Urban transport news – Page 277
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Metro Report InternationalSuzhou metro Line 4 opens
CHINA: Suzhou’s third metro line opened on April 15, and carried 1·6 million passengers over its inaugural weekend, according to the transport authority. Line 4 connects Longdaobang in the north with Tongli in the south, with 29 intermediate stations on a 42 km route. A 10·8 km branch from ...
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Metro Report InternationalTram changes to aid Melbourne Metro construction
AUSTRALIA: Melbourne operator Yarra Trams is to reconfigure three routes with effect from May 1, offering new cross-city connections and facilitating the construction of the Metro Rail tunnels. The current Route 55 between West Coburg and Domain Interchange is being extended southeast to Toorak, taking over the southern part ...
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Metro Report InternationalDetroit tram deliveries completed
USA: Brookville Equipment Corp delivered the last two of six Liberty Modern Streetcars for Detroit in March, ahead of the planned opening of the QLine on May 12. The pilot vehicle arrived in Detroit in September 2016, after Brookville signed a $32m order the previous year. The 70% low-floor ...
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Metro Report InternationalTunnelling begins on Northern Line extension in London
UK: Tunnelling has started on London Underground’s Northern Line extension. Tunnel boring machine Helen has started boring a 5·2 m diameter tunnel at a depth of 26 m, and sister machine Amy is due to start the other bore in about a month. The two TBMs supplied by NFM ...
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NewsLondon Underground trains to be modified to improve accessibility
UK: London Underground has appointed SNC-Lavalin’s Rail & Transit team to undertake design work for the modification of rolling stock to improve accessibility for persons with reduced mobility and visual impairments. The contracts cover the train fleets used on the Bakerloo, Central and Waterloo & City lines, a total of ...
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NewsKarşıyaka tram line opens in Izmir
TURKEY: Izmir mayor Aziz Kocaoğlu attended the inauguration of the Karşıyaka tram line on April 11. Travel on the line is free until June. The 8·8 km route with 14 stops runs along the northern coast of the Gulf of Izmir, linking Alaybey and Mavişehir stations on the city’s ...
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Metro Report InternationalCRRC signs Boston Red Line metro car contract
USA: CRRC signed a contract on April 5 to supply 134 metro cars to Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. These are to be used on Boston’s Red Line. In December 2016 MBTA’s Fiscal & Management Control Board approved a base order for 120 cars with an option for a further ...
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Metro Report InternationalMadrid refurbishes metro stations
SPAIN: The Madrid regional government has announced a €60∙6m programme to refurbish 23 stations on the city’s metro network by 2021. The stations located on eight different lines are used by a total of 280 million passengers a year. According to Cristina Cifuentes, President of the Madrid regional government, the ...
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NewsBilbao metro Line L3 opens
SPAIN: The third metro line in Bilbao opened on April 8. Line L3 links Kukullaga on the EuskoTren commuter network to Matiko. There are five intermediate stations on the 5·9 km route, including an interchange with lines L1 and L2 at Casco Viejo. The metre-gauge line is operated by ...
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Metro Report InternationalBattery energy storage to lower light rail energy cost
CANADA: Toronto Hydro is to provide a battery energy storage system capable of providing the future Eglinton Crosstown light rail line with back-up and emergency power for up to 4 h in the event of a widespread power outage. It will also store energy generated during night time off-peak ...
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NewsTehran orders 70 metro cars from CRRC
IRAN: The Tehran Wagon Manufacturing Co joint venture of CRRC, Norinco and Tehran Metro has won a €93m contract to supply 70 metro cars for the capital’s expanding network. The order is the latest of several that CRRC has won in Iran. Last year CRRC Changchun started ...
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Metro Report InternationalWork begins on second S-Bahn tunnel in München
GERMANY: Work began on the second S-Bahn tunnel in München on April 5. Main excavations are due to begin next year. The 11 km route through the city centre includes a 7 km tunnel parallel to the existing east-west tunnel, between Laim in the west and Leuchtenbergring in the ...
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NewsTram-trains on test in Sheffield
UK: Non-passenger-carrying tests of the Class 399 tram-train vehicles have started on the Supertram network in Sheffield. Driver training is due to begin shortly, with passenger services on the existing tram network now expected to begin in mid-2017. Testing on the national rail network is currently expected to start next ...
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NewsNew initiatives in extended Auckland Transport operating contract
NEW ZEALAND: Auckland Transport has extended Transdev’s contract to operate suburban rail services to January 2020. The extension includes initiatives to improve passenger experience and increase security. Ticket offices and customer service centres at five stations are to be combined by the end of July. This will be followed ...
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Metro Report InternationalDriverless shuttle on test in London
UK: Passenger-carrying trials of a driverless electric shuttle prototype began on April 5 on a 2 km route on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London. The focus is not the technology, but on how it functions alongside people in a natural environment. The initial trial will explore passengers’ attitude towards ...
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Metro Report InternationalCRRC rolls out Wenzhou commuter EMU
CHINA: CRRC Qingdao Sifang rolled out its first electric multiple-unit for Wenzhou Line S1 on March 31. The four-car EMU is the first of 32 being built under a contract awarded in 2014. Based on a Type A metro train design, the EMU features a level of comfort more ...
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NewsRhein-Ruhr-Express EMU car rolled out
GERMANY: Siemens unveiled the first Desiro HC car for the future Rhein-Ruhr-Express network at its Krefeld factory on March 31. ‘The RRX will lift regional transport in NRW to a higher level’, said NRW Transport Minister Michael Groschek on his visit to Krefeld, adding that ‘the new trains combine ...
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NewsTracsis buys stake in Vivacity
UK: Transportation data software supplier Tracsis announced on April 4 that it had taken a stake in Vivacity Labs, a provider of data for smart cities and intelligent transport systems. Tracsis is investing up to £1m, subject to performance milestones, through a tranched equity funding mechanism in return for ...
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Metro Report InternationalLyon’s future metro design revealed
FRANCE: Announcing details of Sytral’s Avenir Metro programme at a press conference on April 3, President Annie Guillemot unveiled the design of the future metro trainsets ordered from Alstom for deployment on metro lines B and D. Insisting that ‘investment is a top priority’ for Sytral, she explained that the ...
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Metro Report InternationalHoek van Holland metro conversion begins
NETHERLANDS: Work to convert the 24 km railway between Schiedam Centrum and Hoek van Holland to metro operation began on April 1. Testing is due to begin in July, with passenger services set to return in September. The €312m project will modernise the six intermediate stations and build a ...