Urban transport news from the Americas – Page 3
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Metro Report InternationalPublic feedback incorporated into Boston Green Line LRV specifications
USA: Public feedback is being incorporated into the specifications for the Type 10 Supercar light rail vehicles which CAF is to supply for Boston’s Green Line. ‘It’s important for riders to know that we care about both their safety and also their experiences on the system’, ...
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Metro Report InternationalPromoter defends Montréal REM cost escalation
CANADA: Despite ‘extraordinary circumstances and exceptional technical challenges’, the construction costs for Montréal’s REM automated light metro have been kept ‘within a very competitive budget compared with other similar major transportation projects around the world’, according to project promoter CDPQ Infra. The first 17 km section ...
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Metro Report InternationalSantiago metro Line 3 reaches Plaza Quilicura
CHILE: A 3·8 km northwestern extension of Santiago metro Line 3 has opened from Los Libertadores to Plaza Quilicura. The ceremony on September 25 was attended by President Gabriel Boric, Minister of Transportation & Telecommunications Juan Carlos Muñoz, and other dignities. The extension serves two intermediate ...
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Metro Report InternationalAlstom to automate Belo Horizonte metro
BRAZIL: Belo Horizonte metro operating concessionaire Metrô BH has awarded Alstom a contract to automate the existing Line 1 and the future Line 2. Alstom is to supply new signalling to enable automatic train operation on the 28·1 km Line 1 between Eldorado and Vilarinho and ...
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Metro Report InternationalSacramento orders more low floor LRVs
USA: Sacramento Regional Transit District has ordered further eight Siemens Mobility S700 low floor light rail vehicles. The latest order announced on October 9 follows from an initial 20 which were ordered in 2020 and further eight ordered in 2021, taking the total order to 36. ...
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Metro Report InternationalLong Island Rail Road inspection vehicle ordered
USA: ENSCO Rail has been awarded a contract to design and supply a self-propelled track inspection vehicle for New York MTA’s Long Island Rail Road. The ‘state-of-the-art’ vehicle to be delivered in Q2 29026 will be equipped with multiple track conditioning monitoring systems from ENSCO and KLD ...
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Metro Report InternationalPhiladelphia launches contactless payment
USA: Philadelphia transport agency SEPTA has rolled out contactless payment on its metro, light rail and bus services, with commuter rail services to follow in early 2024. The technology was supplied by Conduent under an ongoing fare collection systems contract. Fares are the same as using ...
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Metro Report InternationalNew York Subway seeks cool ideas
USA: New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority has invited proposals for innovative, cost-effective and low emission ways to cool its subway stations. MTA is concerned that the subway network is vulnerable to extreme weather events, warning that extreme heat conditions are expected to increase as a result ...
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Metro Report InternationalPolice robot to patrol New York Subway station
USA: A police security robot is being trialled at the New York Subway’s Times Square station. The K5 robot has been supplied by Knightscope, which develops autonomous security robots and emergency communication systems. The manufacturer said the K5 was designed to provided ‘force multiplying physical deterrence’, ...
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Metro Report InternationalNext-generation Baltimore metro car unveiled
USA: Maryland Transit Administration has unveiled the first of 78 metro cars being supplied by Hitachi Rail to replace the existing fleet on the Baltimore Metro Subway Link. MTA said on September 14 that the new vehicles would represent ‘a significant leap forward in our mission ...
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Metro Report InternationalElectric excavator tested on Los Angeles metro extension work
USA: Skanska is piloting the use of a zero-emissions electric excavator on Los Angeles Metro’s Purple (D Line) extension project. The contractor says the battery-powered Volvo EC230 is the largest electric excavator of its kind, and offers the same capabilities as a diesel equivalent. ...
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Metro Report InternationalLight rail certified ticket validators deployed
USA: Pittsburgh Regional Transit is the first transport agency to deploy a version of Masabi’s Just Ride Validator which has been specifically designed and certified for light rail applications. This completes the installation of Masabi mobile ticketing equipment on PRT’s 700 buses, 80 light rail vehicles ...
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Metro Report InternationalHilltop Tacoma Link light rail route opens
USA: Sound Transit opened the Hilltop Tacoma Link light rail extension on September 16, more than doubling the length of Tacoma’s T Line. The extension runs 3·8 km from the relocated Old City Hall stop (previously known as Theater District, with that name now transferred to ...
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Metro Report InternationalXochimilco light rail vehicle unveiled
MEXICO: China’s CRRC Zhuzhou has unveiled the first of nine light rail vehicles it is supplying for the Xochimilco line in the southern outskirts of Mexico City under a €33m contract. Each two-car 750 V DC LRV will have a capacity of 483 passengers. ...
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Metro Report InternationalWashington metro issues Sustainability-Climate Transition bonds
USA: Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has raised $797·8m through the sale of bonds with an International Capital Market Association Sustainability-Climate Transition designation. The proceeds of the bond sale which settled on August 17 will be used to fund capital projects with environmental and social benefits, ...
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Metro Report InternationalSantiago de los Caballeros monorail contract awarded
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Public transport development agency SITRAM has selected the SIF consortium of Alstom and Sofratesa to supply railway systems and rolling stock for the elevated monorail under construction in Santiago de los Caballeros. The 13·2 km line between Cienfuegos in the northwest of the country’s ...
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Metro Report InternationalSantiago’s planned metro Line 9 gets longer
Like Line 3, Line 9 is to be fully automated and will be fully accessible from street to train CHILE: President Gabriel Boric presented updated plans for the proposed metro Line 9 in Santiago on August 9. Line 9 will be the city’s ...
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Metro Report InternationalVancouver’s MkV SkyTrain cars on test
CANADA: The first of the MkV trainsets for Vancouver’s SkyTrain automated light metro are on test at Alstom’s factory in Kingston, Ontario. In December 2020 transport agency TransLink awarded what was then Bombardier Transportation a C$722·6m contract to supply 205 cars as part of the Expo ...
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Metro Report InternationalWashington metro deploys higher and stronger ticket gates
USA: Washington DC area metro operator WMATA has begun installing higher and stronger ticket gates as part of efforts to reduce fare evasion. An L-shape door panel minimise gaps between the openings, and the increase in height from 710 to 1 400 mm makes it harder ...
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Metro Report InternationalTeresina suburban rail investment package approved
BRAZIL: Piauí state Governor Rafael Fonteles has given the go-ahead for the renovation and expansion of the 1 000 mm gauge suburban network in Teresina, which currently comprises a single 13·5 km route shared with freight traffic. The governor approved the R$11m investment package on August ...