Shiraz metro has completed trials with of GoA2 (semi-automated operation with a driver supervising) on a five-car trainset. A local engineering company plans to implement ATO on the other 12 trainsets on Line 1, with a view to increasing performance, improving service regularity and reducing energy consumption.
The 16·7 km Taichung metro Green Line opened on November 16, with a month of free trial services planned. However, operations were suspended after an intra-trainset coupling broke on November 21, and the US-made couplers on all 18 of the Kawasaki Heavy Industries trainsets are now being inspected by an independent body.
The San Joaquin Council of Governments and Masabi have launched of EZHub, a cashless mobile ticketing and fare payment system which has been added to the Vamos Mobility App from Kyyti. It initially covers seven rail and bus transport agencies in San Joaquin County, California, and talks are underway to expand the app’s functionality and add further operators. ‘Not only will people be able to buy their tickets at any time, anywhere, but that ticket will take them wherever they want to go in San Joaquin County, saving the hassle of keeping track of multiple tickets, schedules and services across different agencies’, said Diane Nguyen, Deputy Director at SJCOG.
Dhaka Mass Transit Co Ltd has appointed consultancies including Nippon Koei and Systra to provide detailed design, tender assistance & construction supervision services for the Northern Route of Line 5.
Moscow public transport users can now create accounts associated with their Troika smart cards on the updated Moscow Metro app. This supports auto payment, remote ticket purchase, viewing travel history and top-ups, monitoring the status of inquiries, checking loyalty programme credits and accessing special offers.
Keolis Nottingham has become the first light rail operator in England to achieve ServiceMark accreditation from The Institute of Customer Service. ‘Keolis Nottingham has demonstrated it understands the importance of a sustained focus on their customers’ experience’, said Jo Causon, CEO of The Institute of Customer Service. ‘By acting on the insights gained from customer and employee feedback as part of the ServiceMark accreditation, Keolis Nottingham remains in a strong position to offer customers what they want, when they want and how they want it.’
Users of San Francisco BART’s app can now get personalised notifications including service advisories based on preferred days of the week and specific times of travel, lift availability information, real time departures specific to a station, direction of travel, day of the week and time, and announcements of engineering works or timetable changes.
Systra acted as consultant construction manager for a New York MTA project to install three lifts and undertake platform and concourse works to bring Bedford Park Boulevard station on the subway’s B and D lines into compliance with accessibility standards.
São Paulo operator CPTM has appointed Systra to support the planning, monitoring and control of works on suburban Line 7, the Ruby Line.