Bonn operator SWB Bus & Bahn has put the first of 28 ForCity Smart trams being supplied by Škoda into service on Route 61 between Dottendorf and Auerberg. ‘An appealing design, modern features and the latest technology have the potential to get more people excited about public transport’, said Managing Director Anja Wenmakers at the official unveiling on December 9.
Ankara municipality has rerun the tendering process for construction of the city’s planned Mamak metro line, with the winning bid coming in €187m lower than that in the original procurement. Seven bids were received in November; the lowest, worth €388m, was submitted by Gülermak Ağır Sanayi İnşaat Ve Taahhüt. The A2 Line, commonly referred to as the Mamak metro, is a planned 7·4 km light metro running entirely underground serving eight stations between Dikimevi and Natoyolu.
Two consortia have prequalified for the contract to build the 15·8 km Line 2 in the Colombian capital. The Bogotá Metro 2 consortium comprises China Railway Construction Corp International Investment (75%) and China Railway Construction Electrification Bureau Group (25%), while Unión L2 Bogotá Metro Rail is formed of Sacyr Concesiones Colombia Participadas II (40%), Acciona Concesiones (40%) and CAF Investment Projects (20%). Metro de Bogotá expects the contract to construct the automated metro to be awarded in April 2025.
Siemens Mobility’s Cornellà site is to supply CAF with propulsion systems for trainsets ordered by Metro de Madrid in two batches. The traction inverters, motors and brake resistors will be designed for both 1·5 kV and 600 V DC overhead.
Singapore’s SMRT and CRRC Sifang are to explore retrofitting a C151B train on the North-South and East-West lines with condition and structural health monitoring technologies to identifying micro changes in the stresses and strains that a train undergoes. This will allow greater focus on parts that require greater attention. The train management system is to be upgraded to provide more detailed and accurate information on critical systems, the air-conditioning enhanced and CRRC Sifang will look into future-proofing the propulsion and auxiliary power supply by replacing obsolete parts and increasing power output.
Hernán Villarreal, Secretary of Mobility of the State of Nuevo León, has announced the cancellation of the project to develop Monterrey Line 5 from Hospital de Ginecología to La Estanzuela. First planned as a monorail, matching lines 4 and 6 which are under construction, it will now be developed as bus rapid transit.
The opening of Grand Paris Express Line 15 has been put back to mid-2026, while the RER Line E extension to Mantes-La-Jolie will open with a limited service by the end of 2027 and the full service by the end of 2029.
San Diego Metropolitan Transit System has appointed Keen Independent Research to help develop an Equity Statement and Equity Policy. KIR will assess current service delivery and collect input from riders, other local residents and employees. ‘MTS seeks a unified vision of a fair and balanced transit system that serves all members of the community’, said MTS CEO Sharon Cooney. ‘A critical part of this is developing a framework to help ensure our policy decisions and practices are consistent.’
Hitachi Yungtay Elevator Co is to supply 147 lifts and escalators for the second phase of the Taipei MRT Wanda-Zhonghe-Shulin Line, which is scheduled to be completed in 2031. All lifts will be designed to stop at the nearest floor and open the doors if an earthquake is detected.
Transport for London plans to award three companies framework contracts for the supply of Oyster contactless smart cards. The current demand is around 6·5 to 8·5 million cards per year in 16 variants. The agreements will run for four years with the option to extend for up to two years, with a value of £6m to £9m per year. It is expected that at least three suppliers will be selected.