CONTENTS

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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 s POT THE wi RE s 99 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Ghat; Romanis commits EUR2.65bn to Cluj-Napoca metro; EIB support to help rebuild Kharkiv’s tramway; Warszawa donates withdrawn metro stock to Kyiv; CRRC nearly two years behind with MBTA Orange and Red line cars; Omaha approves bond issue for city tramway plans.

Andrew Thompson explores Switzerland’s newest light rail line, connecting the overland Bremgarten-Dietikon-Bahn to Zürich’s expansive tram network.

Dispelling the myth of ‘obtrusive’ overhead wires, Neil Pulling presents a pictorial review of elegant OLE setups around the world.

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.

Value isn’t only about pounds, dollars or euros

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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