by Editor | Nov 18, 2022 | Uncategorized
The Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv (population 476 000 in 2020) has been on the front line of the Russian invasion since April, but the Ukrainian army has prevented it falling into Russian hands. Now the Russians have destroyed the water pipeline that supplied the city from the River Dnieper, leaving many residents and businesses without running water. In response, the city’s public transport network (trams and trolleybuses) is being used to distribute water. Vehicles used include tramway works car 1001 (a KTM-5dating from 1989), usually a rail grinder, that has a water tank that can be filled before it circulates around the network. Another KTM-5, 2108 from 1985, has had its seats removed to accommodate two 1000-litre barrels and has joined 1001 since 3 November. A similar operation is in place on the trolleybus...
by Editor | Oct 30, 2022 | Uncategorized
New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has approved an option with Kawasaki to supply another 640 R211 cars for the city’s A and C Subway lines and the Staten Island Railway. The latest option takes the total order to 1175 cars with an order value of USD2.77bn. New York’s Subway has 535 R211 cars on order under a 2018 contract to replace the system’s R42 stock (delivered in 1969-70) and some of its R32 units which are also more than 50 years old. Deliveries of the stainless steel-bodied cars began in July 2021, with passenger service expected by spring 2023. The base order was valued at USD1.44bn – including 440 standard closed-end cars and 20 open-gangway test cars for the B division (lettered lines) and 75 closed-end cars for Staten Island Railway. This agreement included a USD1.33bn option for an initial 640 cars, now exercised; a further extension valued at USD913.57m remains for 437 more cars. This would take the full order to USD3.69bn. Carbodies and interiors will be manufactured at Kawasaki’s factory in Lincoln, Nebraska, with final assembly and testing performed at this facility and at the company’s site in Yonkers, New York. The R211 design includes 1473mm door openings, 203mm wider than the cars they are replacing, to speed boarding and alighting and reduce station dwell times. They also feature onboard CCTV cameras, digital information displays, LED lighting and a “slicker”...
by Editor | Oct 14, 2022 | Uncategorized
UKTram has published its latest strategy document, which makes the case for continued investment in light rail for cities in England, Scotland and Wales. Drawing on input from across the sector to build a compelling case for tramways and similar transit systems, A Light Rail Strategy for the UK was launched recently with support from Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport Baroness Vere. The document ‘seeks to overcome barriers to the expansion of the sector’ through case studies of existing systems, as well as calling for closer collaboration between stakeholders to drive innovation and best practice. George Lowder, Chairman of UKTram, explained: “The strategy document represents many months of work by professionals from across light rail and addresses the key challenges they face, including recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. “At the same time, it brings into focus the many benefits of putting tramways at the heart of future integrated urban transport networks – not least in terms of enhancing connectivity, driving inward investment, reducing congestion and improving air quality.” The principles of the strategy have also helped to shape UKTram’s latest Business Plan, which sets out a programme of initiatives aimed at reducing the cost and complexity of future projects whilst at the same time driving cross-sector partnerships. “As well as offering a definitive answer to the question, ‘Why light rail?’ the strategy will act as a rallying call for the entire sector to unite behind a bold vision for the future, and we are delighted that it has been welcomed by senior government figures,” Mr Lowder added. A Light Rail...
by Editor | Mar 11, 2021 | Uncategorized
Transport for London (TfL) and Siemens Mobility presented the detailed design of the future trains for the UK capital’s Piccadilly line in a virtual launch event on 4 March. A GBP1.5bn (EUR1.74bn) contract for the 94 new trainsets was awarded in November 2018, to replace the ageing Metro-Cammell 1973 Stock fleet which entered service in 1975. The new vehicles are based upon the Inspiro platform, variants of which are in service in Warsaw, Sofia and München. With wider doors (1690mm and all doubles, compared to 1300mm on the 1973 Stock, which also has 680mm-wide single doors at the carriage ends) each train is also longer at 113.7m. A new multi-articulated walk-through design reduces the number of bogies, so this larger footprint promises a 10% capacity increase per train. As the new fleet is introduced from 2025, the current trains will be gradually withdrawn and peak frequency is expected to rise from 24 to 27 trains/hr from mid-2027. With shorter dwell times at stations, this represents a 23% increase in peak service capacity. Although currently on hold, plans to upgrade the line’s signalling could increase this further to 36 trains/hr. The Inspiro cars will be 95% recyclable, and feature regenerative braking and traction units that use permanent magnet motors and auxiliary electric systems with silicon carbide technology, as well as Li-ion batteries. With LED lighting and advanced energy management, power consumption is reduced by 20%. Air-conditioning is also to be introduced, a first for a deep-level Tube service, as well as digital information systems. The units will be maintained at a remodelled Northfields depot in North London; these works are...
by Editor | Jan 9, 2019 | News, Uncategorized
The AUD840m (EUR516m) contract to build the first 12km (7.5-mile) stage of the light rail line between Westmead and Carlingford has been awarded to a joint venture of Downer and CPB Contractors by Australia’s NSW Government. After feedback from the local community, construction works on Church Street (known locally as Eat Street due to the large number of restaurants) for the AUD2.4bn (EUR1.48bn) project will not begin until 2020, with a suspension each summer from the beginning of November until the end of January. The contract includes requirements to avoid work in the evenings and at other busy times, commitments to local employment and penalties if works are significantly delayed. At the same time, a AUD536m (EUR329.5m) contract was signed with the Great River City Light Rail consortium of Transdev and CAF. CAF will supply 13 seven-section Urbos LRVs with off-wire capability for 4km (2.5 miles) of the route between Westmead and Cumberland Hospital and between Prince Alfred Square and Tramway Avenue as well as traction substations, signalling, communications, 16 tramstops and the depot and control centre. The latter will be built by sub-contractor Laing O’Rourke. Transdev will be responsible for testing, commissioning, operations and maintenance for eight years from construction completion; there is an option for an extension for up to ten years. Service is planned to start in 2023 with 7.5-minute peak...
by Editor | Dec 9, 2016 | Uncategorized
Hans Retallick discovers how the successful reintroduction of trams to Kansas City after a break of 57 years is just one major part of a transformational regeneration programme for this ‘Smart City’. The morning of 6 May 2016 saw a large crowd gathering outside the recently renovated Union Station in Kansas City for the grand opening of the first Streetcar service in the city since 1957. The culmination of many proposals and a planning process that commenced in 2011, the new 16-stop line serves important areas in the city’s downtown area for a distance of 3.5km (2.2 miles). Kansas City, with a metropolitan area population of over two million, is unusual in that it is located in two states – State Line Road which divides Kansas from Missouri goes through the centre of the city on a north-south axis. Kansas City, KS, and Kansas City, MO, form the heart of the district, with a large number of other urbanised areas spreading out in all directions. Located on the Missouri River, the city quickly became one of the most important US railway junctions in the early 20th Century and in its heyday boasted a 25-line streetcar network – one of the largest in the nation. From horse-drawn services that began in 1870 and electrification from the late 1880s, the streetcar followed the growth of the rapidly expanding city under the stewardship of the Metropolitan Street Railway Company that lasted until 1914. By the 1920s the effects of increased private car ownership were becoming apparent, and the succeeding Kansas City Railway Company only lasted five years before entering receivership in...
