The 4·6 km Tren Universitario de La Plata local urban railway service in La Plata southeast of Buenos Aires has been extended by 3·4 km from Policlínico to Hospital San Juan de Dios from September 19. This required the upgrading of signalling, track renewals and the refurbishment of three stations.
Zhengzhou’s 21·9 km east–west metro Line 10 linking Zhengzhou Railway Station and Zhengzhouxi Railway Station opened on September 26. There are 12 stations including five interchanges. Services are operated using six-car Type A trainsets, running every 9 min 20 sec at a maximum speed of 100 km/h.
On September 4 the Oberbayern regional authority granted planning approval for the 8·3 km Westtangente tram extension in München. This will run north to south from Romanplatz on the existing network to Aidenbachstraße on U-Bahn Line 3, with 17 stops. Operator MVG expects to begin main construction in early 2024 for revenue services on the first section from the end of 2025.
The 3·3 km Taipingqiao to Chinese-Baroque Block northeastern section of Harbin metro line 3 opened on September 29.
Wenzhou’s second suburban rail line opened on August 26, running 62·9 km from Dongshan in the southwest to Qingdong Road in the northeast. There are 20 stations, with two in the centre being shared with Line S1, and 52·6 km of the 140 km/h line is elevated. CRRC Sifang has supplied 37 four-car Type D trainsets, and the infrastructure is designed to enable lengthening to six-car sets.
Kiepe Electric is to supply two traction converters and brake resistors for each of the 32 bidirectional high-floor light rail vehicles which CAF is to build for use in Bonn from 2026.
On October 2 Singapore’s Land Transport Authority announced that it had awarded China Communications Construction Co a S$447m contract for the design and construction of King Albert Park station for the underground Cross Island Line Phase 2, and China Communications Construction Co-Sinohydro Corp JV a S$514m contract for Clementi station. Works are expected to start in Q1 2024 for opening in 2032.
Thales SEC Transport has completed a project to upgrade the signalling on Wuhan metro Line 1. Thales said it was the first Chinese metro line with CBTC when it opened in 2004, and had ‘transformed the traditional metro signalling control mode in China’, and acted as a valuable reference for subsequent lines.
Fort Worth’s Trinity Metro has named Reed Lanham as Vice-President of Rail, responsible for the quality, reliability and consistency of Trinity Railway Express and TEXRail services. He joined Trinity Metro in 2015, and was most recently Deputy Vice-President of Rail.
Hong Kong’s MTR Corp opened entrance/exit C at Kai Tak station on September 28, connecting the concourse with the basement of the Airside shopping mall and improving access to the Inland Revenue Centre.
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has launched a permanent weekday commuter service between Boston South station and Foxboro station from October 2. A year-long pilot exceeded key metrics, with 112-133 boardings/day in Q3 compared to a goal of 83-118. On-time performance improved along the entire line, with new opportunities for reverse/non-traditional commuters. MBTA will now work with Foxborough-based paper, sports and investment company Kraft Group to seek funding for the renovation of Foxboro station including full-length high-level platforms.