The first of 40 seven-section CAF Urbos 3 light rail vehicles that the state of Bahia purchased from the state of Mato Grosso for use on the tram network now under construction in Salvador have been sent back to the manufacturer’s Hortolândia factory for modifications. They had originally been ordered in 2012 for a project in Cuiabá which was subsequently cancelled. The vehicles will receive an overhaul and modifications to the interior and a new livery at the request of Salvador operator CTB; all 40 are scheduled to be delivered by August 2025.
A 12·7 km extension of Jinan metro Line 3 from Tantou to Jinan International Airport South opened on November 22. An extension to Airport North is to open with the future Terminal 2.
Lyon transport authority Sytral Mobilités has begun work on the €245m tram Route T8 which will run 8·1 km from Vaulx-en-Velin-La-Soie to Gare de Vénissieux with a journey time of 21 min.
On November 26 the Harbin metro opened an 8·6 km extension of Line 3 between Sports Park and Beima Rd, parallel to the south bank of the Songua River. This completes the city loop line, adding a second interchange with Line 2 at People’s Square and a further seven stations.
Keolis has been awarded a contract to operate public transport services in Lille for seven years from April 1 2025. The period will include the introduction of new light rail vehicles and metro trainsets, and there is a target ridership of 253·6 million trips/year by 2031.
Keolis has also been awarded a €493m contract to operate the Orléans transport network for six years from January 2025.
Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority has launched its first online merchandise store. ‘Whenever I wear my MARTA gear, I hear from people who love it and wish they had their own’, said General Manager & CEO Collie Greenwood. ‘This is a perfect way to share our pride in the MARTA brand and connect with the communities we serve.’
London Underground’s 40th pocket map is the first to feature the new names and colours for each of the London Overground lines. As part of Transport for London’s Art on the Underground programme ‘The Fabric of Time’ cover by artist Rita Keegan is inspired by the mostly female-led designs for seat moquettes, exploring the themes of memory, history, dress and adornment.
At InnoTrans Hübner signed a contract to provide around 200 gangways for trams which HeiterBlick is to supply to Würzburg, Leipzig, Görlitz and Zwickau.
Moskva metro has extended its biometric payment system to include more than 550 000 students who can now use facial recognition technology to pay for travel on the metro and Moscow Central Circle. ‘Biometric payment is a Russian-developed technology with bank-level security, ensuring all passenger data is encrypted’, said Deputy Mayor for Transport & Industry Maksim Liksutov. ’No cards, phones, or wallets are needed to pass through the turnstiles.’
The Land of Sachsen has allocated €6·4m towards the planning of the so-called Chemnitz Model tram-train network development programme’s Stage 4 which comprises a northern extension from Chemnitz to Limbach-Oberfrohna.