Urban transport modes – Page 230
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Metro Report InternationalMore SkyTrain vehicles ordered for Vancouver
CANADA: Vancouver regional transport authority TransLink signed a C$93m contract on December 16 for Bombardier Transportation to supply 28 SkyTrain Mark III light metro cars for use on the Expo and Millennium lines. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2018, with entry into service starting in early 2019. The ...
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Metro Report InternationalGeneration 15 trainsets enter service in Wuppertal
GERMANY: A ceremony at Kluse station on December 18 marked the entry into service of the first five Generation 15 vehicles on Wuppertal’s schwebebahn suspension monorail. The first Generation 15 car was presented in Wuppertal in November 2015. The 31 three-car sets are being supplied by Stadler Rail Valencia ...
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NewsBordeaux tram network expands
FRANCE: A 7·2 km extension of the Bordeaux tram network was inaugurated on December 17 with the start of services to the Porte du Médoc district. The new alignment with six stops forms a branch of Line C, leaving the main Parc des Expositions line at Cracovie and running ...
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Metro Report InternationalQingdao metro doubles in size
CHINA: The length of the Qingdao metro network more than doubled at 18.00 on December 18 when the southern section of the city’s only line opened. The 12·8 km extension of Line 3 runs from Shungshan to Qingdao railway station, serving 12 stations. The first phase opened almost exactly ...
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NewsStadler selected to supply bespoke Merseyrail train fleet
UK: The leaders of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority gave the go-ahead on December 16 for a £460m project to replace the Merseyrail suburban electric multiple-unit fleet. This includes the selection of Stadler to supply a fleet of 52 trainsets for entry into service from the end of 2020. ...
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NewsTEX Rail federal funding agreement signed
USA: The Federal Transit Administration announced on December 15 that it had signed a $499·4m Capital Investment Grant agreement with the Fort Worth Transportation Authority towards the $1·03bn TEX Rail commuter rail project. The funds are to be disbursed over four years. Construction of the 43 km route began ...
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NewsMPK Wrocław calls off last Modertrans Beta tram option
POLAND: Transport authority MPK Wrocław has ordered a further 13 Moderus Beta trams from Modertrans for 50m złoty. The partly low-floor vehicles are due to be delivered by the end of 2017. The latest order calls off the remaining options from a 23m złoty contract placed in 2015. The ...
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NewsKlang Valley MRT Line 1 opens
MALAYSIA: Passenger services began at 06.00 on December 16 the first phase of Klang Valley MRT Line 1, after the opening by Prime Minister Najib Razak at Kwasa Damansara station the previous day. The first month of travel is free. The 21 km northern section of the route, also ...
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Metro Report InternationalTest running begins on Detroit QLine
USA: Test running began on the QLine tram route in Detroit on December 13, ahead of the planned start of passenger services next spring. The 5·3 km route along Woodward Avenue is being built by Stacy & Witbeck and will be operated and maintained by Transdev. Brookville Equipment Corp ...
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NewsNürnberg tram extension inaugurated
GERMANY: A 2·4 km extension of Nürnberg’s tram network was inaugurated on December 10, with the entry into service of the northern section of Route 4 from Thon to Am Wegfeld with three intermediate stops. The Land of Bayern contributed €16·8m of the €43·6m project cost. The city’s transport ...
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Metro Report InternationalThree shortlisted to build London Overground extension
UK: Transport for London announced on December 14 that Balfour Beatty, Carillion and Volker Fitzpatrick had been shortlisted for the contract to build the proposed 4·5 km Barking to Barking Riverside extension of the Gospel Oak – Barking line in east London. The electrified extension would run alongside the existing ...
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NewsRotterdam light rail vehicle loan agreement signed
NETHERLANDS: The European Investment Bank announced on December 14 that it had signed a €120m loan agreement with Rotterdam transport authority RET. The low-interest loan will be used towards the purchase of rolling stock and signalling equipment. RET is purchasing 16 three-section light rail vehicles from Bombardier to operate ...
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Metro Report InternationalKeolis Downer to operate Newcastle light rail
AUSTRALIA: Transport for New South Wales announced on December 12 that it had selected the Keolis Downer joint venture of Keolis and Downer EDI to operate and maintain public transport in Newcastle for 10 years from July 2017 under a A$450m contract. Operating under the Newcastle Transport brand, the ...
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NewsMünchen inaugurates Steinhausen tram extension
GERMANY: The Steinhausen extension of München’s tram network opened with the timetable change on December 11. Construction of the 2·7 km eastern extension began on February 26. Running on reserved track from Max-Weber-Platz U-Bahn station to Berg am Laim S-Bahn station, the extension forms the eastern end of Route ...
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NewsMore Artic trams for Helsinki approved
FINLAND: The board of Helsinki transport operator HKL approved the purchase of 20 more trams from Škoda Transportation subsidiary Transtech on December 8. Deliveries of the low-floor Artic trams are due to take place in 2018-19. The 27·4 m long trams from the €57·3m order would be identical to ...
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NewsMainzelbahn opens
GERMANY: A day of free travel across the tram network in Mainz marked the opening of the Mainzelbahn extension on December 11. The 9·2 km route links Mainz Hauptbahnhof West and Lerchenberg in the southwest of the city, via the University and Marienborn railway station. There are 16 stops. ...
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NewsGlasgow backs airport tram-train plan
UK: The Glasgow City Region Cabinet agreed on December 13 to formally endorse plans for a tram-train link between Glasgow Airport and the city centre. The project is to be funded from the £1·1bn Glasgow City Region deal signed with the Scottish and UK governments in August 2014. The £144m ...
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Metro Report InternationalCRRC to supply 120 more cars for Boston’s Red Line
USA: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Fiscal & Management Control Board has approved the award of a $277m contract for CRRC MA Corp to supply an additional 120 metro cars for Boston’s Red Line, with an option for a further 14. Subsidiaries of what is now CRRC were selected in 2014 ...
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NewsFS buys stake in Milano metro concessionaire
ITALY: State railway group FS is to acquire its first stake in a metro line, with the signing of an agreement to purchase a 36·7% holding in Milano metro Line 5 concessionaire Metro 5 SpA from Astaldi for €64·5m. Astaldi will retain a 2% stake. FS Chief Executive Renato Mazzoncini ...
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NewsJohor Bahru – Singapore RTS Link to use metro technology
ASIA: Following their annual retreat, on December 13 Prime Minister of Malaysia Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak and his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong welcomed the progress which the bilateral Transportation Links Work Group has made with the developing proposals for the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System ...