Mid-America Regional Council has approved the allocation of $17·7m of US federal funding to the planned $100m Downtown Streetcar starter line in Kansas City, Missouri.
Lyon tram route T5 was inaugurated on November 17. It uses an existing section of Line T2, plus a new 3·8 km extension from Les Alizés to Eurexpo with four stops. The Parc du Chêne – Eurexpo section will only be used during events. Construction took 18 months at a cost of €60m.
Nordhessen transport authority NVV has selected Regionalbahn Kassel, a 50:50 joint venture of Hessischer Landesbahn and Kassel transport operator KVG, to operate RegioTram services RT3, RT4 and RT5 for 10 years from December 2013. The services are currently operated by a 51:49 joint venture of DB Regio and RBK.
Sofia council has voted to go ahead with a tram line connecting the Seminary with Studentski Grad district. Opening is planned for 2014, with the cost to be supported by the EU.
Bangkok elevated metro concessionaire BTS Group has approved plans to create a subsidiary which would be floated on the stock exchange and then buy the SkyTrain’s future net farebox revenue. BTS Group would take a one-third stake in the new company. The money raised from the sale would be used to enable BTS to invest in planned extensions to the network.
The 5 km extension of Paris tram line T1 to Les Courtilles opened on November 15, adding 10 stops, and a 4·2 km, seven-stop extension of T2 to Pont de Bezons followed on November 19.
