Urbos low-floor bidirectional trams with an option for 87 more. The order is being funded by the EU. Of the initial order, 25 five-section trams would be 34 m long ...
