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from the industry…
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New York chooses LRT for Queens – Brooklyn link; Funding approved for UK Very Light Rail demonstrator; Roma to tender for up to 121 new trams; Lagos opens its Blue line metro; Köln seeks bidders for largest ever Stadtbahn order; Welsh capital wins ‘Crossrail’ funding; Ankeng LRT trial service to begin; Cleveland to ‘standardise’ rolling stock in a new order.
NE w TRAM w AY s FOR 2023 89
Mike Taplin presents his annual predictions for the year’s new tramways – with a few important caveats...
R idi N g THE li MMATTA lb AHN 94
Andrew Thompson explores Switzerland’s newest light rail line, connecting the overland Bremgarten-Dietikon-Bahn to Zürich’s expansive tram network.
s POT THE wi RE s 99
Dispelling the myth of ‘obtrusive’ overhead wires, Neil Pulling presents a pictorial review of elegant OLE setups around the world.
sYsTEMs FACTFilE: KARlsRUHE 104 Neil Pulling reports from the home of tram-train, focusing on the most recent changes to the German network’s core.
w OR ldwid E REV i E w 110 Free travel for Montpellier residents from 21 December 2023; Bonn welcomes first new Škoda low-floor trams; Two new metro lines in Mumbai; Mauritius completes LRT line to Aapravasi Ghat; Romanis commits EUR2.65bn to Cluj-Napoca metro; EIB support to help rebuild Kharkiv’s tramway; Warszawa donates withdrawn metro stock to Kyiv; CRRC nearly two years behind with MBTA Orange and Red line cars; Omaha approves bond issue for city tramway plans.
MA ilb OX 115 Is hydrogen funding paving the way for fuel cell trams?; More on Supertram’s ‘Grey ghost’.
ClAssiC TRAMs: TORiNO 116 Torino’s annual winter Trolleyfest returns in style, as Mike Russell reports.
However, true as all that may be, it seems we rarely ask: what if we don’t build this stuff?
The Elizabeth line is a huge success, speeding up journeys and reducing congestion on London’s Tube. Congestion drags down economic progress, while efficient public transport drives growth; it has a continuing value for decades. This is well-proven.
Fortunately, despite war in Europe and a recent global pandemic, communities still realise the importance of public transport, and in particular light and urban rail. While our annual overview of new tramways shows the likely number of 2023 openings to be lower than in previous predictions, we may just see 12 new networks added to the list this year. Expansion of existing systems continues apace too. Today’s problems remind us of the importance of ‘value for money’ every day. Yet we should never forget the vital need to continue investing in high-quality public transport – and therefore widespread mobility.
Simon Johnston, Editor
COVER: Limmattalbahn Tramlink 8007 between Dietikon Oetwilerstrasse and Dietikon Zentrum, where old and new architecture together form a striking contrast. A. Thompson
The official journal of the l
ight rail Transit Association
MARCH 2023 Vol. 86 No. 1023
www.tautonline.com
EDITORIAL
Edi T or – s imon Johnston simon@mainspring.co.uk
Associ ATE Edi T or – Tony streeter tony.streeter@mainspring.co.uk
WorldW id E Edi T or – Michael Taplin miketap@mainspring.co.uk
N EW s Edi T or – John symons johnsymons@mainspring.co.uk
sEN ior c o NT ribu T or – Neil Pulling
WO r LDW i DE C ONT ribu TO r S r ichard Felski, Andrew Grahl, Andrew Moglestue, Paul Nicholson, Herbert Pence, Mike russell, Nikolai s emyonov, Alain s enut, Vic simons, Andrew Thompson, Witold urbanowicz, bill Vigrass, Francis Wagner, Thomas Wagner, Philip Webb. Produc T io N – l anna blyth
Tel: +44 (0)1733 367604 production@mainspring.co.uk
d E si GN – d ebbie Nolan
A Dv ERTI s I ng
co MME rci A l M ANAGE r – g eoff b utler
Tel: +44 (0)1733 367610 geoff@mainspring.co.uk
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PR i NT
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On 10 January New York
State Governor Kathy Hochul announced the go-ahead for a 22.4km (14-mile) orbital light rail line from Jackson Heights (Roosevelt Ave) in Queens to Bay Ridge in Brooklyn.
The Interborough Express (IBX) has a projected patronage of 115 000 passengers/day (34.6m annually) and an estimated construction budget of USD5.5bn. The new line would offer end-to-end running times of 40 minutes with a five-minute peak headway, serving a corridor that is home to 900 000 residents.
Metropolitan Transit Agency (MTA) studies showed light rail to be the best option for conversion of the freight railways (Bay Ridge branch and Fremont Secondary) that are mostly owned by the Long Island Rail Road, and partly by CSX. Freight would still have access to the corridor on a temporal basis, or by spatial separation. Other options evaluated by the MTA included heavy rail and Bus Rapid Transit. The next stage is an environmental review.
MTA CEO Janno Lieber said that light rail “was judged to be superior in terms of capacity, speed and engineering viability – principally because the size of a heavy rail vehicle could not be accommodated in some of the existing pathways and you’d have to build a whole new tunnel, including a whole new tunnel under a cemetery.”
Previous plans for a streetrunning tramway between Red Hook, Brooklyn, and Astoria, Queens, were promoted by former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. It was hoped to begin construction on this 17.7km (11-mile) scheme in 2019, serving almost half a million residents and connecting with 13 subway lines and nine ferry services. Development stopped as a result of the pandemic.
Siemens Mobility is to supply 12 driverless three-car trains for the metro line to Sydney’s new international airport, under a EUR900m turnkey contract which includes a depot at Orchard Hills, signalling, electrification, communications and platform screen doors.
The company will also serve as system integrator and maintainer for a period of 15 years.
Opening in 2026 to coincide with completion of the new airport facility, the AUD11bn (EUR7bn) line is to run for 23km (14 miles) from St Marys (interchange with T1).
Expected to serve around 10m passengers, Western Sydney International will be the city’s first ‘24/7’ airport.
As part of the Parklife Metro consortium with WeBuild, RATP Dev and the Plenary Group, the deal marks Siemens Mobility’s first PPP in Australia.
Grand Central Madison – a new Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) station below New York’s famous Grand Central Terminal – opened on 25 January. Part of the USD11.1bn East Side Access Project, the station is initially served by a 30-minute shuttle to Jamaica (06.15-20.00). The inaugural train, which also carried state and city dignitaries, took 21 minutes to cover the journey from Queens to Manhattan.
Once open to all 11 LIRR routes by the end of February, the new connection promises reductions in journey times of around 40 minutes for 160 000 passengers each day. Around 45% of LIRR commuters are expected to travel to Grand Central Madison, with 24 trains/hour relieving crowding at Penn Station on the West Side, previously the line’s only stop in Manhattan.
Grand Central Madison is the largest passenger facility built in the US since the 1950s and includes 17 escalators and eight platforms. More than 40m below ground, it is reached by a 5.6km (3.5-mile) tunnel, including single-track tubes beneath the East River that were built in the 1960s but never fitted-out. Work on the current scheme started in 2006; planned to open in 2009, progress was impeded by financial constraints.
A separate project has created a new stabling yard in Queens to accommodate up to 300 vehicles, and seen the installation of five new bridges, 97 track switches, 295 catenary masts, and more than 2.5km (1.55 miles) of retaining walls.
East Side Access is the MTA’s largest project – one of several underway as the agency faces a budget deficit of nearly USD3bn by 2025, caused in part by dramatic falls in farebox revenue since the pandemic. It has drawn criticism as one of the most expensive rail projects in the world, costing almost USD2.2bn/km (USD3.5bn/mile).
The MTA is looking at raising its USD2.75 base fare to USD2.90 in an effort to reduce its debt burden and Governor Hochul’s state budget proposal, revealed on 1 February, includes a plan to increase the payroll tax for businesses (from 0.34% to 0.5%) to help plug the gap. An anticipated USD1.8bn in revenue is expected in 2023, and a 0.16% rise would generate an extra USD800m/year. New York City is also being asked to contribute an additional USD500m/year.
System-wide ridership has recovered to around 60% of 2019 levels, although the MTA estimates that by the end of 2026 it will reach only 80% of pre-pandemic usage.
The UK’s West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) has approved a further GBP36.8m (EUR41.2m) for a ‘real world demonstration’ of Very Light Rail technology, paving the way for an initial trial route in Coventry.
The first instalment of GBP71.5m (EUR80m) comes from the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement and will be used to build approximately 1.6km (one-mile) of double-track between the city’s railway station and Pool Meadow Bus Station. Subject to final approval from the Department for Transport, procurement can now begin, with a view to starting work in 2024.
The project is intended to demonstrate the capability of a
new lightweight, battery-powered railcar which can carry up to 56 passengers (20 seated) and negotiate curves of 15m.
A prototype of the 11m twin-bogie vehicle, developed by researchers from Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) at the University of Warwick and Transport Design International, is on test at the Very Light Rail National Innovation Centre in Dudley. This facility is to also benefit from the latest funding announcement, enabling the purchase of additional equipment so it can become fully operational.
WMG researchers have also created a new trackform to speed up the delivery, and reduce the cost, of new light rail schemes. Its fibre-reinforced 100mm-thick
slab requires an excavation depth of just 300mm, minimising the need to relocate under-street utilities. This is on test within a ‘dummy road’ at the university.
Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands and WMCA chair, said: “This funding will allow us to take Very Light Rail to the next level – from the workshop to real-world demonstration.”
Coventry Councillor Jim O’Boyle, Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change, added: “Coventry Very Light Rail is set to transform the way people in our city – and others throughout the UK and even the world – get around.”
For more on Coventry’s VLR plans, see TAUT 1016 (August 2022).
Quito metro’s soft launch
Fare-free preview services on Quito’s 22km (13.7-mile)
USD2.09bn north–south metro line 1 from El Labrador to Quitumbe began on 23 January. They were subsequently suspended on 3 February pending renewal of the line’s insurance.
More than 56 000 passengers travelled on the new route in Ecuador’s capital, which uses 18 six-car trains supplied by CAF, by the end of January. Revenue service is expected to start in March.
Operations and maintenance are handled by a Metro de Medellín/Transdev joint venture under a contract signed in November 2022. A 5.4km (3.4-mile) extension is planned.
O-Werk extension in Bochum is completed
January brought expansion of Germany’s Bochum-Gelsenkirchen tramway, with opening of a 600m line along Suttner-Nobel-Allee to a stub terminus at O-Werk (site of the former Opel car factory). It is served by line 302. The opening also marks the completion of deliveries of 95 Stadler Variobahn trams to the metre-gauge network since 2008.
On 12 January the operator of the tramway in Köln (Cologne) issued tender documentation for the supply of 132 high-floor Stadtbahn cars and 34 intermediate modules. An initial order for 73 of the 80km/h (50mph)
2.65m-wide vehicles is planned, with options for a further 60 cars and 23 intermediate modules. The specification requires multiple-unit operation with the ability for passengers to be able to walk between cars.
The new stock for the Kölner Verkehrs-Betriebe (KVB) will be classified HF12 (30m) and the intermediate modules HFx (15m), enabling 70m trains to be used on
lines 13 and 18. Delivery of five pre-series units is to take place in 2027, with weekly deliveries from 2028.
This planned order was trailed as long ago as September 2021; approved by the city council in May 2022, it has been described by KVB as the biggest light rail vehicle order in its near 150-year history and is intended to permit the withdrawal of Stadtbahn-B stock dating from 1984-96.
KVB is currently receiving 29 high-floor Stadtbahn cars of type HF6, ordered from Bombardier before the company was taken over by Alstom, and 64 low-floor cars (option 36) also from Alstom.
The old depot at Gosforth – home to the Tyne & Wear Metro fleet since the UK system opened in 1980 – closed at the end of January. Operations and maintenance have now moved to a new GBP70m (EUR77.5m) facility on the adjoining site. The 100-year-old depot, opened by the London & North Eastern Railway in 1923, will now be demolished. Built by Volker FitzPatrick on behalf of Stadler, the new depot will look after the current fleet, as well as the replacements. Under its deal for 46 new trains –the first of which is due to enter service this summer – Stadler is responsible for maintenance for 35 years, as well as disposal of the original Metrocars Infrastructure works at the site entrance brought line closures on 21-22 January and 11-12 February.
depot renewal by 2040
Russia’s capital will receive a new tramway depot, with five others being rebuilt, by 2040, Moskva Metro has confirmed. The new facility will be built on the site of the former 7th trolleybus depot at Nagatinskaya, which closed in 2019. Modernisation at Apakov – the city’s oldest tram depot, opened in 1909 – is due for completion this year. Many of this site’s duties were temporarily transferred to the Kirov workshop in the east of the city, itself modernised with new track and equipment, in October 2020.
