Urban rail – Page 411
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NewsRotterdam metro route rebranding
NETHERLANDS: Rotterdam operator RET has started a rebranding programme under which the Caland and Erasmus line names are being dropped. To be completed by December, the reorganisation is intended to help visitors and occasional travellers to use the metro. It also paves the way for completion of the ...
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NewsIn which funding is allocated for energy efficiency
USA: Flywheel energy storage on the Los Angeles metro is included in the 43 projects allocated a total of $100m of funding under the Transit Investments for Greenhouse Gas & Energy Reduction grant programme. Los Angeles County MTA has been allocated $4·5m of TIGGER funds for the Westlake wayside ...
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NewsBeijing metro still expanding
CHINA: Last month saw the start of work on the first phase of Beijing metro Line 7, between Beijing West and Jiaohuachang. The project is part of an ambitious plan to expand the capital’s metro network to 560 km and 20 lines by 2015, from 200 km at the time ...
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NewsKarlsruhe orders more tram-trains
GERMANY: Bombardier has been awarded a €129m contract to supply Albtal-Verkehrs GmbH and Verkehrsbetriebe Karlsruhe with dual-voltage Flexity Swift tram-trains between August 2011 and September 2013. The contract announced on September 18 includes an option for up to 45 additional vehicles. The three-section 50% low-floor cars will be ...
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NewsSidetrack - September 2009
CZECH REPUBLIC: A programme is underway to replace the escalators on the Praha metro. However, it is reported that European Union regulations require the replacement escalators to be much slower than the existing ones, with speeds cut from 2·5 m/sec to just 0·7 m/sec. ‘The old escalators, which were ...
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NewsUrban rail news in brief - September 2009
An experiment that began last September to remove up to 14 seats from six of Chicago Transit Authority's 39-seat 'L' cars to reduce overcrowding has ended, with public opinion against converting any more cars to ‘Maxi' configuration. Additional stanchions and grab handles were added to the test cars for safety, ...
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NewsBangalore metro train control contract signed
INDIA: On September 16 Bangalore Metro Rail Corp signed a €91m contract for signalling and train controls for its first two lines with a consortium of Alstom, Thales and Sumitomo. Consortium leader A lstom's share is worth around €57m, and includes the supply, installation and commissioning of Urbalis 200 ...
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NewsBrest and Dijon award joint tram order
FRANCE: The cities of Brest and Dijon have jointly awarded Alstom a contract to supply 52 Citadis trams worth more than €100m. In November last year the two cities agreed to co-operate to streamline procurement of their vehicles. Brest requires 20 trams for a 14·3 km line scheduled to ...
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NewsRotherham tram-train replaces Penistone scheme
UK: Proposals to test diesel 'tram-trains' on the Sheffield - Huddersfield line have been put on hold in favour of linking Sheffield city centre with Rotherham through a new connection between the Supertram light rail network and a Network Rail freight line at Meadowhall South. 'We have learned a ...
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NewsCAF wins Istanbul metro train order
TURKEY: Spanish rolling stock manufacturer CAF has been awarded a €139m contract to supply 30 four-car metro trainsets for the Kadikoy - Kartal line now under construction in Istanbul. The trainsets will be 90 m long with a capacity of 1 300 passengers, and will use 1·5 kV ...
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NewsVagonmash introduces NeVa
RUSSIA: Vagonmash launched its fourth-generation metro car during a ceremony attended by St Petersburg city governor Valentina Matvienko, local government officials and representatives of Russian and CIS metro networks on July 10. The NeVa series is the result of a collaboration agreement signed with Skoda Transportation on November 4 ...
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NewsPortland and Dallas open new Green Lines
USA: September 12 marked the inauguration of a Green Line in both Portland and Dallas. In the former, TriMet celebrated its fifth new MAX light rail route, connecting Clackamas Town Center and the Portland State University campus just south of downtown Portland. Opening day ceremonies were held at many of ...
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NewsKolkata metro expands
INDIA: Governor of West Bengal Gopal Krishna Gandhi, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Minister for Railways Mamata Banerjee flagged off the first train on a 5·1 km four-station extension of Kolkata's North-South Line from Tollygunge to Kavi Nazrul on August 22. Tollygunge station has been renamed Mahanayak Uttam Kumar, ...
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NewsMissing link unites Sofia metro Line 1
BULGARIA: Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, interim Mayor of Sofia Minko Gerdzikov and Japanese Ambassador Tsuneharu Takeda formally opened the latest section of Sofia metro Line 1 on September 8. Passenger services had started the previous day. The 2 km link between Serdika and Vasil Levski National Stadium joins the ...
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NewsDubai metro opens
UAE: Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai, will officially open the Dubai metro Red Line on September 9.Following months of speculation about the status of the metro project, RTA Chairman & Executive Director Mattar Al Tayer confirmed ...
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NewsEIB to provide £1bn Crossrail loan
UK: Transport for London announced a £1bn loan agreement with the European Investment Bank on September 8. TfL and the Greater London Authority are responsible for contributing £7·7bn of the £15·9bn cost for the Crossrail east-west line across central London. Of this £7·7bn, £2·4bn is to be funded from ...
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NewsMumbai Line 2 awarded
INDIA: Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority awarded the PPP contract for Mumbai Metro Line 2 to the sole bidder, a consortium of Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Infocomm and Canada’s SNC Lavalin, on July 29. The consortium is already building Line 1 which will connect Versova, Andheri and Ghatkopar. Work on ...
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NewsCitadis tram arrives in Istanbul
TURKEY: On September 1 Alstom delivered the first of 37 Citadis trams ordered by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. The vehicle left Alstom’s engineering and production centre in Valenciennes, France, on August 25 and travelled by road to Trieste in Italy, from where it was shipped to Turkey on August 29. The ...
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NewsAlstom retains Luas infrastructure maintenace contract
IRELAND: The Railway Procurement Agency has awarded the infrastructure maintenance contract for Dublin’s Luas light rail network to Alstom after a competitive tender. The five-year contract, which will take effect on October 1, is worth more than €30m for Alstom and its partner Dalkia, with Alstom’s share being €24m. There ...
