SIEMENS and ALSTOM Frorm ‘ Ail Champion’
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
THE INTERNATIONAL LIGHT RAIL MAGAZINE www.lrta.org www.tautonline.com NOVEMBER 2017 NO. 959 SIEMENS AND ALSTOM FRORM ‘ AIL CHAMPION’ Energy efficiency through effective driver training Prague approves 2030 tramway plans Granada welcomes long-overdue LRT Edinburgh takes first step to Newhaven Dallas F uel cells 11> £4.40 US LRT pioneer goes Is this the future for for further growth ultra-green light rail? 9 771460 832050 “I very much enjoyed “The presentations, increased informal Manchester networking, logistics networking opportunities and atmosphere were in such a superb venue. excellent. There was a The 12th Annual Light Rail common agreement Conference quite clearly 17-18 July 2018 among the participants marked a coming of age that the UK Light Rail as the leader on light rail Conference is one of worldwide, as evidenced the best in the industry.” by the depth of analysis The UK Light Rail Conference and exhibition is the simcha Ohrenstein – from quality speakers and ctO, Jerusalem Lrt the active participation of premier knowledge-exchange event in the industry. transit Masterplan key industry players and suppliers in the discussions.” With unrivalled networking opportunities, and a Ian Brown cBe – 75% return rate for exhibitors, it is well-known as Director, UKtram the place to do business and build valuable and “This event gets better long-lasting relationships. every year; the 2018 dates are in the diary.” Peter Daly – sales & There is no better place to gain true insight into the services Manager, thermit Welding (GB) Voices workings of the sector and help shape its future. V from the t o discuss how you can be part of it, industry… visit us online at www.mainspring.co.uk “An excellent conference as always. or telephone +44 (0) 1733 367600 Well done for such a well-organised and “I had a great time in highly-informative Manchester. Thank you for MEDIA PARTNER ORGANISED BY event.” everything, the conference David hand was a great success.” Global Lead for Lrt ana M. Moreno – & Divisional Director General Manager, Mott MacDonald tranvía de Zaragoza 424 CONTENTS The official journal of the Light Rail Transit Association NOVEMBER 2017 Vol. 80 No. 959 www.tautonline.com EDITORIAL EDITOR S imon Johnston E-mail: [email protected] 13 Orton Enterprise Centre, Bakewell Road, Peterborough PE2 6XU, UK ASSOCIATE EDITOR T ony Streeter E-mail: [email protected] WORLDWIDE EDITOR 436 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 404 WORLDWIDE CONTRIBUTORS Tony Bailey, James Chuang, Paul Nicholson, Richard Felski, Ed Havens, Bill Vigrass, Andrew Moglestue, NEWS 404 FUEL CELL evoLUTION 422 Mike Russell, Nikolai Semyonov, Vic Simons, Herbert Siemens and Alstom announce merger of Dr Alex Luvishis provides an update on Pence, Alain Senut, Rick Wilson, Thomas Wagner rail businesses; Aarhus opening delayed; hydrogen fuel cell technology for light rail. PDTRO UC ION Lanna Blyth Global Light Rail Awards mark innovation Tel: +44 (0)1733 367604 E-mail: [email protected] and excellence; Granada tramway opens; SYSTEMS FACTFILE: MONTPELLIER 424 DESIGN outline approval for Edinburgh extension; Light rail in this French city has changed Debbie Nolan Prague approves massive expansion plan. the way the community lives and works. ADVertiSING Neil Pulling reports. COMMERCIAL ManaGER THI E S EMENS-ALSTOM CHAMPION 409 Geoff Butler As the German and French rail giants look WR O LDWIDE REVIEW 430 Tel: +44 (0)1733 367610 E-mail: [email protected] to join forces, TAUT looks at the background Vienna refurbishes Type T fleet and orders PublISHER and asks what it means for light rail. U-Bahn cars; Gold Coast extension testing; H oward Johnston Beijing trials three new metro lines; Ho Chi Tramways & Urban Transit is jointly published by the LRTA and LRTA Publishing on the third Friday of each D ALLAS: URBAN RAIL PATHFInder 412 Minh City and Lusaka both study light rail. month preceding the cover date. With major new services in the pipeline in LRTA WEBSITE anD DIARY Dallas and Fort Worth, Vic Simons explains MAILBOX 435 Brian Lomas how rail-based transport continues to grow. Breaking the stranglehold of the car; E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] queries on tramway OLE design. LRTA MEMBERSHIP (with TAUT subscription) T RACTION ENERGY OPTIMISATION 418 Tramways & Urban Transit is sent free to all paid-up Trevor Dowens and Dr Stuart Hillmansen CLASSIC TRAMS: KYIV 436 members of the Light Rail Transit Association. explore how rail systems can reduce energy Kyiv introduced electric trams in 1892. SUBSCriPTIONS AND MEMBERSHIP ENQUIRIES consumption through driver training. Kostj Kozlov reports on the celebrations. LRTA Membership Secretary (Dept T06), 38 Wolseley Road, Sale M33 7AU, UK. Tel: +44 (0)117 951 7785 BACK ISSUES Why innovation doesn’t have to mean ‘new’ Tel: +44 (0)117 951 7785 This year’s Global Light Rail Awards saw some fascinating examples of PRINT AND DISTRIBUTION how technology and innovation are driving our industry forward, and Warners (Midlands) plc, The Maltings, West Street, Bourne, Lincs PE10 9PH, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1778 391000. in many ways leading the way for the wider passenger transport market. LRTA REGISTERED OFFICE Interactive apps for staff engagement; cloud-based solutions for safety, c/o 138 Radnor Avenue, Welling, Kent DA16 2BY, UK. CCTV and maintenance accessible by senior managers anywhere, at any Private company limited by guarantee, No. 5072319 time; real-time analysis of thousands of data points simultaneously to aid the design in England and Wales. and construction process. What marvellous examples of modernity. LRTA CHAIRMAN While it is wonderful to celebrate this march of progress, it’s also important not to Andrew Braddock lose sight of what it is for – and one does sometimes wonder if the terms technology and E-mail: [email protected] innovation are too often seen as interchangeable. Don’t misunderstand me. Technological LRTA DeputY CHAIRMAN progress is part of who we are as an industry striving to improve. However, doing things P aul Rowen better doesn’t always need a digital approach – or at least, that can’t always be the only LRTA PUBLISHING REGISTERED OFFICE c/o 8 Berwick Place, Welwyn Garden City, Herts AL7 4TU, solution. Otherwise we run the risk of alienating large sections of society in this push to UK. Private Limited Company, No. 06169422 make everything more convenient and available 24/7. While it is important to maintain in England and Wales. awareness of the issues of congestion and climate change within the millennial © LRTA Publishing 2017 generation and get them to use mass transit, transport ultimately needs to cater for all. Articles are submitted on the understanding they may also So it was good to see that the judging panel for London’s event celebrated things later be used on our websites or other media. A contribution is accepted on the basis that its author is responsible for the other than the latest technology. Also recognised were fantastic projects and schemes opinions expressed in it, and such opinions are not those of focused on the passenger and their well-being and experience; or just simple common LRTA Publishing or the LRTA. All rights reserved. sense approaches that have been missed. These aren’t always necessarily new ideas, No part of this magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in but just superb ones that may have been forgotten or overlooked, or those taken from any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and elsewhere and applied perfectly to make a real difference. retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from The other key talking point this month is the merger of Siemens and Alstom to create the copyright owner. Multiple copying of the contents of the a European rail superpower. This one may have appeared inevitable to many, but I magazine without prior written approval is not permitted. would wager that there will be more consolidation of the sector in the next year and COVER: Den Haag streets see both Siemens Avenio hope that this drives innovation rather than restricting it. Simon Johnston, Editor trams and Alstom RegioCitadis tram-trains. N. Pulling www.tautonline.com . www.lrta.org NOVEMBER 2017 / 403 News Siemens and Alstom announce merger of global rail operations Merger moves rapidly to unite rail operations of French and German manufacturing giants ollowing two special at EUR470m after four years. board meetings on 26 In a press conference on 27 September, industrial September, both Siemens and giants Siemens AG and Alstom CEOs gave reassurances FAlstom Transport confirmed that whilst some redundancies plans for a merger of the former’s would be inevitable, they would Mobility division and its rail be not be through closure of any traction drives business with the of the current manufacturing or rail operations of its French rival. engineering sites. In a statement following It is interesting to speculate the signing of a Memorandum whether both Citadis (Alstom) of Understanding, Siemens and Avenio (Siemens) low-floor President and CEO Joe Kaeser trams will be in the catalogue of said that “this Franco-German the new company in five years merger of equals sends a strong time. The Citadis is well ahead signal in many ways. We put of the Avenio platform in terms the European idea to work and, of orders (the latter just has There is already a tramway link between France and Germany, across the Rhein together with our friends at in Strasbourg. Two Alstom Citadis seen on opening day in 2016 April.