Canada: Following rejection of an appeal against the environmental study, Toronto Transit Commission is due to begin work next month on the C$65m St Clair Avenue West Transit Improvement Project to rebuild 6·5 km of street tramway on reserved track.
China: Boring of two 4·7 km tunnels was completed on Guangzhou Metro Line 3 on June 3. Tracklaying will be completed by September 10, and shadow running is planned by the end of the year.
Hong Kong’s MTR Corp signed a memorandum of understanding with the Shenzhen city government on May 26 to assist with construction of metro lines 2 and 3, which are expected to cost more than 10bn yuan.
A full service began between Jiaochangqing and Dayancun on the Chongqing monorail on June 18. Shadow services had begun on the 3·5bn yuan line on December 28 2004.
Finland: Helsinki Metro is discussing with the city council’s transport committee the possibility of introducing fully-automated operation from 2010. Issues to be investigated include the choice of technology, plus the use of platform screen doors and motion sensors to detect intruders on the track.
Germany: EVAG opened a 3·6 km extension of Erfurt tram Line 4 to serve the airport and Bindersleben on June 20.
India: Siemens has awarded COE Group a contract to supply CCTV equipment for installation on the Delhi Metro.
Iran: Chitgar station on Tehran suburban Line 5 was opened on June 1.
Italy: Tram di Firenze has awarded Alstom a contract for track, power supply and overhead line equipment on lines 2 and 3, which are expected to open in 2009.
Mexico: Tenders have been called for the construction of a 3 km peoplemover to link Terminal 1 with the new Terminal 2 at Mexico City’s Benito Ju
