FGV has ordered a further 14 bi-directional 100% low-floor Flexity Outlook trams which Bombardier will deliver to Valencia and Alacant in 2009-10.
On April 10 preferred bidder Serco announced that it had signed a contract with the Roads & Transport Authority covering the operation and maintenance of the Dubai Metro (RG 4.08 p255). The five-year operations contract runs from the opening of the Red Line in September 2009. It is renewable for a further five years, and Serco said the value could be £500m, including the 2½ year planning phase. Serco will employ 3 000 metro staff.
Helsinki operator HKL will this month take delivery of six three-section trams bought second-hand from Mannheim.
FGV tram-train services in Alacant are due to be extended from Creueta to Benidorm this month, following completion of track renewals and electrification. Similar work is now underway on the 8·9 km between Benidorm and Altea where a budget of €17·5m has been set.
Faiveley Transport has been awarded a €18·8m contract to install platform screen doors at 22 stations on Line 1 of the Sevilla metro.
Alstom is to resignal three lines of the São Paulo metro totalling 57·2 route-km with Communications-Based Train Control. Preliminary work has already started on the World Bank-funded project, although the formal contract has yet to be signed. Interfaces are to be provided to permit the installation of platform screen doors at five stations.
Bombardier announced on March 28 that it had received a €87m order from Delhi Metro Rail Corp for an additional 84 Movia metro cars. The order is an option on a €427m contract for 340 cars signed in July 2007. DMRC has requested a change to the train configuration specified in the original contract, and the 1 676 mm gauge 25 kV units will now be delivered as 37 four-car and 46 six-car sets.
By the end of July the municipality of Bogotá hopes to select a consultant to develop the outline design of the first metro route in the Colombian capital. The Inter-American Development Bank has indicated that it is willing to provide US$2·5bn towards construction in the form of a 25-year loan.
On April 4 a surplus Wien tram was delivered to Dutch operator Connexxion, which will test it on the Utrecht - Nieuwegein sneltram route with a view to leasing further cars to solve a current capacity shortage.
The Moscow city government is reported to have agreed a plan for Mirax Group to build an elevated monorail connecting Mirax Plaza at Moscow International Business Centre with the Fili metro station in Kutuzovskaya Avenue. Work on the first 2·2 km will start in June for completion by 2011, when the city government will relocate to a 72-storey tower under construction at the Business Centre.
Trials of Trainguard MT CBTC automatic train control have been successfully completed in Barcelona, prior to installation of the Siemens system on metro Line 9. A 2·4 km section of Line 2 between Clot and La Pau was equipped for testing the radio-based moving block system at a cost of €2·2m.
In March Metrovagonmash announced a contract to supply Baku metro with 36 metro cars. The first 10 were scheduled to be delivered by the end of April, with the remainder by the end of this year.
Vehicle testing has begun on the completed section of the Canada Line between Richmond depot and Vancouver International Airport. The 19 km line between Richmond and central Vancouver is due to open in late 2009.
Augsburg transport authority VGA has exercised a €39m option with Bombardier for a further 14 Flexity Outlook trams, bringing the German city's total order to 24 vehicles.
Extensions of London Underground's Piccadilly Line and the Heathrow Express rail service opened with Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5 on March 27. Construction was funded by airport owner BAA.
Energoprojekt has signed a €32m contract to build Abai metro station in the Kazak city of Almaty. The Serbian firm completed the Almaly station at the end of 2007.
A 3 km extension of the Linha Sul from Imbiribeira to Shopping in the Brazilian city of Recife was opened on March 28.
