Urban transport news – Page 264
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Metro Report InternationalBYD-built monorail opens in Yinchuan
CHINA: The first domestically developed straddle monorail to enter revenue service in China opened on September 1 at the China Flower Expo Park in Yinchuan. The 5·7 km route with eight stations uses a fleet of seven three-car trainsets travelling at up to 80 km/h. Each trainset has capacity ...
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NewsWien metro reaches Oberlaa
AUSTRIA: Chancellor Christian Kern, Wien Mayor Michael Häupl and Executive City Councillor for the Environment Ulli Sima attended a ceremony on September 2 to open an extension of Wien metro Line U1. The 4·6 km southern extension from Reumannplatz to Oberlaa adds five stations and brings Line U1 to ...
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Metro Report InternationalKolkata metro platform screen door contract awarded
INDIA: Kolkata Metro Rail Corp has awarded a contract to a consortium of Zhuzhou CRRC Times Electric and Panasonic Manufacturing (Beijing) Co to supply platform screen doors for the 12 stations being built for the city’s future Line 2. The 16·3 km east-west route between Howrah Maidan and Salt ...
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NewsUi-Sinseol Light Rapid Transit line opens in Seoul
SOUTH KOREA: A ceremony on September 4 attended by Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon marked the opening of the Ui-Sinseol Light Rapid Transit light metro line. Running north from Sinseol-dong to Ui-dong, the 11·4 km underground line serves 13 stations. Interchanges are provided with metro lines 1 and 2 at ...
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NewsBirmingham tram extension receives government funding
UK: The Department for Transport announced on September 1 that it is to provide £59·8m towards the construction of the Edgbaston extension of the Midland Metro tram route in Birmingham. The package means that the £149m project is now fully funded. Preliminary work started in the summer on the ...
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NewsTrams reach Tallinn airport
ESTONIA: Revenue service began on an extension of the Tallinn tram network to the airport on September 1, following an official inauguration ceremony two days earlier attended by Acting Mayor Taavi Aas and Estonia’s Rail Baltica project co-ordinator Kristjan Kaunissaare. The 700 m southern extension of Route 4 includes ...
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NewsBaghdad metro operator sought
IRAQ: The government is reported to be seeking an operator for two proposed underground metro lines in Baghdad. Both lines would be 23 km long. Line 1 would have 25 stations and Line 2 would have 22, with one interchange station serving both lines. The main maintenance ...
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NewsWork begins on Limmattalbahn light rail project
SWITZERLAND: President Doris Leuthard attended a groundbreaking ceremony for the Limmattalbahn light rail project at Schlieren near Zürich on August 28. Preparatory work began on August 2 for the first phase of the route, which is due to open between Altstetten in Zürich and Geissweid in Schlieren to the ...
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NewsMumbai metro Line 4 receives AIIB funding
INDIA: The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is to provide US$500m towards the estimated US$2·22bn cost of the metro Line 4 project in Mumbai. To be delivered by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, the project is due to be completed in 2021. Line 4 would run on a ...
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Metro Report InternationalGAZ develops electric bus prototypes for the Russian market
RUSSIA: GAZ Group is developing an upgraded prototype electric bus, which it expects to deliver to Moscow for testing in December. This follows new requirements for electric buses put together by city operator Mosgortrans following tests of various vehicles. Mosgortrans tested a prototype GAZ electric bus between January and ...
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Metro Report InternationalMaryland Purple Line breaks ground
USA: A groundbreaking ceremony for the Purple Line in Maryland took place on August 28. The 25·7 km light rail line with 21 stops is being built between Bethesda and New Carrollton in the northern suburbs of Washington DC. The ceremony also included the signing of a $900m Full ...
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Metro Report InternationalSonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit commuter line opens
USA: Celebrations on August 25 marked the opening of the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit commuter line in the North Bay area of California. T-shirts and free travel were offered on the first day, followed by half-price travel until the introduction of normal fares on September 5. SMART runs for 69 ...
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NewsBucurești metro expansion progresses
ROMANIA: București metro authority Metrorex has awarded a consortium of Metroul and Amberg Engineering an €8·4m, 22-month contract to undertake pre-feasibility and feasibility studies for a southern extension of metro Line 4. The contract winner beat a bid from a consortium of Egis Rail and BG Ingénieurs Conseils. The ...
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Metro Report InternationalKunming metro Line 3 opens
CHINA: The fourth metro line in Kunming opened at 10.00 on August 29. Trial operations on Line 3 are taking place between 06.20 and 22.45, with fares based on distance. The 23·4 km east-west route serves 20 stations between Western Hills Park and East Coach Station via ...
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Metro Report InternationalNew York’s summer of hell
Welcome to ‘the summer of hell’. As if the well-documented problems at New York’s Penn Station were not enough for the city’s commuters to contend with, Subway passengers are approaching the end of their collective tether as delays and disruption continue to mount on North America’s largest metro network.
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Metro Report InternationalBombardier to repower London Underground Central Line trainsets
UK: London Underground has awarded Bombardier Transportation a contract to replace the DC traction motors on the 85 eight-car 1992 Stock trainsets used on the Central Line with its Mitrac AC traction and control equipment. This is expected to reduce energy consumption while improving reliability and performance. The contract running ...
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NewsSt Petersburg orders more PK TS trams
RUSSIA: PK Transportnye Systemy is to supply three 100% low-floor unidirectional three-section trams to St Petersburg operator Gorelektrotrans under a 255m rouble contract. The only other bid came from trading company Elektrotransport, which works with UKVZ. However, the company’s cheaper bid was rejected on the grounds of non-compliant documentation. ...
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NewsShiraz metro extension inaugurated
IRAN: A southeastern extension of Shiraz metro Line 1 was inaugurated on August 22. The 10·5 km extension runs from Vali-e Asr to Shahid Dastgheyb. Intermediate stations are open at Fazilat and Shahid Doran, with five more due to open later. The initial 10·5 km section of the city’s first ...
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NewsRolling stock refurbished for Madrid Line 5 upgrade
SPAIN: At its central rolling stock workshops in Canillejas, Metro de Madrid is currently undertaking a €20m programme to refurbish the 42 Series 2000 trainsets operating on Line 5 as well as 12 Series 3000 trainsets that are to be deployed on this route during 2018. This forms part of ...
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Metro Report InternationalMetronet drives Perth expansion plans
AUSTRALIA: The government of Western Australia expects to complete two more extensions to the Perth suburban rail network by late 2021, Premier Mark McGowan announced on August 21. Revised business cases for the two projects have been submitted to federal agency Infrastructure Australia for approval. One would add a ...