On August 15 New York Governor Kathy Hochul travelled on a ceremonial first train on the initial 3 km Floral Park – Merillon Avenue section of the 10 km third track being installed between Floral Park and Hicksville on the Long Island Rail Road. Major construction began in late 2018 and full opening is scheduled for later this year. ‘Trains will run more often, and passengers will have a smoother ride than ever’, said Hochul.
Warszawa’s Tramwaje Warszawskie has ordered three Zagro E-Maxi remoted controlled battery vehicles for shunting trams at its depots. They will be able to operate in both road and rail modes, with four swivelling wheels enabling movement within limited spaces and an adjustable height coupling. The order has been placed through Fire-Max, which has provided similar equipment to Kraków, Gdańsk and Olsztyn.
Edmonton’s 13 km Valley Line Southeast light rail line will not open this summer as planned, after inspections found cracks in some of the concrete piers supporting the elevated tracks. City Manager Andre Corbould said design build, operate and maintain PPP concessionaire TransEd — which comprisies Bechtel, EllisDon, Alstom and Fengate Capital Management — ’is fully responsible for the costs of repairing the piers, and it continues to forfeit payments every month the system is not operational’.
The combined Final Environmental Impact Statement/Record of Decision for Chicago Transit Authority’s Red Line Extension Project has been published, paving the way for the CTA to advance to the next steps of the federal New Starts funding programme. The RLE Project would extend the line 9 km from the existing terminus at 95th Street to 130th Street, adding four stations.
Colas Rail has signed its first contract in Panama and its first for a monorail project. Acting as a subcontractor to Hitachi Rail on the Metro de Panamá Line 3 project, Colas Rail will design, supply and install 100 km of power rail and participate in the construction of the maintenance depot.
Rejsekort & Rejseplan and Nordjyllands Trafikselskab are to trial Fairtiq’s swipe-in swipe-out mobile payment system on trains and buses in northern Denmark. Between 1 000 and 2 000 passengers will participate in the trial between August 16 and November 30, with a 40% discount offered.
Phillip Terry has been appointed Lead Engineer at UK light rail industry body UKTram. He joins from Nottingham Trams, where he held the position of Technical Support Manager. ‘His broad experience will prove invaluable as we forge closer partnerships with stakeholders to support innovation, share best practice and explore new technology that will ultimately help remove the barriers to sector expansion’, said UKTram Managing Director James Hammett.