Urban transport news from Europe
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Metro Report InternationalTrams return to Reșița after 13 years
ROMANIA: Tram services restarted in Reșița on December 20 after a hiatus of more than 13-years. The city’s sole route links Kaufland in the north to Reșița-Montana in the southeast, a distance of 9 km. The tramway in Reșița was inaugurated in 1988, but services ceased ...
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Metro Report InternationalLille orders more metro trains
FRANCE: Métropole Européenne de Lille has awarded Alstom a €210m firm order to supply 15 more rubber-tyre automated light metro trainsets, following on from 27 ordered previously. The trainsets in the latest order will replace the current Siemens VAL208 trainsets from 2028 onwards, enabling Line 1 ...
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Metro Report InternationalResignalling programme to create Madrid’s first driverless metro line
SPAIN: Metro de Madrid has awarded Alstom a contract to upgrade the signalling on Line 6 to make it the city’s first driverless metro line. The 23·5 km circular line with 28 stations is the busiest on the network. Automation is expected to enable an increase ...
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Metro Report InternationalHelsinki takes light rail northeast
FINLAND: Sweco has won a framework contract to provide design and engineering services for expansion of Helsinki’s light rail network. Projects cover up to 30 route-km, including the Malmin-Jakomaen network serving northeast districts of the city. Helsinki’s Urban Environment Committee discussed the plans on November 26, ...
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Metro Report InternationalMinsk trams delivered
BELARUS: Belkommunmash has delivered 20 Type T811 low-floor four-axle trams to Minsk transport operator Minsktrans.
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Metro Report InternationalElephant & Castle passenger tunnel designer appointed
UK: Dragados UK has appointed AECOM as lead designer for the first stage of the construction of passenger tunnels to increase capacity at London Underground’s Elephant & Castle station. In September 2024 Transport for London awarded Dragados UK a contract to design and build 135 m ...
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Metro Report InternationalAccessibility changes in latest Vitoria-Gasteiz tram order
SPAIN: Euskotren has awarded CAF a €20m contract to supply three more trams to Vitoria-Gasteiz in the second half of 2027. Announcing the contract on December 11, CAF said the additional vehicles would be same length as the seven-section Urbos trams it previously supplied to the ...
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Metro Report InternationalTyne & Wear Metro’s first Stadler train enters passenger service
UK: The first of the 46 custom-designed Class 555 trainsets that Stadler is supplying to replace the Tyne & Wear Metro fleet entered passenger service on December 18. ’We are now witnessing the first steps towards making Metro, once again, a world-class system the whole region ...
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Metro Report InternationalHitachi Rail completes Roma metro trainset
ITALY: The first of 14 six-car metro trainsets that Hitachi Rail is supplying for Roma’s metro lines A and B has been completed. The trainset was inspected by Eugenio Patanè, Council Member for Transport at Roma municipality, when paid a visit to Hitachi Rail’s Reggio Calabria ...
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Metro Report InternationalTest running foreshadows revival of closed Jaén tramway
SPAIN: The first test runs have been undertaken for the planned reopening of the 4·7 km tramway in Jaén, which closed in 2011 after just 17 days of operation. Andalucía’s public works department began test running at the end of November to verify that the five ...
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Metro Report InternationalTallinn’s trams cruise onto second city crossing
ESTONIA: Commercial operation of Tallinn’s 2·5 km Vanasadam tram route began on the morning of December 1.
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Metro Report InternationalDriverless London Underground trains are not viable, study finds
UK: The previous government’s proposal for the possible conversion of London Underground lines to driverless operation will not be taken any further, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has confirmed. Conversion to driverless operation is regularly suggested by politicians and commentators, often in the belief that this ...
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Metro Report InternationalCardiff Crossrail tramway design and build contract awarded
UK: Graham has been awarded a contract for the detailed design and construction of a tram-train line between Cardiff Central station and Cardiff Bay. This forms Phase 1 of the planned Cardiff Crossrail plan to develop a line running from the northwest of the city to ...
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Metro Report InternationalLong-awaited Thessaloniki metro opens
GREECE: The Thessaloniki metro opened on November 30, 18 years after construction began. The first phase runs 9·6 km through twin bore tunnels from Thessaloniki New Railway Station to Nea Elvetia with 13 stations and an end-to-end journey time of 18 min. The line has a ...
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Metro Report InternationalTallinn transport operator targets 50% market share
ESTONIA: The city of Tallinn and tram and bus operator Tallinna Linnatransport have signed a new operating agreement worth up to €1·4bn which includes ambitions to increase public transport’s market share from a third to a half and achieve close to zero CO2 emissions. More than ...
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Metro Report InternationalConsultants to support West Yorkshire Mass Transit programme
UK: West Yorkshire Combined Authority has appointed a consortium of Jacobs and Mott MacDonald as its Design Development Partner for the next phase of the West Yorkshire Mass Transit programme, which includes two light rail lines integrated with cycling, walking and rail travel. One line would ...
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Metro Report InternationalPalermo orders more trams
ITALY: Comune di Palermo has awarded CAF a firm order to supply a further 14 trams.
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Metro Report InternationalAmsterdam metro train order increased
SPAIN: Amsterdam transport operator GVB has awarded CAF a firm order to supply an additional 13 three-car M7 metro trainsets. The order announced by the Spanish manufacturer on November 12 has been placed via a November 2018 contract for an initial 30 sets with options for ...
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Metro Report InternationalVoters reject Salzburg S-Link rail project
AUSTRIA: Voters in the Salzburg area have rejected a proposal to build a 15 km partly underground light rail line, which will not now go ahead. The S-Link would have run from Salzburg’s main station to the city centre, and then on to the suburb of ...
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Metro Report InternationalLow key opening for Barcelona tramway extension
SPAIN: An extension of Barcelona’s Trambesòs light rail network along Avenida Diagonal between the Plaça de les Glòres and Verdaguer opened without ceremony on November 10. The planned celebrations have been postponed as a mark of solidarity with people affected by the severe flooding in València. ...