All Light Rail articles – Page 71
-
NewsStadler selected to supply Szeged tram-trains
HUNGARY: National passenger operator MÁV-Start has selected Stadler Rail Valencia to supply eight electro-diesel tram-trains to operate on the planned route between Szeged and Hódmezővásárhely. The order announced on April 18 includes an option for four more vehicles. The project is being fully financed by the EU, with rolling ...
-
Metro Report InternationalSeattle light rail renewable energy agreement signed
USA: Sound Transit has entered into a 10-year agreement with Puget Sound Energy enabling the transport authority to purchase wind-generated energy directly. It hopes to use only renewable energy to power its light rail network from 2019. Through its 2015 Sustainability Plan and Sound Transit 3 network expansion project, ...
-
Metro Report InternationalSheffield tram-train infrastructure work progresses
UK: Work has started on the Tinsley Chord that will connect Sheffield Supertram with the main line network. The 400 m chord, which includes 160 m of new alignment, will enable tram-train services to run between Sheffield and Rotherham. The Tinsley Chord is located near Meadowhall, the terminus of ...
-
NewsBelkommunmash wins Pavlodar tram order
KAZAKHSTAN: Belkommunmash has won a contract to supply up to 25 trams to Pavlodar. The contract is worth 2·7bn tenge. The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development is providing 2bn tenge under a loan agreement signed in 2015. The remainder will come from the government, which is also funding ...
-
NewsLviv fast tram route completed
UKRAINE: The second phase of the fast tram route in Lviv opened on April 15 to the Sykhiv district in the south of the city. The 1·5 km extension has four stops and runs south from Kinoteatr Dovzhenka to Vul Akademika Vernadskoho. Routes 2 and 8 serve the extension, ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
NewsGreek transport projects to receive EU funds
GREECE: Metro projects in Thessaloniki and Athens are to receive investment from EU cohesion funds, the European Commission announced on March 24. The grants form part of a €1·3bn funding package that would allow projects started in the 2007-13 EU budget period to be completed in the 2014-20 budget period. ...
-
NewsTrams run in Samarkand
UZBEKISTAN: Regular passenger services started on the first phase of the Samarkand tram network on March 29. Test running had started on March 26. The initial 6·4 km route links the city’s main station with the Sat Tepo district using an alignment mostly running in road medians. Construction of ...
-
NewsFreight tram to support electric car production
GERMANY: CarGoTram freight services returned to Dresden’s tram network on March 24, carrying automotive parts between the Friedrichstadt freight terminal and Volkswagen’s car factory at the Großen Garten on Straßburger Platz. CarGoTram was first launched in 2001 to reduce the need for lorries to pass through the city centre to ...
-
NewsWork starts on new tram line in Istanbul
TURKEY: Construction of a new tram line in Istanbul began on March 20. The 10 km route will run along the southern edge of the Golden Horn from Eminönü to Alibeyköy Cep Otogari. Interchange will be provided with tram route T1 at Eminönü, with metro line M2 at Küçük ...
-
NewsMauritius light rail work begins
MAURITIUS: Preparatory work started on a light rail line on March 20, following a foundation stone laying ceremony on March 11. Preparatory works are expected to last three months. The 26 km Metro Express line would link Port Louis with Curepipe, serving 19 stops with an end-to-end journey time ...
-
NewsTransport for West Midlands to take Midland Metro in-house
UK: Transport for West Midlands is to take over the day-to-day operations of the Midland Metro light rail line when the current contract held by National Express ends in October 2018. ‘Metro is embarking on an unprecedented period of expansion and we believe bringing services in-house will provide the extra ...
-
Metro Report InternationalTrump budget proposes cuts to urban transport grants
USA: In a blueprint for its proposed Financial Year 2018 budget, the Trump administration is planning to cut funding for the Department of Transportation to $16bn, a 13% reduction on that available for FY2017. Under the proposals, swingeing cuts would be made both to passenger train and municipal transport ...
-
Metro Report InternationalValley Metro renews operating contract
USA: Valley Metro has approved a five-year extension to Alternate Concepts Inc’s contract to operate the 42 km light rail network centred on Phoenix. ACI has operated the line for Valley Metro since before the opening in December 2008. In fiscal year 2016 the network carried 15·6 million passengers ...
-
NewsVityaz-M trams enter service in Moscow
RUSSIA: Two prototype Vityaz-M trams entered revenue service in Moscow on March 17. They had arrived at arrived at the Bauman depot on January 27. Moscow tram operator Mosgortrans ordered 300 three-section trams from a consortium of Transmashholding subsidiary Metrowagonmash and PK Transportnye Systemy last year. Deliveries from TMH’s ...