ITALY: The Milano – Seregno interurban tram line, out of use since 2011, is to be brought back into operation from 2016.
The route from Niguarda to Desio, which closed in 2011, is to be realigned to run in a road median strip, and the Desio – Seregno section will be rebuilt. Services on the 14·3 km route will join the existing network at Niguarda in order to run through to the city centre. The line will be operated using the existing fleet of low-floor cars.
Construction contractor Cooperativa Muratori e Cementisti has awarded Alstom a €40m contract to supply subsystems for the reconstruction. This includes the design, supply and installation of tracks, traction substations, signalling and communications. The project will be managed from Alstom’s Guidonia site, and will use the company’s Appitrack tracklaying system. The substations are to be fitted with Hesop technology to enable unused braking energy to be fed back into the network. Automatic train supervision will be augmented by intelligent high-definition cameras that will help to identify ‘anomalies’ such as unattended items left in critical areas.
