Urban transport modes – Page 354
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NewsNew York orders flywheel energy storage
USA: Long Island Rail Road is to use carbon fibre flywheels to store energy regenerated during braking for reuse when trains accelerate, helping to lower energy consumption and reduce the peak power demand which can impose high power supply costs on rail operators. The $5·2m pilot project on ...
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NewsBerlin U55 metro line opens
GERMANY: Berlin’s U55 underground metro line between Brandenburger Tor and Hauptbahnhof finally entered service on August 8, following inauguration by the city’s mayor Klaus Wowereit. Passengers were able to travel for free to mark the occasion. The 1·8 km line and its three stations cost €320m to build and took ...
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NewsSydney Metro construction shortlist announced
AUSTRALIA: Three consortia have been shortlisted for the contract to build the Permanent Route Infrastructure for Phase 1 of the CBD metro line between Central and Rozelle in Sydney. The names of the successful consortia, selected from the five groups which submitted detailed expressions of interest last June, were announced ...
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NewsS70 enters revenue service in Portland
USA: TriMet placed the first of its new Siemens S70 Avanto LRVs into revenue service on August 6, following a VIP trip from Pioneer Square to Hatfield in Hillsboro. The transit agency has purchased 22 cars, which it calls the Type 4, the last of which had been delivered ...
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NewsFour shortlisted for BART Oakland Airport connector project
USA: The Bay Area Rapid Transit District has prequalified four teams to bid for the US$522m 5·2 km Oakland International Airport Connector Project. The design, build, operate and maintain contract covers construction of an automated peoplemover linking BART’s Coliseum station with passenger terminals at the airport. OAC is scheduled ...
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NewsNPL provides accurate measurement
UK: Britain's national measurement institute is measuring sample gear cases from trains on London Underground's Central and Waterloo & City lines every three months to ensure that they remain within specified tolerances. The National Physical Laboratory has been working for two years to validate the geometry of final drive ...
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NewsChina South rolls out Hong Kong light rail cars
CHINA: CSR Nanjing Puzhen has rolled out the initial two of 22 light rail vehicles which it is building under the first contract for LRVs to be supplied to Hong Kong from mainland China. A partnership of the Chinese firm and Australia's United Group Rail was awarded the contract ...
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NewsNottingham tram extension funding approved
UK: Transport Minister Sadiq Khan travelled to Nottingham on July 31 to announce conditional approval of government funding and a workplace parking levy to finance expansion of the Nottingham Express Transit light rail network. The government's contribution to NET Phase Two is capped at £530·7m in Private Finance Initiative ...
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NewsLondon Underground issues SSL signalling tender
UK: London Underground issued invitations to tender to prequalified bidders for the contract to resignal the Sub-Surface Lines on July 16. Responses are due by December 18. Following the collapse of Metronet in 2007, LU decided to cancel the original order placed with Westinghouse Rail Systems. According to Richard Parry, ...
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NewsBrasilia metro orders Metropolis trains
BRAZIL: Alstom Transport signed a €110m contract on July 23 to supply the Brasilia metro with 12 four-car Metropolis trains and to upgrade the existing rolling stock and infrastructure for automatic train operation. Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social is providing an R$260·3m loan to the Federal District ...
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NewsSeoul Line 9 is now open
SOUTH KOREA: Seoul’s first privately-operated metro line entered revenue service at 07.00 on July 24. The opening had been delayed for several weeks while the government finalised the contactless ticketing arrangements. The 25·5 km underground line runs across the city from east to west, linking Sinnonhyeon in Gangnam to Gimpo ...
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NewsChinese metros still growing
CHINA: Urban rail projects are being planned in a further 19 cities, a government official has revealed. State media quoted Duo Hao, Deputy General Manager of China International Engineering Consulting Corp, as saying that 2 100 km of line would be under construction by the middle of the next ...
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NewsBerlin opts for 99 trams
GERMANY: Following successful trials of four prototype Flexity Berlin trams since September, city transport operator BVG has placed an order with Bombardier for 99 vehicles at a cost of €305·3m. This includes 40 vehicles 40 m long and 59 of the 31 m version. A further 33 are likely to ...
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News'Story book ending' gets Central Link off to a sound start
USA: Revenue services on Seattle's $2·3bn Central Link light rail line began on July 20, after more than 92 000 people sampled free rides during the July 18-19 opening weekend. Sound Transit ran free services at 7½ min headways, with two extra 'gap trains' making additional trips on July 18 ...
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NewsSilesian tram investment
POLAND: Local authorities in Silesia are co-operating in a 556m zloty project to modernise the region’s extensive tram network with the aid of EU funding. The cities are linked by a 350 km tram network, but the infrastructure needs modernisation and most of the 346 trams are aging 105Na cars, ...
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NewsUrban rail news in brief - July 2009
The state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines and Land Bank of the Philippines have bought a 75% stake in Manila MRT3 operator Metro Rail Transit Corp from private investors in a deal reported to be worth around US$800m. The remaining 25% is owned by privatesector banks. Lack of demand caused ...
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NewsRails to the port
GREECE: Construction group Themeli has been awarded a €77·2m contract for civil works and the supply of electro-mechanical equipment for the 5·4 km extension of the Athens tram network from Faliro to Piraeus (RG 1.09 p12). Operator TRAM SA also plans to build a 3 km connection between Helliniko stop ...
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NewsPartners selected for Brasilia light rail project
BRAZIL: On June 25 Montpellier’s transport authority TAM signed a partnership agreement with the Brasilia Federal District to provide technical consultancy for six years during construction of Brasilia’s first tramway. The Brastram consortium, which includes Alstom Transport, has been selected to build phase I of the city’s LRT network. ...
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NewsRio de Janeiro orders Chinese trains
BRAZIL: Two contracts for suburban and metro trains were signed during a visit to China by Sérgio Cabral, Governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro. A US$165m contract partly funded though the World Bank was inked with China National Machinery Import & Export Corp on June 30. This ...
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NewsAlger metro on course for hand over
ALGERIA: The start of services on Africa’s second metro is anticipated by the end of the year. The Siemens-led construction consortium plans to hand over Alger Line 1 to operator RATP Développement for trial running by the end of September. The 9·2 km line runs from from Haï el ...