Urban rail – Page 344
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NewsStudents attend Central Mesa light rail welding
USA: Welding students from the East Valley Institute of Technology watched and assisted with the welding of the first rails for the Central Mesa light rail extension of the Valley Metro in Phoenix, Arizona, on February 8. The process was described to the students by the Valley Transit Constructors ...
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NewsMünchen to double transport investment
GERMANY: München utility body SWM and transport operator MVG have announced planned investments of €335m for 2014. This is more than double the investment made in 2013. The budget includes €175m for new metro cars, including completion of payments for the Siemens C2 trainsets ordered in 2010. A tender ...
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NewsNantes - Châteaubriant tram-train launches this month
FRANCE: Tram-train services on a 64 km route linking Nantes and Châteaubriant are to be launched by SNCF on February 28. The tram-train service will use part of a former Nantes - Rennes railway route which originally opened in 1877. The Nantes - Châteaubriant section closed to passenger traffic in ...
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NewsNagpur metro approved
INDIA: The government has given final approval to the Nagpur metro, which will see two lines totalling 38 km opening by 2020. The first route is to connect Automotive Chowk with Mihan, where an international airport is being built. The second would run between Prajapati Nagar and ...
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NewsLima metro Line 2 prequalification
PERU: Investment agency ProInversión has prequalified three consortia for the concession to build, operate and maintain Lima metro Line 2. Award of the 35-year, US$5·7bn concession is scheduled for February 28. The prequalified consortia are: Consorcio Nuevo Metro de Lima: ACS, FCC Construcción, Impregilo, AnsaldoBreda, Cosapi; Consorcio Metro Subterráneo ...
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NewsSmart trams in Linz
AUSTRIA: Linz Linien, Kapsch CarrierCom and Bombardier have announced the results of a ‘smart tram’ pilot project which began in September. Sensors were fitted to 23 Bombardier Cityrunner trams. These collected data on 50 parameters and transmitted them to the operations control centre for analysis. The results were then ...
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NewsAnkara opens metro line M3
TURKEY: Ankara metro line M3 opened on February 12 with a ceremony attended by President Abdullah Gül, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Governor of Ankara Melih Gökçek, Minister of Transport Lütfi Elvan and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. The 15·5 km line starts at Batıkent at the end of ...
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NewsKochi metro agrees French loan
INDIA: Kochi Metro Rail Ltd and Agence Française de Développement signed a €180m long-term loan agreement on February 8 to finance the first phase of the Kochi metro. The 25 km elevated north-south line would run from Aluva to Petta with 22 stations. Tenders for 25 standard-gauge ...
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NewsBangkok metro projects face mixed outlook
THAILAND: Work on urban rail projects in Bangkok is continuing amid the ongoing political turmoil, interim Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt reported following a tour of construction sites in the city on February 5. Sittipunt provided a progress report on three metro projects. These were the extensions of the Blue Line ...
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NewsSound Transit approves 2014 budget
USA: Seattle’s Sound Transit has approved a 2014 budget of $1·1bn. This includes $146·9m for construction of the University Link, $141·1m for East Link final design, and $138·6m for Northgate Link Extension tunnelling and station construction. Another $31·2m will continue project development for light rail extensions south from South ...
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NewsLinz orders more Cityrunner trams
AUSTRIA: Linz Linien has ordered six more Cityrunner 100% low-floor trams for €19m, Bombardier Transportation announced on February 10. The trams, from Bombardier’s Flexity family, are to be manufactured in Wien. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in mid-2015. The trams will be 40 m long and 2 300 mm ...
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NewsSalvador metro train order
BRAZIL: Salvador metro PPP concessionaire CCR has ordered 49 four-car trainsets from a consortium of Hyundai Rotem and Iesa. The cars are to be assembled in Iesa’s Araraquara plant, with some components manufactured in South Korea. They will join the six trainsets built by a Mitsui-Rotem consortium that were ...
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NewsRail plus property project gets underway
CHINA: MTR Corp has begun construction of its first rail plus property project in mainland China, based on the model it has used in Hong Kong. MTR Corp is paying a premium of 2bn yuan to develop the site above the Longhua depot on Shenzhen Metro Line 4, which ...
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NewsParis regional transport authority approves €787m budget
FRANCE: Paris regional transport authority STIF has approved an investment budget of €787m for 2014, including a new funding agreement for the extension of metro Line 14 to Mairie de Saint-Ouen. The €450m cost of the project, including four new stations and a depot, is to be met by ...
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NewsBombardier wins Crossrail train contract
UK: Bombardier Transportation has beaten bids from Hitachi and CAF to be selected for the contract to supply and maintain trains and a depot for London's Crossrail project, the Department for Transport and Transport for London announced on February 6. With a capital value of £1bn, the 32-year contract is ...
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NewsHoek van Holland light rail vehicle order placed
NETHERLANDS: Rotterdam transport authority RET has exercised a €66m option with Bombardier Transportation for a further 16 Flexity Swift light rail vehicles. These are to be delivered in 2016 for use on the Schiedam Centrum - Hoek van Holland Strand route which is to be converted from heavy rail ...
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NewsNew section of Moscow metro Line 8 opens
RUSSIA: A section of Moscow metro Line 8 opened on January 31 from Delovoy Centr to Park Pobedy. The 3·5 km section is not yet connected to the rest of the line; the section between the current western terminus of Tretyakovskaya and Delovoy Centr is due to open next ...
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NewsMumbai monorail opens
INDIA: The Mumbai monorail was inaugurated by Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on February 1, with passenger service starting the following day. The first phase is an 8·9 km section from Wadala to Chembur with seven stations and an end-to-end journey time of 20 min. Construction, undertaken by a ...
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NewsFeature articles in the February 2014 issue of Railway Gazette International
Comment Concerns grow over crude oil safety News Main Line Urban Rail Market Industry InnovationsPointers Analysis Fourth Railway Package’s plenary reading moves closerDebunking the social dumping mythIndia welcomes foreign fundingCzech bidders still waitingNetwork Rail debt goes back on the booksSafety drive bears fruitChina changes import rulesSouth ...
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NewsBangalore metro Phase 2 approved
INDIA: The government approved Phase 2 of the Bangalore metro on January 30. This will add two new lines to the two being built under Phase 1. Ridership in 2041 is forecast at 502 000 passengers/day on the planned RV Road – Bommasandra line and 619 000 passengers/day on ...
