Urban transport modes – Page 342
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News
Dorion-Rigaud line gets double-deckers
CANADA: On May 25 Joël Gauthier, President & CEO of the Agence Métropolitaine de Transport in Montréal, was joined by Québec officials to witness the start of double-deck commuter services on Montréal’s Dorion-Rigaud Line. Two more trainsets are due to arrive in the next few months. AMT placed a C$386m ...
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NewsSão Paulo metro Line 4 opens
BRAZIL: The initial 3·6 km central section of the Yellow Line between Paulista and Faria Lima was officially inaugurated by Alberto Goldman, Governor of the state of São Paulo, on May 25. Guests were entertained by Japanese taiko drummers Ryukyu Koku Matsuri Daiko at Faria Lima station and the ...
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NewsWashington metro confirms Kawasaki deal
USA: Meeting on May 27 the board of Washington DC metro operator WMATA voted to approve a contract with Kawasaki Rail Car for 428 new vehicles, valued at $886m. Kawasaki was selected through a competitively negotiated procurement, and was judged to be offering the best overall technical proposal and the ...
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NewsBombardier to test wireless trams in Augsburg
GERMANY: The Primove induction-based catenary-free electrification system developed by Bombardier Transportation is to be piloted on the tram network in Augsburg, the manufacturer announced on May 26. Formally unveiled at Bombardier's Bautzen factory in January 2009, Primove uses cable buried beneath the track to produce a magnetic fields which ...
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NewsSecond Avenue Subway tunnelling starts
USA: Tunnelling for the first phase of New York’s Second Avenue Subway project got underway on May 14 when a 485 tonne TBM began boring through Manhattan bedrock south from a launch pit between 96th Street and 92nd Street. The machine will dig two tunnels, each around 2 350 m ...
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NewsUrban rail news in brief
Canadian National has sold a section of track west of Toronto Union station to Greater Toronto transport authority Metrolinx for C$168m. It is part of the busiest GO Transit commuter corridor and provides access to a depot. Queensland's Gold Coast rapid transit project team is evaluating expressions of interest from ...
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NewsHajj trains shipped to Makkah
SAUDI ARABIA: Chinese manufacturer CNR Changchun Railway Vehicles has shipped the first 24 of 204 metro cars which will be used to transport pilgrims around Makkah, Mina, Muzdalifah and Arafat during the 2010 Hajj (MR 9.09 p12). The cars were due to arrive in Jeddah on May 20. The order ...
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NewsGroundbreaking in Boston
USA: A groundbreaking ceremony was held on May 3 marking the start of a $17·4m project to double-track 6·4 km of the Haverhill commuter line between Lawrence and Andover. Transportation Secretary Jeffrey Mullan led a group of local elected officials in wielding shovels at Andover station, the starting point of ...
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NewsMünchen unveils refurbished tram
GERMANY: The first of München’s 50 Type R2.2 low-floor trams to undergo a mid-life refit was revealed by operator MVG on May 17. Supplied in 1994-97, the three-section cars are all to be refurbished by the end of 2011 under a programme valued at €15m. Following a European tender, the ...
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NewsTram testing starts in Alger
ALGERIA: On May 15 Algerian Transport Minister Amar Tou witnessed the start of trial running on Alger’s first tram project, which will run from Carrefour des Fusillés, near Hessein Dey railway station, to Dergana in the eastern suburbs of the capital city. The initial trials are being carried out ...
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NewsPesa presents Warszawa Swing tram
POLAND: On May 12 Pesa Bydgoszcz presented the first Swing Type 120Na 100% low-floor tram for Tramwaje Warszawskie’s standard gauge network. The vehicle will be shipped to Warszawa at the end of May to start trial running. The five-section tram is 30·1 m long and 2 350 mm wide with ...
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NewsTrams return to Washington
USA: Plans for a 60 km, eight-route tram network were formally unveiled by District of Columbia Mayor Adrian Fenty and other city officials on May 5, at the start of a four-day DC Tram Showcase. Centrepiece of the event was one of three low-floor cars purchased from Czech supplier Skoda-Inekon ...
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NewsMarseille metro extended
FRANCE: Line 1 of Marseille’s rubber-tyred metro was extended to La Fourragère on May 6. Construction of the 2·5 km extension from La Timone, with intermediate stations at La Blancard, Louis Armand and Saint-Barnabé, started in September 2005 and cost €417·5m.The new service to the predominantly residential western suburbs ...
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NewsTramwaje Warszawskie signs EBRD loan
POLAND: Tramwaje Warszawskie signed a loan agreement with EBRD on May 11 which will provide up to 200m zloty towards the operator’s 3·2bn zloty investment programme. EBRD will provide 50% from its own funds with the rest syndicated to commercial banks. The programme includes buying 186 trams to replace part ...
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NewsToronto orders more Rockets
CANADA: Toronto Transit Commission on May 6 approved an order for another 186 Rocket subway cars from Bombardier. The cars will be formed into 31 six-car trainsets, 21 of which will replace life-expired rolling stock. The other 10 sets will equip the Spadina subway extension to York, ...
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NewsTracklaying completed on Dublin tram extension
IRELAND: Sparks flew in Dublin on May 5 when the final piece of track was welded in place on the Luas Line B1 Cherrywood tram extension. On hand to witness the occasion, which took place at the Brewery Road bridge in Sandyford, were Councillor Marie Baker, Chairperson of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown ...
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NewsTube Lines purchase brings London Underground PPP to a close
UK: Transport for London announced on May 7 that it had reached an agreement to buy London Underground infrastructure PPP contractor Tube Lines from its shareholders. The £310m deal is set to be completed by June 30, with Tube Lines becoming a subsidiary of the transport authority. Ferrovial subsidiary Amey ...
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NewsCBTC trials on New York’s Flushing Line
USA: New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority has awarded Kawasaki Rail Car an $87·1m contract for 23 new R188 subway cars equipped with communications-based train control; delivery is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2012. The R188 is designed for use on Division A of the New York City Transit network, ...
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NewsMore metro stations opened in Dubai
UAE: A further seven stations entered service on Dubai’s driverless metro network on April 30, taking the total number in operation to 18.The newly-opened Red Line stations are Emirates, Airport Terminal 1, Al Karama, Emirates Towers, Dubai Internet City, Dubai Marina and Ibn Battuta. A further three – GGICO, ...
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NewsWork starts on Praha metro extension
CZECH REPUBLIC: Praha Mayor Pavel Bém, city councillor Radovan Šteiner, Praha Public Transport Co Director General Martin Dvorák and other officials launched work on a 6 km western extension of Praha metro Line A on April 12, by laying a foundation stone at the site of Červený Vrch station. The ...