On October 23 Grand Reims awarded Transdev a €360m contract to operate the two tram lines and local bus network for seven years from January 2024. This includes a 36% increase in services and renewal of the ticketing system by Matawan to support integration with other services in the Grand-Est region.
The Rio de Janeiro state government announced on October 16 that it had called tenders for technical, legal, economic and environmental feasibility studies for the proposed metro Line 3 from Praça XV to Araribóia and Alcântara, and for an extension of Line 4 west from Jardim Oceânico to Alvorada and Recreio dos Bandeirantes. ‘We are advancing in the search for solutions to the public transport problems that currently afflict the population of Rio’, said Governor Cláudio Castro. ‘But we are also planning for the future and the expansion of the metro. When we talk about urban mobility, we have to think that it is a system, which integrates different regions and modes. This study should present the best path for expanding the metro, including the concession model’
A 5 km nine-stop tramway extension from Şehit Mustafa Şimşek to Izzet Bayraktar Camii in the Talas Mevlana district of Kayseri opened on October 28, with free travel until October 31. The local authority is developing a 22 MW wind farm to provide power for the tram network which now totals 46 km with a fleet of 80 trams including 11 supplied by Bozankaya in the past year.
Three potential bidders have been shortlisted to tender for western Sydney’s Parramatta Light Rail Stage 2 enabling works contract: CPB Contractors with McConnell Dowell Constructors; Fulton Hogan Construction with SRG Global; and John Holland Group. the contract includes construction of a 320 m public and active transport bridge with approaches totalling 1·3 km. Design and early works are expected to commence in 2024, ahead of major construction in 2025.
Roma municipality has called tenders for the construction of the initial 8 km part of the tram ring from Ponte Mammolo on metro Line B to Parco di Centocelle on Line C and Subaugusta on Line A. The cost is estimated at €93m, with completion scheduled for June 2026.
A 2·8 km two-station north extension of Qingdao metro Line 13 from Jinggangshan Road to Jialingjiang West Road opened on October 26.
Transport authority GZM has rephased traffic lights at 15 junctions on routes 6, 7 and 19 in Bytom as part of a project to raise average tram speeds.
The Dhaka metro has introduced women-only coaches, and the stations have gates and platform sections reserved for women.
Transdev has launched The Mobility Sphere, a think-tank which aims bring together experts from across Europe ‘to reveal the new paradigm for mobility in 2050’. The first event was held in Amsterdam on October 4, and the next will be in Brussels on March 28.
Moskva Metro has installed passenger information screens above the doors on 147 Moskva-2020 trains which provide information such as station maps, the remaining journey time, the location exits or transfer points, the time and the temperature.
New York‘s Metro-North Railroad has applied a ’bold, retro-futuristic’ livery to highlight its Laser Train which removes fallen leaves from the railhead. It previously looked like other maintenance trains, but now features illustrations of leaves from the temperate deciduous forests of the northeast USA.
UKVZ was the sole bidder for a contract to supply five fully low-floor trams to Tomsk.
Infrastructure investor Metro Pacific Investments Corp and Malaysian rolling stock and rail services company Hartasuma have agreed a strategic partnership in the Philippines, Plans include rolling stock refurbishment, cable cars and the use of local content within PPP contracts. ‘There is a lot of demand and interest in rail infrastructure projects as the government looks to improve regional connectivity through the development of transport infrastructure’ said Hartasuma Executive Director Ravindran Menon.
BKM has signed a memorandum of co-operation to provide the BKM-Siberia joint venture with kits for the modernisation of at least 30 Novosibirsk trams. BKM-Siberia produced more than 50 BKM-62103 trams for Novosibirsk in 2014-22 by rebuilding UKVZ vehicles and fitting bodies supplied from Belarus.