Urban transport modes – Page 305
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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 ...
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NewsOttawa selects Confederation Line light rail consortium
CANADA: The Rideau Transit Group consortium has been selected as preferred bidder to design, build, finance and maintain the Confederation Line, a 12·5 km light rail route with 13 stations in Ottawa. The consortium comprises SNC-Lavalin, ACS Infrastructure, EllisDon, Dragados Canada and Veolia Transportation Services. Alstom would supply Citadis ...
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NewsMoscow orders 120 low-floor trams
RUSSIA: Moscow City Government's transport department has selected a consortium of Uralvagonzavod and Bombardier Transportation for a contract to supply 120 low-floor trams to modernise the capital's extensive tram network. After an earlier bidding process was cancelled in mid-2012, a second call for tenders was announced in October, with bids ...
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NewsMTR awards East Rail upgrading contracts
CHINA: Hong Kong’s MRT Corp has placed two major contracts for new trains and signalling to modernise the former Kowloon – Canton Railway main line between Kowloon and the border station at Lo Wu, as part of the regional government’s US$2·9bn ‘Hong Kong 2020’ railway investment programme. The 41 km ...
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NewsZaragoza extends tram network
SPAIN: Line 1 of the Zaragoza tram network grew by a further 844 m on December 20, with the opening of the section from Plaza de España to César Augusto and Plaza del Pilar. Extension of the network into the heart of the old city has also seen a further ...
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NewsFunding approved for Quito metro
ECUADOR: The Inter-American Development Bank announced on December 5 that it had approved a US$200m loan to fund construction of Quito's first metro line, due to be completed in 2016. The mass transit system is expected to generate savings of $68m through shorter journey times, lower transport operating costs ...
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NewsT2 completes Dijon tram network
FRANCE: Dijon's second tram route entered service on December 8, running for 11·5 km from Valmy in the northern suburbs to Chenôve Centre in the south and serving a total of 21 stops. Three stops in the city centre are shared with the 8·5 km line T1 from the ...
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NewsParis extends orbital tramway
FRANCE: The 14·3 km extension of orbital tram route T3 following the Boulevards des Maréchaux ring road around the eastern side of Paris was opened for revenue service on December 15. This trebles the length of T3, which has been running for 7·9 km across the south of Paris from ...
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NewsRoyal opening launches Casablanca trams
MOROCCO: Casablanca’s first light rail line was officially inaugurated by King Mohammed VI on December 12, in a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane and his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault. Other guests included the Wali of the Casablanca Region Mohamed Bousaid, Mayor Mohamed Sajid and the Managing Director ...
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NewsKöln light rail extension opens
GERMANY: A 525 m underground extension of Köln light rail Line 5 from Dom/Hauptbahnhof to Rathaus opened on December 9. The extension takes light rail services into the heart of the old town, previously only served by buses. Situated 16 m below the surface, the Rathaus station has a contrasting ...
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NewsLe Havre celebrates tramway opening
FRANCE: An afternoon of celebrations to mark the inauguration of the Le Havre tramway began at 12.12 on December 12. Travel is free until December 16. The Y-shaped network is centred on Place Jenner, with lines running west to Porte Océane through a new 575 m tram tunnel in the ...
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NewsThales wins 'landmark' Indian metro CBTC contract
INDIA: Thales has announced a 'landmark' contract to supply PPP contractor Larsen & Toubro with SelTrac communications-based train control along with integrated communications and supervision systems for the future Hyderabad metro lines 1, 2 and 3, totalling 72 km and 66 stations. CBTC will support driverless operation with onboard attendants. ...
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NewsChinese metro car maintenance joint venture established
CHINA: Bombardier Transportation announced on December 7 that it is establishing a whole-life vehicle maintenance joint venture targeting the Chinese urban rail market. Bombardier and Shanghai Shentong Metro Group Ltd have launched Shentong Bombardier (Shanghai) Rail Transit Vehicle Maintenance Company Ltd to offer ‘specialist rolling stock maintenance, intermediate repairs, overhauls, ...