As part of a remapping of light rail services affecting lines C and K, Los Angeles Metro opened south-to-north and east-to-north legs of a triangular junction near LAX airport on November 3. The new sections have a cumulative length of 1·9 km, and form part of the programme to complete the K Line, which will run from Expo/Crenshaw to Redondo Beach once LAX/Metro TC station has opened.
A 9·6 km extension of Guangzhou metro Line 3 from Panyu Square to Haibang with four station opened on November 1. A further 18 trainsets were purchased for the project, taking the 74·9 km line’s fleet to 99 sets. These operate at speeds up to 120 km/h.
On November 7 Bengaluru metro’s Line 2 (Green) was extended by 3·1 km and three stations northwest from Nagasandra to Madavara.
The Oder-Spree local authority has directly awarded Schöneicheicher-Rüdersdorfer Straßenbahn a contract to operate tram Route 88 from Berlin-Friedrichshagen to Alt Rüdersdorf from January 1 2025 to December 31 2039. Serves total 560 000 km/year. SRS is owned by Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn (70%) and the municipalities of Schöneiche and Rüdersdorf (15% each).
On October 30, Boston’s MBTA unveiled a mock-up of one of the 102 Type 10 Supercar light rail vehicles which CAF is supplying for the Green Line. This will allow the operator to receive feedback from the public ahead of the final design phase.
On October 28, RFI opened an underground station at Libertà in central Palermo. Located between Notarbartolo and Giachery, the station has been built at a cost of €11m by D’Agostino Costruzioni Generali as part of the national infrastructure manager’s €93m programme to build a single-track loop through central Palermo for suburban services.
The first of the 19 seven-car monorail trainsets that CRRC Puzhen Alstom Transportation Systems is supplying for São Paulo’s Line 15-Silver was delivered to the port of Santos on October 15.
Wien operator Wiener Linien is replacing 27 000 fluorescent tube lights with LEDs across its metro fleet, excepting its latest X class cars, and on part of its trams. Wiener Linien expects to achieve a 50% saving in lighting energy consumption of the affected vehicles.
On November 6 Korail President & CEO Han Moon-Hee attended test runs which had started the previous week on the new suburban railway being developed in Daegu. The 61·9 km suburban rail line will link Gumi with Gyeongsan through Daegu main station with scheduled opening on December 14.
Transport for Wales Operations Director Sarah Higgins has become a director of the UK’s Light Rail Safety & Standards Board. ‘The LRSSB is now firmly established as the leading authority on all aspects of light rail safety, but we need to ensure it continues to grow and adapt to meet fresh challenges while exploring new technologies with the potential to further enhance tram safety’, said Chair George Lowder.