THE INTERNATIONAL LIGHT RAIL MAGAZINE www.lrta.org www.tautonline.com JANUARY 2020 NO. 985 REWRITING THE RULES Tram-train: Reviving the railway and driving modal shift Tale of ten cities: Europe’s 11 new lines EUR339m for Santiago Metro repairs New Ottawa LRT’s ‘month from hell’ Technology UK’s LRT future £4.60 Using data to drive ‘A national policy is investment priorities crucial for success’ Discover the latest innovative financing and urban planning models. WOLVERHAMPTON Learn from case studies on succesful projects from the around the world. Understand the importance of integrated 19-20 May 2020 transport and land usage policies. Explore the latest innovations in our exhibition area of key suppliers. Join transport operators, authorities and suppliers from around the world and across the industry at the 2020 UK Light Rail Conference. Forge relationships with industry partners and innovators. Now in its 15th year, this invaluable two-day congress and exhibition Workshop with peers on the creation of is well-known as THE place to do business and build long-lasting safe, secure passenger environments. relationships in our fast-moving and vibrant sector. See first-hand how the West Midlands is trebling the size of its light rail With over 50 speakers and eight hours of dedicated networking network in the coming decade. time, there is no better place to gain an insight into the workings of the sector and help shape its future. To join us, visit www.mainspring.co.uk or call +44 (0)1733 367600 “Thanks for another great conference, providing deep insight into the British light rail industry.” Tobias Koch – Director of Sales – Siemens Mobility, Rolling Stock CONTENTS 4 The official journal of the Light Rail Transit Association JANUARY 2020 Vol. 83 No. 985 www.tautonline.com EDITORIAL EDITOR – Simon Johnston [email protected] ASSOCIATE EDITOr – Tony Streeter [email protected] WORLDWIDE EDITOR – Michael Taplin 25 [email protected] NewS EDITOr – John Symons [email protected] SenIOR CONTRIBUTOR – Neil Pulling WORLDWIDE CONTRIBUTORS Richard Felski, Ed Havens, Andrew Moglestue, Paul Nicholson, Herbert Pence, Mike Russell, Nikolai Semyonov, Alain Senut, Vic Simons, Witold Urbanowicz, Bill Vigrass, Francis Wagner, Thomas Wagner, Philip Webb, Rick Wilson PRODUCTION – Lanna Blyth 21 Tel: +44 (0)1733 367604 [email protected] NeWS 4 SYstems FActfile: helsiNKI 25 DESIGN – Debbie Nolan Eleven new tramlines in Europe; Controversy Finland’s capital has seen major changes in ADVertiSING over Bucharest tram order; Violent protests recent years, a process that is now embracing COMMERCIAL ManageR – Geoff Butler cost Santiago Metro EUR339m; Voters back new light rail schemes. Neil Pulling reports. Tel: +44 (0)1733 367610 [email protected] Houston LRT expansion; Porto offers CRRC first European break; Confederation line WORLDWIDE REVIEW 30 PUBLISheR – Matt Johnston chaos forces city to bring back buses. Acciona to take over stalled São Paulo PPP; Tramways & Urban Transit Work begins on Toronto Finch West LRT; 13 Orton Enterprise Centre, Bakewell Road, ‘WE Need A UK LRT stRAtegY NOW’ 10 Partners selected for Panama monorail; Peterborough PE2 6XU, UK UKTram Chair George Lowder explains why Bozankaya wins Iaşi tram order; St Louis Tramways & Urban Transit is published by Mainspring the time is right for light rail in the UK. Loop Trolley future in doubt; BART Berryessa on behalf of the LRTA on the third Friday of each extension ready to open; Government calls month preceding the cover date. looKING AfteR OUR TRAM Assets 15 for immediate Hanoi metro opening. Clive Pennington and Olga Evstafyeva from Amey explore how digital solutions are MAILBOX 35 PRINT AND DISTRIBUTION making tramways safer and more reliable. Why don’t we still use trailers?; Beware Warners (Midlands), Bourne, Lincs PE10 9PH, UK developers who try to hijack tram schemes. TRAm-TRAIN: JoiNed-UP thiNKING 21 LRTA MEMBERSHIP (with TAUT subscription) Tramways & Urban Transit is sent free to all paid-up Experts from SYSTRA examine the benefits CLASSIC TRAms: BRNO’S TRAM PARTY 36 members of the Light Rail Transit Association. of tram-train, offering case studies of Mike Russell reviews the street party held to successful schemes in France and the UK. mark 150 years of trams in Brno. LRTA WEBSITE AND DIARY Brian Lomas [email protected] [email protected] It’s OK making promises, but you have to deliver… SuBSCriPtioNS, MEMBERSHIP AND BACK ISSueS LRTA Membership Secretary (Dept T06), 38 Wolseley Since our last cover feature, commuters in Canada’s capital have had the Road, Sale M33 7AU, UK. Tel: +44 (0)117 951 7785 month from hell. The new LRT system Vic Simons visited in September had [email protected] Website: www.lrta.info a few glitches, but appeared to be doing what it was designed to do – moving FOR CORPORATE SuBSCriPtioNS VISIT thousands of passengers from the inner urban areas into the city’s core. www.mainspring.co.uk It looked like CAD2.1bn well-spent, and in the long run it surely will be. But after a month of serious delays and disruptions related to malfunctioning systems, LRTA REGISTERED OFFICE 8 Berwick Place, Welwyn Garden City, Herts, AL7 4TU, UK. vehicle doors and switches – problems the operator says it didn’t experience during testing Private company limited by guarantee, No. 5072319 – there has a barely been a day without delays that have left passengers queuing in the cold. in England and Wales. Perhaps the pressure on politicians after high-profile and expensive delays forced an LRTA ChaIRMAN – Paul Rowen opening before it was fully ready. One could also argue that there needed to be a longer [email protected] period of parallel running before removing the buses – an extra month or two may have © LRTA 2019 eased the pain. But that hasn’t stopped commuters being frustrated and annoyed, and Articles are submitted on the understanding they may also taking to social media to lambast both the operator and local officials. This does nothing later be used on our websites or other media. A contribution to promote the reputation of light rail. is accepted on the basis that its author is responsible for the All of these issues will be resolved, but the key takeaway has to be: if you make promises opinions expressed in it, and such opinions are not those of then you have to deliver. Ottawa’s LRT ambitions are impressive and these are massive the LRTA or Mainspring. All rights reserved. engineering undertakings. The expertise is there to deliver these kind of mega-projects, No part of this magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including and we need to continue to pursue them if we are to achieve our goal of removing cars photocopying, recording or by any information storage and from ever-more congested city cores. retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from The results of the UK’s General Election will be known by the time you read this. the copyright owner. Multiple copying of the contents of the The incumbent Conservatives have promised money for urban transport, including light magazine without prior written approval is not permitted. rail, and – importantly – the word ‘tram’ appears in other manifestos too. Will these promises turn into actual cash under a new Government? We must remain hopeful... COVER: The first phase of the T11 Express service, In the meantime, seasons greetings from from everyone at TAUT, and wishing you all a Epinsay-sur-Seine – Le Bourget, opened in June 2017. very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year! Simon Johnston, Editor The full line is to be completed in 2023. C. Recoura www.tautonline.com . www.lrta.org JANUARY 2020 / 3 News Europe opens 11 extensions Over 40km of new tramway routes inaugurated across the continent in final weeks of 2019 he last six weeks of 2019 saw the opening of 11 new tramway extensions across Europe, this year Tnot all fixed on the traditional international timetable change date of 15 December. Nice kicked off the list on 13 November when the first 3.8km (2.4 miles) of its third tramline, T3, was inaugurated to Saint-Isidore (budget EUR56.8m). From Digue de Français it uses existing line T2 tracks to reach the airport, and thus is one of those tramlines that goes nowhere near the city centre; six Alstom Citadis provide a 12-minute service. An estimated 12 000 passengers/day are expected by the end of 2020 and an extension from Saint-Isidore to Lingostiere is planned. Three days later, and amid early winter snowfall, Saint-Étienne celebrations in Antwerpen as Midlands Metro uses a fleet of The opening ceremony for Nice tramline 3 on 13 November. SNTAN extended line T3 over 4.3km the Flemish capital introduced CAF Urbos trams, retrofitted with (2.7 miles) of new tracks from Gare its new line 1 from Station Zuid onboard batteries. from the existing Nieuwegein de Châteaucreux to rue Bergson to P+R Luchtbal in the north, A new international tram line (with its original high-floor via Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, using 3.5km (two miles) of new service was to start on 14 LRVs), though the latter will be from where it runs to a common tracks passing Operaplein on the December, running from the replaced during 2020 to permit terminus with line T2 at Terrasse. surface at Italiëlei (interchange Swiss city of Genève (the standardised through operation. Moving east, 22 November with subway trams) and along border at Moillesulaz has long The 1km (0.6-mile) extension saw France’s second city, Lyon, Noorderlaan to a common been served by trams) east to of Grenoble T1 south from open its new EUR161m tramline terminus with line 6.