Delhi Metro has introduced an automatic top-up feature for its smart cards, with Rs200 loaded at ticket gates whenever the stored value falls below Rs100. The function was developed by Anduril Technologies, and requires users to download the Autope mobile app or register online to link their bank cards to a smart card. A ‘nominal’ convenience fee with a maximum of 1% will be charged for each transaction.
Max Bögl reports that Germany’s Federal Railway Authority has given assurances that the core track and rolling stock components of its Transport System Bögl maglev design comply with EBA requirements for obtaining future approval. Max Bögl said it would continue co-operating with the EBA and its appointed specialists to obtain the assurance of approval for the operational control system as well as positive notices for other components, with the next step being to acquire an operating license; the manufacturer envisages that TSB could be implemented and commissioned in less than two years once a building permit has been obtained.
Cubic Transportation Systems is now providing customer contact centre services for the Regional Transportation Authority which oversees the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra and Pace Suburban Bus. Cubic offers trip planning services from its Western New York operations centre based in Amherst. ‘With our experience developing and deploying the Ventra system for Chicago, we are thrilled with the opportunity to partner with the RTA to provide regional trip planning customer contact center services’, said Sushil Rajendran, Vice-President & General Manager, Central Region, Americas for Cubic Transportation Systems.
The USA’s Federal Transit Administration has announced new guidance designed to provide more flexibility for transport agencies to work with the developers of commercial, residential or mixed-use projects. ‘We are committed to supporting transit agencies that pursue joint development projects to capture the economic value of transit’, said FTA Deputy Administrator K Jane Williams. ‘Innovative partnerships and funding sources can help deliver projects more quickly, and this is especially important as communities recover from the Covid-19 public health emergency.’
Hitachi Elevator (China) Co has won a contract to supply 22 lifts and 66 escalators for the five elevated and seven underground stations on the future Wuhan metro Line 16 Section 2, known as the Hannan Line, which is scheduled to open next year.
Carl Williams has been appointed Chief Executive of the UK’s Light Rail Safety & Standards Board, which was established last year. Currently Director of Operations at West Midlands Metro, Williams has previously held senior positions at Keolis UK, Manchester Metrolink and Sheffield Supertram. He is due to take up the new post on a part-time basis, continuing to work for WMM until the end of the year when he will join LRSSB full time.
The US Federal Transit Administration has launched a Covid-19 Recovery Discussion Forum as a platform for peer-to-peer exchange of ideas and best practice.
The Romanian city of Ploiești has ordered 20 low-floor Solaris Trollino 12 trolleybuses for delivery within two years at a cost of 36m złoty.
The Hungarian government’s Green Bus programme is to provide €104m for the procurement of electric buses over the next 10 years, as part of a policy to replace half the urban fleet in the largest cities and require the use of emissions-free vehicles in places with more than 25 000 inhabitants.
Operator PKM in the Polish city of Sosnowiec has placed a €11m order for nine Solaris Urbino 12 electric and five articulated Urbino 18 electric buses, along with three pantograph chargers and eight plug-in chargers. Deliveries are scheduled for completion by August 2021.
