THE INTERNATIONAL LIGHT RAIL MAGAZINE www.lrta.org www.tautonline.com APRIL 2017 NO. 952 PHOENIX LIGHT RAIL SPREADS ITS WINGS New builders share in growing rolling stock orders Manchester opens second city line Washington Metro in funding crisis Yarra Trams plans to harness the sun Chemnitz Nantes 04> £4.40 Transition to a true Reasserting LRT’s tram-train network high-capacity role 9 771460 832050 Phil Long “A great event, really well organised and the dinner, reception and exhibition space made for great networking time.” Andy Byford – CEO, Toronto Transit Commission MANCHESTER “I really enjoyed the conference and made some helpful contacts. Thanks for bringing such a professional event together.” 18-19 July 2017 Will Marshall – Siemens Mobility USA Topics and themes for 2017 include: > Rewriting the business case for light rail investment > Cyber security – Responsibilities and safeguards > Models for procurement and resourcing strategies > Safety and security: Anti-vandalism measures > Putting light rail at the heart of the community > Digitisation and real-time monitoring > Street-running safety challenges > Managing obsolescence > Next-generation driver aids > Wire-free solutions > Are we delivering the best passenger environments? > Composite and materials technologies > From smartcard to smartphone ticketing > Rail and trackform innovation > Traction energy optimisation and efficiency > Major project updates Confirmed speakers include: > Jane Cole – Managing Director, Blackpool Transport Services > Geoff Inskip – Chairman, UKTram > Andres Muñoz de Dios – Director General, > Allan Alaküla – Head of Tallinn EU Office, MetroTenerife City of Tallinn > Alejandro Moreno – Alliance > Tobyn Hughes – Managing Director Director, Midland Metro Alliance (Transport Operations), North East Combined Authority > David Hand – Divisional Director and LRT Group Practice Leader, Mott MacDonald > Ana M. Mereno - General Manager, Los Tranvias de Zaragoza > Dr Nick Mallinson – Programme Manager, HVM Catapult, University of Warwick > Peter Jones – Project Director, MPT Consortium > David Sidebottom – Passenger Team Director, Transport Focus “Once again your team have proved > Trevor Dowens – Principal your outstanding capabilities. Consultant, Ricardo Rail The content was excellent and the feedback from participants was great.” > Kevin Bell – Partner, Bond Dickinson Simcha Ohrenstein – CTO, Jerusalem LRT SUPPORTED BY ORGANISED BY www.mainspring.co.uk 138 CONTENTS The official journal of the Light Rail Transit Association APRIL 2017 Vol. 80 No. 952 www.tautonline.com EDITORIAL EDITOR Simon Johnston E-mail: [email protected] 13 Orton Enterprise Centre, Bakewell Road, Peterborough PE2 6XU, UK ASSOCIATE EDITOR Tony Streeter E-mail: [email protected] WORLDWIDE EDITOR Michael Taplin 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 125 144 Tony Bailey, James Chuang, Paul Nicholson, Richard Felski, Ed Havens, Bill Vigrass, Andrew Moglestue, NEWS 124 PHOENIX: AMBITIOUS LRT GROWTH 138 Mike Russell, Nikolai Semyonov, Vic Simons, New LRT lines in Denver and Rio de Janeiro; The Arizonan capital builds on LRT success Herbert Pence, Alain Senut, Thomas Wagner. Manchester opens its Second City Crossing; with major expansion projects, including a PRODUCTION Lanna Blyth Washington Metro’s funding crisis; new urban streetcar. Vic Simons reports. Tel: +44 (0)1733 367604 E-mail: [email protected] Charleroi’s modernisation plan explained. DESIGN SYSTEMS FACTFILE: NANTES 144 Debbie Nolan THE MOBILE REVOLUTION 129 Neil Pulling explores the future plans for the ADVERTISING Russell McCullagh on how HCE will transform pioneer of the French tramway revival. COMMERCIAL MANAGER ticketing for operators and passengers alike. Geoff Butler WORLDWIDE REVIEW 149 Tel: +44 (0)1733 367610 E-mail: [email protected] 2017 ROLLING STOCK REVIEW 130 Approval given for Liège’s revised PPP tram PUBLISHER Michael Taplin reviews the (bulging) order scheme; Waterloo welcomes Bombardier Howard Johnston books of the world’s tram manufacturers. deliveries; Budapest’s M2 expansion study; Tramways & Urban Transit is jointly published by the LRTA and LRTA Publishing on the third Friday of each Warsaw launches a tender for a new fleet. month preceding the cover date. LEADING THE ‘TRANSIT-ION’ 135 LRTA WEBSITE AND DIARY UITP Secretary General Alain Flausch looks MAILBOX 154 Brian Lomas forward to the 2017 Montréal Summit. Tram automation; TR editor remembered. E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] LRTA MEMBERSHIP (with TAUT subscription) CHEMNITZ MODEL MOVES ON 136 CLASSIC TRAMS: WASHINGTON 156 Tramways & Urban Transit is sent free to all paid-up Tony Streeter returns to the German city to The first part of Mike Russell’s tour of members of the Light Rail Transit Association. assess its tram-train progress. Washington State’s heritage lines. SUBSCRIPTIONS AND MEMBERSHIP ENQUIRIES LRTA Membership Secretary (Dept T06), 38 Wolseley Road, Sale M33 7AU, UK. Tel: +44 (0)117 951 7785 New is great, but who’s saving for the future? BACK ISSUES Public-Private Partnerships are a great way of accelerating new projects that Tel: +44 (0)117 951 7785 may otherwise prove unaffordable. Of course the private sector will want a PRINT AND DISTRIBUTION return on its investment, and you can’t blame it for that, but what does that Warners (Midlands) plc, The Maltings, West Street, Bourne, Lincs PE10 9PH, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1778 391000. mean for existing infrastructure that is in desperate need of repair? After all, LRTA REGISTERED OFFICE how many investors would be interested in replacing leaking sewers or ageing c/o 138 Radnor Avenue, Welling, Kent DA16 2BY, UK. bridges over building revenue-generating toll roads that offer a more obvious return? Private company limited by guarantee, No. 5072319 Many first-generation tramways faltered when it came to renewal time as money in England and Wales. wasn’t put aside to replace tired and life-expired assets. The Washington Metro offers a LRTA CHAIRMAN cautionary tale of such under-investment and deferred maintenance (page 126). Andrew Braddock I have to confess to being somewhat sceptical of the new US Administration’s E-mail: [email protected] recently-revealed ‘USD1tr infrastructure plan’. What has actually been revealed? LRTA DEPUTY CHAIRMAN We haven’t seen how much of this huge sum is earmarked for transit, and my fear is Paul Rowen that much of it will include projects such as pipelines that would have likely been LRTA PUBLISHING REGISTERED OFFICE c/o 8 Berwick Place, Welwyn Garden City, Herts AL7 4TU, undertaken anyway – and with tax credit incentives to spur progress and create jobs. UK. Private Limited Company, No. 06169422 So how much of that trillion dollars will be used for public transport? Time will tell. in England and Wales. We reported on a USD137.5bn list of 50 US ‘Emergency and National Security © LRTA Publishing 2017 Projects’ last month, and a few were urban rail schemes, but taking the latest speeches Articles are submitted on the understanding they may also at face value it seems that many, if not all, of these may well be financed by “both later be used on our websites or other media. A contribution is accepted on the basis that its author is responsible for the public and private capital.” Interestingly, this list – circulated for consideration, opinions expressed in it, and such opinions are not those of nothing is confirmed – are all new lines that will undoubtedly be attractive to private LRTA Publishing or the LRTA. All rights reserved. investors and constructors. Yet what about those maintenance and repair jobs and the No part of this magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in new vehicle fleets that are urgently required across the country? any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and The American Society of Civil Engineers claims that USD3.6trn is required to restore retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the nation’s crumbling infrastructure. That’s without building anything new. All of a the copyright owner. Multiple copying of the contents of the sudden USD1tr doesn’t seem like so much, does it? Many thousands of jobs will magazine without prior written approval is not permitted. undoubtedly be created under the new infrastructure plan, but it sounds more like a COVER: Valley Metro 104 at the Mesa Drive glorified licensing scheme with a politician cutting the ribbon… Simon Johnston, Editor terminus on 10 May 2016. Vic Simons www.tautonline.com . www.lrta.org APRIL 2017 / 123 News Porto approves western and Denver’s R line completed south-eastern Latest FasTracks opening adds nearly 17km Metro arms to one of the US’ largest LRT networks Two extensions to the Porto Metro light rail system, costing EUR287m, have been approved. In Vila Nova de Gaia a 3.2km (two-mile) south-eastern extension of line D will reach Vila d’Este; there will be a new depot for 20 trams in Vila Nova de Gaia between Hospital Santos Silva and Vila d’Este. A new line G will run westwards in subway under the city centre between Boavista/Casa da Música and São Bento via Galiza and Hospital Santo Antonio. The first train for the new R line extension carried a special livery to mark the opening day. Regional Transportation District The decision to postpone the construction