This week’s round-up of news from the urban transport sector.
At the Innoprom 2025 trade fair in Yekaterinburg UKVZ showed a design concept for a double-deck tram for a proposed tramway in the town of Tsiolkovsky which supports the Vostochny cosmodrome. Branded Antares, the vehicle would be 16·8 m long, 5 400 mm high and 2 500 mm wide and would weigh 20 tonnes.
A 24 km, 21-station extension of Nanjing metro Line 5 from Wenjinglu in the south to Fangjiaying in the northwest was inaugurated on August 6.
The Hanoi People’s Committee has announced groundbreaking dates for two metro projects; October 10 for the 11·5 km, 35·6bn dong section of metro Line 2 linking Tran Hung Dao in the city centre to Nam Thang Long in the north, and December 19 for the 38 km, 61·9bn dong metro Line 5, which would run from Van Cao in the centre to Hoa Lac in the western suburbs.
In order to combat increased ozone pollution, free travel was provided on all public transport in the canton of Genève on August 13.
Filipino Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon has confirmed that the Department of Transportation has renewed Sumitomo Corp’s contract to provide maintenance services for Manila light metro Line MRT3 for a further year; it was due to have lapsed in July.
South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority has signed a 15-year technology partner framework agreement for Hitachi Rail to support the modernisation of the Sheffield Supertram network. ’This strategic partnership with Hitachi will ensure we can work collaboratively to harness the latest technology from an internationally experienced supplier in the light rail sector, delivering real benefits for our passengers over the lifetime of the framework’, said SYMCA’s Director of Transport Development & Capital Delivery Tom Howard.
The first of 100 Lvyonok (Lion Cub) trams which are to be supplied by PK TS over the next two years has been delivered to Moskva’s Apakov depot for testing. The low-floor tram has a battery giving a range of 4 km without overhead power. The climate-controlled vehicle offers low-floor access at all doors, and has capacity for up to 150 passengers including dedicated spaces for pushchairs and bicycles. It is fitted with charging ports and multimedia screens, as well as CCTV surveillance and a driver alertness monitoring system.
The Uber app can now be used to plan and buy QR coded tickets for journeys on the Chennai metro.
Peter Hughes has been appointed as Audit & Safety Officer at the UK’s Light Rail Safety & Standards Board. He has worked on safety audits and accident investigation in the UK, Australia, India and Malaysia, and been an expert witness following several fatal accidents. At LRSSB he will be responsible for initiating safety audits, assisting in the maintenance of the safety risk management framework, evaluating compliance with regulations and assisting in the development of standards and reviews of existing ones.