Alstom’s Sri City plant has begun delivery of the first of 31 eight-car driverless trainsets ordered in 2018 for Mumbai Metro Line 3.
All-day operation has begun on a 1·5 km extension of São Paulo metro Line 4 from São Paulo-Morumbi to Vila Sônia; this section first opened in December with a peak time only service. Siemens Mobility has supplied Trainguard MT CBTC for GoA4 unattended automatic operation on the full 15 km of Line 4, which is operated by ViaQuatro.
As part of the Vancouver SkyTrain’s Expo and Millennium Line Upgrade Programme, TransLink has awarded Thales two contracts to provide SelTrac CBTC for a new Operations Control Centre and the future fully automated Operations & Maintenance Centre 4, which will have stabling for 29 trains, a train interior cleaning and inspection facility, a train washer and maintenance shops.
Orange County Transportation Authority has awarded INIT a contract to supply and support VENDstation ticket machines for the 10 stops on the future OC Streetcar line. Passengers will be able to use cash, credit/debit cards and mobile wallets to buy barcoded paper tickets and validate fare media on tram and bus services.
Termotron-Zavod in Bryansk has begun series production of tram turnout operating equipment of its own design, to provide a Russian-made replacement for products from the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria. The total investment in the project is more than 313m roubles, with the VEB.RF Group’s Industrial Development Fund providing a 148m roubles loan at 1% per annum under its Development Projects programme.
Plzeň is to pay around KC130m, or 24%, more on the basic delivery price for the remaining 10 Škoda 40T trams to be ordered under a framework agreement for up to 22 trams which was signed in 2018. The increase is down to the prices for basic materials and energy. Delivery has been postponed from the end of 2023 to June 2025.
Sinara Transport Machines has formed an STM Energy Solutions subsidiary to supply and maintain battery, supercapacitor and hybrid energy storage systems for urban transport. Energy storage technology of Sinara’s own design is already used on UKVZ-built 71-628M trams supplied to Taganrog.
Staff from Manila’s Light Rail Transit Line 1 are being trained to use the Philippine Institute of Volcanology & Seismology’s Rapid Earthquake Damage Assessment System software which can simulate ground shaking liquefaction, landslides and tsunamis.
A 2·1 km extension of Kolkata Line 2 from Phoolbagan to Sealdah opened on July 14, after an inauguration ceremony on July 11.
Indonesia’s state railway PT KAI has signed a memorandum of understanding with the search and rescue agency Basarnas to support the safe operation of the partly-elevated Jabodebek LRT in Jakarta, which is scheduled to open in August. The MoU covers data sharing and emergency response, including the use of helicopters.
