THE INTERNATIONAL LIGHT RAIL MAGAZINE www.lrta.org www.tautonline.com NOVEMBER 2015 NO. 935 CONTRASTS IN LIGHT RAIL: CHARLOTTE’S NEW MODE NET Phase Two: Doubling Nottingham’s network Low-floor fuel cell trams by 2017 Dublin relaunches airport LRT link Light Rail Awards mark excellence ISSN 1460-8324 £4.25 Mailbox special Ukraine 11 Your views on trailers Local innovation and coupled cars in Lviv and Kyiv 9 771460 832043 CONTENTS The official journal of the Light Rail Transit Association NOVEMBER 2015 Vol. 78 No. 935 www.tramnews.net EDITORIAL 434 EDITOR Simon Johnston Tel: +44 (0)1733 367601 E-mail: [email protected] 13 Orton Enterprise Centre, Bakewell Road, Peterborough PE2 6XU, UK 438 ASSOCIATE EDITOR Tony Streeter E-mail: [email protected] WORLDWIDE EDITOR Michael Taplin 442 Flat 1, 10 Hope Road, Shanklin, Isle of Wight PO37 6EA, UK. E-mail: [email protected] NEWS EDITOR John Symons 17 Whitmore Avenue, Werrington, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs ST9 0LW, UK. E-mail: [email protected] SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR Neil Pulling WORLDWIDE CONTRIBUTORS Tony Bailey, James Chuang, Paul Nicholson, Richard Felski, Ed Havens, Bill Vigrass, Andrew Moglestue, Mike Russell, Nikolai Semyonov, Vic Simons, Herbert Pence, Alain Senut, Thomas Wagner. NEWS 428 WORLDWIDE REVIEW 447 PRODUCTION New Australian PM offers hope for ‘paused’ Canberra light rail project likely to feature Lanna Blyth ligh rail schemes; Addis Ababa LRT opens; catenary-free sections; first rails laid for Tel: +44 (0)1733 367604 E-mail: [email protected] Oklahoma City orders Inekon trams; Berlin Brussels’ tramline 9; approval given for DESIGN tramway reaches Hbf station; Light Rail Santiago metro feeder; Chemnitz tenders Debbie Nolan Awards recognises industry innovation. for further low-floor trams; Dallas confirms ADVERTISING second city alignment. COMMERCIAL MANAGER Geoff Butler CHARLOTTE GOLD LINE 434 Tel: +44 (0)1733 367610 E-mail: [email protected] Herbert Pence appraises the latest opening MAILBOX SPECIAL 453 PUBLISHER in North Carolina: the Gold line streetcar. Responses to vandalism – and plenty more Howard Johnston on the operation of trailers and coupled cars. Tramways & Urban Transit is jointly published by the UKRAINIAN DEVELOPMENTS 438 LRTA and LRTA Publishing on the third Friday of each Lviv finally realises the ambition of a fast TRAMS, TRAILERS AND TRAINS 456 month preceding the cover date. tramway line to Sykhiv, while Kyiv goes Scott McIntosh delves through the bulging LRTA WEBSITE AND DIARY domestic for its latest tram order. to look at more considerations for Brian Lomas Mailbox E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] tramway operations. LRTA MEMBERSHIP (with TAUT subscription) SYSTEMS FACTFILE: ROSTOCK 442 Tramways & Urban Transit is sent free to all paid-up Neil Pulling explores this efficient northern CLASSIC TRAMS: DEPOT TO MUSEUM 460 members of the Light Rail Transit Association. German operation that has recently Mike Russell investigates a fascinating new SUBSCRIPTIONS AND MEMBERSHIP ENQUIRIES welcomed supercapacitor-equipped trams. use for a former tram depot in Szczecin. LRTA Membership Secretary (Dept T06), 38 Wolseley Road, Sale M33 7AU, UK. Tel: +44 (0)117 9517785 SPECIAL REVIEW: NET PHASE TWO – BRINGING NOTTINGHAM TOGETHER BACK ISSUES August 2015 marked a milestone for the UK city of Nottingham, realising a long-held Tel: +44 (0)117 951 7785 ambition of doubling its tramway and linking many new passenger destinations. PRINT AND DISTRIBUTION TAUT speaks to the key figures responsible for delivering this most remarkable project. Warners (Midlands) plc, The Maltings, West Street, Bourne, Lincs PE10 9PH, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1778 391000. LRTA REGISTERED OFFICE c/o 138 Radnor Avenue, Welling, Kent DA16 2BY, UK. Private company limited by guarantee, No. 5072319 This is your platform, so keep the letters coming! in England and Wales. Anyone that has had the chance to ride the new Nottingham Express Transit LRTA CHAIRMAN lines to Clifton or Chilwell surely can’t help but be impressed. The dramatic Andrew Braddock infrastructure of these two routes is a credit to our industry and its ingenuity. E-mail: [email protected] Much has been made of the delays to the project, but given the scope of LRTA DEPUTY CHAIRMAN Phase Two I think that achieving such a complex installation – bear in mind Paul Rowen that this scheme includes just about every form of challenge possible for an urban rail LRTA PUBLISHING REGISTERED OFFICE c/o 8 Berwick Place, Welwyn Garden City, Herts AL7 4TU, system, including demolishing buildings, bridge construction, major utility diversions UK. Private Limited Company, No. 06169422 and dealing with sensitive neighbours – would have been almost impossible in three in England and Wales. years. Having said that, I agree that you have to set tough deadlines. Ask anyone in © LRTA Publishing 2015 Edinburgh if they would be happy with an eight-month delay... Articles are submitted on the understanding they may also Otherwise, the TAUT postbag and inbox have been bulging at the seams with later be used on our websites or other media. A contribution is accepted on the basis that its author is responsible for the comment on our recent series of technical and operational articles. So we have taken opinions expressed in it, and such opinions are not those of the opportunity to print many of them in an enlarged section, with author Scott LRTA Publishing or the LRTA. All rights reserved. McIntosh replying in detail, adding more thoughts on the potential for trailer and No part of this magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in coupled car operations. It all makes fascinating reading. any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and This month has also seen the ninth running of the Light Rail Awards, and it was a retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from pleasure once again for TAUT to be involved. With such a diverse range of entries from the copyright owner. Multiple copying of the contents of the around the world – everything from game-changing new materials to crucial safety magazine without prior written approval is not permitted. and passenger information innovation – it fills me with excitement to be part of such a COVER: Charlotte CityLynx streetcar 92 (left) and vibrant and innovative industry. Long may this continue… Simon Johnston, Editor Lynx Siemens S70 104 at CTC/Arena Station. P. Ehrlich www.tautonline.com . www.lrta.org NOVEMBER 2015 / 427 News Hamburg U-Bahn expansion Australian leadership Hamburg is looking to invest more than EUR74m in planning change to favour light rail? for future U-Bahn lines – but precise details of delivery depend New Prime Minister John Turnbull raises hopes for ‘on hold’ LRT projects on whether the northern German city’s bid to host the Olympic Games in 2024 is successful. ight rail promoters in Schemes include extending line Australia are hoping that U5, with an approximately 6km the country’s change (four-mile), five-stop extension to of Prime Minister will Bramfeld by 2026-27. Work could Lmake more money available begin in 2021. Also planned are for schemes. Tony Abbott, who extensions of U4 to Horner Geest favoured roads spending over (2024-25) and Kleiner Grasbrook public transport, was replaced either under or overground (2024). by Malcolm Turnbull as PM Work on the latter could begin in and leader of the Liberal party 2019 if Hamburg’s Olympic bid in September. That has raised is successful. A further U5 the prospect of a change in extension could take the line emphasis – which appeared to be westwards to Osdorfer Born, supported by Minister for Cities potentially by 2033. Jamie Briggs in an interview with Before all of these, a new stop is The West Australian. expected to open at Oldenfelde Mr Briggs said the federal in 2018. A decision on which city government was prepared to is to hold the 2024 Olympics is discuss schemes such as Perth’s expected in 2017. AUS1.8bn (EUR1.12bn) MAX The initial 13km (eight-mile) phase of the G:Link system opened in July 2014 and light rail project, which was put runs from University Hospital to Southport, Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach. on hold after the 2013 election A shorter alternative route for the northern second phase has recently been when the federal government unveiled. F. Anzola Konya’s wire-free cut funding. However, Mr Briggs is reported as saying: “There’s second stage could take it from the Turnbull administration’s city centre no new pot of gold that we’ve the QEII medical centre to areas agreement in principle to support Catenary-free tramway operation magically discovered in the including that taken up by the the 7.3km (4.5-mile) northern has come to Konya, Turkey, with change of leader, the same University of Western Australia. extension in time for the 2018 the opening of the first section budget situation remains.” Separately, the Australian Commonwealth Games. of line using battery-operated Perth had previously deferred Broadcasting Corporation has Queensland’s Deputy Premier trams. Škoda 28T vehicles run the MAX project, giving an reported that South Australia Jackie Trad said: “We are really on battery power for the roughly opening date of late 2022, with could submit plans for an heartened by the constructive 2km (1.2-mile) section of route 2 construction starting in 2019. extension of Adelaide’s existing and positive discussions with the through the city centre. The idea is for a main north- tramway, as well as railway new Turnbull Government and The roof-mounted batteries south spine, with branches from electrification. based on this we can go to the can be recharged when the tram City Square to the QEII medical The first signs of the change in request for tender process.