Mallorca operator SFM has let contracts worth €114·9m for construction of the island’s first metro line in Palma (RG 5.05 p244). Linking Plaza de España with Campus de la Universitat, the 7·2 km line will be built in three stages. Three joint ventures will complete the work by the end of 2006.
A consortium of Semaly, CID and STIB has won a €2m contract from Société d’Aménagement du Bouregreg to develop plans for Morocco’s first light rail line. The 17-month contract covers preliminary studies and alignment definition for two routes totalling 20 km with 40 stops. This will serve an urban development in the valley separating Rabat and Salé.
On June 23 the Madrid regional government authorised the start of work on a 12 km circular tram route in Parla, 20 km south of the capital, which is expected to open by July 2007. A 40-year concession has been awarded to a consortium of Acciona, FCC Construcción, Detren, Compañia General de Servicios Ferroviarios, and Caja Castilla La Mancha. Contracts worth €74·9m have been let for construction, and an order has been placed for nine cars costing €18·6m.
Rotterdam operator RET has ordered 21 three-section articulated light metro trainsets from Bombardier to operate RandstadRail services between Rotterdam and Den Haag (RG 4.05 p209). Costing €83m, the new units to be delivered in 2008 will be derived from the 81 metro and sneltram sets supplied to RET by Bombardier between 1998 and 2002.
Helsinki City Transport has started construction of a new tram line serving the industrial area around Talgo Oy’s Pasila works. Due to open towards the end of 2007, as part of HKL’s Vision 2012 package, it will be operated by a new Route 9 linking the city centre and the trade fair northeast of Pasila station. Vision 2012 also includes a tram extension to the Jätkäsaari residential district in the western docks and an orbital route from Arabianranta to Pasila.
On July 18 Madrid metro announced that it would spend €650m to purchase 432 Series 2000 cars for lines 2, 3 and 4. Due to enter service from February 2006 onwards, the trains will be formed into 36 six-car sets for Line 3 and 54 four-car sets for Lines 2 and 4. Equipped for automatic operation, the air-conditioned trains will have various low-noise features including resilient wheels and quiet compressors.
Bangkok Metro Corp Ltd applied to the Securities & Exchange Commission on July 5 for a 2·55bn baht share flotation as part of a capital restructuring which will raise its share capital from 7·35bn to 11·95bn baht. Mass Rapid Transit Authority was due to buy a 25% stake in BCML on July 25 at a cost of 2·6bn baht.
