CRRC Changchun has unveiled a pair of automated monorail vehicles for the Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport straddle monorail which will link terminals T3A and T3B.
A 3·7 km western extension of St Petersburg metro Line 4 to Gorny Institut opened on December 27. Construction began in 2014 when opening was planned for 2018, but work by contractor Metrostroy was delayed and the project was transferred to Metrostroy Severnoy Stolitsy. The underground structures of the intermediate Teatralnaya station are complete, but owing to unresolved risks to the buildings on the surface the entrance will be built at a later stage and trains are currently passing through without stopping.
Plans to extend the Strasbourg tram network northwards by 4∙8 km to serve Bischheim and Schiltigheim have been turned down by a commission of enquiry. Hearings had been held in September and October, and news of the ruling was made public on December 10. Work on the planned extension with nine stops was to have started in 2025 with a view to opening in 2027. The project had attracted considerable controversy as the expected cost rose from €140m to €268m, prompting local politicians to oppose the scheme or put forward alternative alignments.
The São Paulo state government has received the preliminary environmental licence for a 3·3 km, two-station southwestern extension of metro Line 4 from Vila Sônia to Taboão da Serra. Work on the R$3·4bn project is expected to start this year for opening in 2028.
Alstom has signed a four-year contract to undertake preventive and corrective maintenance of the 26 Metropolis trainsets, Urbalis signalling and power supplies on the 16 km Panama metro Line 1.
On December 9 Houston’s MetroRail began construction of a maintenance of way facility with a workshop, warehouse and outdoor storage near the Burnett Transit Center. To be completed in July 2026, it will act as a hub for work on the Red, Green and Purple light rail lines, streamlining operations and improving incident response times.
Bank cards from Japan’s JCB International can now be used for contactless payment at NJ Transit light rail and bus validators. JCB Cards are now issued mainly in Asian countries and territories, with more than 158 million users, and the company has formed alliances with global financial institutions to increase its coverage.
Mable Chan became become a non-executive director of MTR Corp when she was appointed as Hong Kong’s Secretary for Transport & Logistics on December 5.
On January 3 Chicago Transit Authority announced that ’after careful consideration’, it had decided to suspend the use of its general information and service alerts accounts on X (formerly known as Twitter), ’as this social media platform no longer provides the value it once did for us to effectively reach and communicate with our riders’. It will continue to provide project information and updates.
PK TS has delivered 20 two-section 71-923 Bogatyr-M trams and six 71-911 Lionet single-section trams to Saratov, with eight more Bogatyr-M trams to follow.