Urban rail – Page 363
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NewsBelkommunmash to supply trams to Daugavpils
LATVIA: Belkommunmash has been selected to supply 12 trams to the city of Daugavpils. The Belarusian company, bidding with the local Agmen Consulting Bureau, was chosen over the Daugavpils Locomotive Repair Factory on January 8. The value of the bid is around 4·6m lats, and the trams are to be ...
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NewsPiraeus tram extension contract signed
GREECE: After a delay of almost four years, the contract for the construction of a tram extension in Piraeus was signed on January 14 by Attiko Metro and contractor Themeli. The project is valued at €61·5m and is to be funded with EU structural funds. The 5·4 km single-track ...
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NewsState support for French railway supply industry
FRANCE: Chaired by Arnaud Montebourg, the minister charged with reviving France’s manufacturing sector, a strategic committee for the railway supply industry met for the first time in Valenciennes on January 11. The meeting was also attended by Transport Minister Frédéric Cuvillier and Foreign Trade Minister Nicole Bricq. Comprising several large ...
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NewsTamsui light rail approved
TAIWAN: The Council for Economic Planning and Development approved the first phase of a light rail system in the Tamsui district of Taipei on January 7. Construction is expected to start later this year. Due for completion in 2018, the 9·6 km first phase comprises the Green Mountain Line, ...
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NewsSecond Phoenix light rail extension breaks ground
USA: Phoenix city officials attended a groundbreaking ceremony on January 12 for the Northwest Extension of the Valley Metro light rail line. The first phase of the Northwest Extension will take the line from Montebello to Dunlap Avenue, adding 5·1 km and three stations. It is expected to open ...
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NewsCSR to renew Buenos Aires EMU fleet
ARGENTINA: Complete renewal of the EMU fleet operating suburban services on the 1 676 mm gauge Sarmiento and Mitre routes in Buenos Aires was announced by President Cristina Fernández on January 10. Under a contract valued at US$506m, Chinese manufacturer CSR is to supply 55 trainsets totalling 409 vehicles, which ...
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NewsParis tram T4 branch enquiry underway
FRANCE: A public inquiry considering plans to build a 6·5 km branch of Paris tram route T4 from Gargan to Clichy-sous-Bois and Montfermeil closes on January 24. The branch would have 11 stops, and is expected to carry 37 000 passengers a day. The €214m scheme is being managed by ...
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NewsLow-floor trams ordered for Suzhou Industrial Development Zone
CHINA: CSR Nanjing Puzhen Rolling Stock has won an order to supply 18 low-floor trams for a light rail line which is under construction in the Suzhou National New & Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone. The rolling stock order announced on January 10 is the first won by CSR Puzhen under ...
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NewsMinneapolis awards Southwest LRT contracts
USA: Two contracts each valued at $16·8m have been awarded by the Metropolitan Council of the Twin Cities for preliminary engineering work on the 25·4 km Southwest light rail line in Minneapolis. AECOM will be responsible for the western section of the route, while the eastern section is to be ...
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NewsCNR Tangshan signs Turkish tram contract
TURKEY: Samsun Metropolitan Municipality has awarded CNR Tangshan Railway Vehicles a contract to supply five 100% low-floor trams to increase passenger capacity on the city's light rail network. The €7·5m contract signed on December 17 requires the first tram to be delivered by December 2013 and the last by February ...
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NewsDLR operating contract extended to 2014
UK: On January 7 Transport for London announced that Serco Docklands will have its contract to operate the Docklands Light Railway extended by 18 months. The contract extension is worth around £100m and will cover the period from April 2013 to September 2014. The terms are the same as in ...
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NewsKaohsiung picks CAF to build catenary-free trams
TAIWAN: Kaohsiung City Government’s Mass Rapid Transit Bureau announced on January 4 that it had selected a consortium of CAF and Evergreen Construction to build the first stage of the city’s catenary-free circular light rail line. Now expected to cost NT$15·6bn, the 22·1 km route with 36 stops will link ...
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NewsHoek van Holland railway to be converted to metro
NETHERLANDS: Proposals to convert the 24 km railway between Schiedam Centrum and Hoek van Holland for metro operation were approved by Stadsregio Rotterdam and the municipalities of Maassluis, Vlaardingen, Schiedam and Rotterdam on December 17. The cost is put at €318m, including the purchase of 18 additional Bombardier Swift three-section ...
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NewsLatest Moscow metro extension opens
RUSSIA: On December 24 Alma-Atinskaya opened to become the 187th station on the Moscow metro. The station serves the Bratyevo district in the southeast of the city and becomes the new southern terminus of Line 2, at the end of a 3·1 km extension from Krasnogvardeyskaya. Three entrances lead into ...
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NewsCalgary light rail goes west
CANADA: The western leg of Calgary’s CTrain light rail line was officially opened on December 8. The opening ceremony for the C$1·4bn West LRT project was attended by the mayor of Calgary Naheed Nenshi, the Premier of Alberta Alison Redford and Transportation Minister Ric McIver. The 8·2 km extension includes ...
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NewsSão Paulo calls bids for airport rail link
BRAZIL: Prequalification bids have been invited for construction of a rail link to São Paulo’s Guarulhos International Airport. Announcing the go-ahead for the project in December, state governor Geraldo Alckmin said the winning bidder would be selected in early 2013, with the aim of starting construction in March and completing ...
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NewsUrban rail news in brief - January 2013
EIB is lending €20m to the Czech city of Olomouc to co-finance infrastructure projects including the construction of 1·4 km of tram line in Nove Sady. Malaysia’s Land Public Transport Commission has reportedly given the go-ahead for the state of Melaka and Mrails International to build a 272m ringgit natural ...
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NewsLima metro Line 2 PPP proposal
PERU: A team of consultants led by Geodata of Italy has proposed a PPP or concession model for Lima metro Line 2, a planned 27 km east-west route from Ate to Callao with 35 stations. The project has been costed at US$5·37bn, including US$2·94bn for infrastructure and US$871m for vehicles. ...
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NewsBeijing adds a further 70 km of metro
CHINA: Five further sections of the Beijing metro, with a combined length of 69·8 km, were put into revenue service on December 30. Adding one new line and extending three more, these projects bring the 16-line network to 442 route-km and 261 stations, overtaking Shanghai as the longest metro in ...
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NewsWuhan metro crosses the Yangtse
CHINA: Phase 1 of Wuhan’s 27·7 km metro Line 2 opened at 10.00 on December 28, with the dispatch of the first revenue-earning metro trains to cross the Yangtse River. Line 2 runs on a broadly north-south alignment from Jinyintan in the northern Hankou district to Optics Valley Square in ...
