THE INTERNATIONAL LIGHT RAIL MAGAZINE www.lrta.org www.tautonline.com OCTOBER 2017 NO. 958 LOOKING UP: SOLUTIONS FOR STYLISH OLE DESIGN Chinese powerhouse banks on urban rail expansion Starting work on the Limmattalbahn Private sector must support Indian LRT Tallinn’s tramway reaches the airport Denver ÜSTRA at 125 10> £4.40 Crossing approval Hannover’s special slows FasTracks anniversary parade 9 771460 832050 4 October 2017 Your chance to celebrate excellence and innovation in the global light rail sector t: +44 (0)1733 367600 @ [email protected] www.lightrailawards.com CONTENTS The official journal of the Light Rail Transit Association OCTOBER 2017 Vol. 80 No. 958 www.tautonline.com 364 EDITORIAL EDITOR S imon Johnston E-mail: [email protected] 13 Orton Enterprise Centre, Bakewell Road, Peterborough PE2 6XU, UK 381 ASSOCIATE EDITOR Tony Streeter E-mail: [email protected] WORLDWIDE EDITOR 384 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 Tony Bailey, James Chuang, Paul Nicholson, Richard Felski, Ed Havens, Bill Vigrass, Andrew Moglestue, NEWS 364 SYSTEMS FACTFILE: MILAN 384 Mike Russell, Nikolai Semyonov, Vic Simons, Herbert India’s new policy for private sector metro; Milan’s tramway is still the biggest in Italy, Pence, Alain Senut, Rick Wilson, Thomas Wagner Study finds electric LRT commuters face despite the city also having created the PDTRO UC ION Lanna Blyth less pollution; Ground-breaking on the country’s longest metro. Neil Pulling visits Tel: +44 (0)1733 367604 E-mail: [email protected] Limmattalbahn; Property and material Lombardy’s capital. DESIGN prices drive up Sound Transit costs by D ebbie Nolan USD500m; Bangkok Metro’s ‘missing link’. WR O LDWIDE REVIEW 390 ADVertiSING Berlin looks to set aside EU tender rules COMMERCIAL ManaGER APPO R VALS DELAY FASTRACKS 370 for new U-Bahn train orders; Sydney Inner Geoff Butler Level crossing issues are delaying expansion West light rail reaches capacity; Bergamo Tel: +44 (0)1733 367610 E-mail: [email protected] of Denver’s FasTracks projects. Vic Simons signs agreement for second tramline; PublISHER reports on the latest new lines. UK’s Midland Metro Edgbaston line H oward Johnston achieves full funding. Tramways & Urban Transit is jointly published by the LRTA and LRTA Publishing on the third Friday of each OVERHEAD DESIGN PRINCIPLES 375 month preceding the cover date. TAUT examines the tools and methods MAILBOX 395 LRTA WEBSITE anD DIARY designers and installers use to create BRT vs LRT – and is a divorce from the Brian Lomas efficient and pleasing OLE systems. automobile possible any time soon? E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] LRTA MEMBERSHIP (with TAUT subscription) METROS IN nortHERN CHINA 381 C LASSIC TRAMS: HAnnoVER 396 Tramways & Urban Transit is sent free to all paid-up Dennis Schulz looks at urban rail projects in This year marks 125 years of ÜSTRA; Mike members of the Light Rail Transit Association. the Chinese economic powerhouse of Tianjin. Russell witnessed the spectacular parade. SUBSCriPTIONS AND MEMBERSHIP ENQUIRIES LRTA Membership Secretary (Dept T06), 38 Wolseley Road, Sale M33 7AU, UK. Tel: +44 (0)117 951 7785 Getting bored of ‘re-inventing the wheel’ BACK ISSUES It may sound obvious to anyone over the age of eight, but choosing the Tel: +44 (0)117 951 7785 right person and the right tool for any given job is surely a key to success. PRINT AND DISTRIBUTION For example, I can happily wax lyrical for thousands of words on tramway, Warners (Midlands) plc, The Maltings, West Street, Bourne, Lincs PE10 9PH, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1778 391000. light rail or metro development (and enjoy doing so), but I would never LRTA REGISTERED OFFICE claim to be able to programme the software for a signalling system or install c/o 138 Radnor Avenue, Welling, Kent DA16 2BY, UK. encapsulated rail to efficiently mitigate against the effects of stray current. I wouldn’t Private company limited by guarantee, No. 5072319 know where to start. Actually that’s not true – I would start by talking to an expert with in England and Wales. matching experience in the field and references of similar successful projects. LRTA CHAIRMAN Unfortunately in some parts of our industry we have a tendency to use people and Andrew Braddock tools unsuited to the job to get the best possible results. A light rail system is not a E-mail: [email protected] railway, and it’s not a bus either. There are many similarities and transferrable skills, LRTA DeputY CHAIRMAN but the intricacies are often very different and require specialisms that may not exist P aul Rowen in other industries. TAUT receives a lot of correspondence bemoaning the influence of LRTA PUBLISHING REGISTERED OFFICE c/o 8 Berwick Place, Welwyn Garden City, Herts AL7 4TU, the railway on tramway and light rail design and construction practices – why does this UK. Private Limited Company, No. 06169422 have to be the case when over a century of specific expertise already exists? in England and Wales. The costs of delays, rework (either immediate or due to premature replacement) will © LRTA Publishing 2017 always be a issue in meeting the challenge we are set on a daily basis of bringing down Articles are submitted on the understanding they may also costs. Even worse, they may result in reputational damage when jobs aren’t done as well later be used on our websites or other media. A contribution is accepted on the basis that its author is responsible for the as they should be and more disruption is caused in putting things right. opinions expressed in it, and such opinions are not those of Almost every conceivable circumstance for tramway and light rail construction has LRTA Publishing or the LRTA. All rights reserved. been implemented somewhere in the world, and while materials and processes can No part of this magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in always be improved upon, there’s a lot we can learn from looking out – and looking back. any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and This issue we have compiled the thoughts of experts on the topic of overhead line retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from design. Some of the examples given show traction supply installations that enhance the copyright owner. Multiple copying of the contents of the their environment. Most authorities would never choose to hang electrified cables in magazine without prior written approval is not permitted. the skies of their towns and cities, but if you can’t hide them then there is no reason COVER: Flexity Classic no. 2 at Liljevalchs/Gröna Lund why you can’t emphasise them to look stylish and elegant. Simon Johnston, Editor on Stockholm's Djurgården line on 27 June. C. F. Isgar www.tautonline.com . www.lrta.org OCTOBER 2017 / 363 News Private sector must support Indian metro projects for future funding Modi government launches TOD initiative; India’s ‘Metro Man’ offers fierce criticism he Indian Government Metro projects will receive approved a new metro approval only if they achieve a policy on 16 August that 14% internal rate of return, rather requires private sector than the 8% rate used until now. Tparticipation for any project There will be mandatory seeking a national funding third-party assessment and contribution. the government is looking for Faced with an increasing metro development linked to demand for metros in a large urban transformation, with number of cities to cater for comprehensive mobility plans population and economic that include Transit Oriented growth, the Modi government Development. Cities and states has said that all projects must use innovative financing should benefit from private mechanisms such as value capture sector resources, expertise and financing tools and betterment Indian metro systems such as this one in Delhi have proved successful in entrepreneurship. Private sector levies to take advantage of any increasing mobility, with high passenger density. Most lines are elevated to participation could be for the increase in land values around minimise construction costs and avoid surface congestion. R. Mathur / CC-BY-SA 2.0 whole project, or just certain stations. Projects must also elements such as fare collection include last-mile connectivity Kasarvadavali with Wadala on Speaking to The Indian Express, or operations and maintenance. for a 5km (three-mile) catchment the north–south alignment; 216 Sreedharan, who has consistently Three versions of national area around stations. metro cars will be required. argued against the PPP model funding are offered: a PPP with a In a move that mirrors the new However, the policy has been for metro development, said, contribution under the Ministry policy, the Asian Infrastructure described as “the most disastrous “China is galloping way ahead at of Finance’s Viability Gap Investment Bank is to provide and retrograde urban transport 300km [186 miles] of metro rail Funding; a government grant USD500m towards the USD2.22bn policy,” by E Sreedharan, the being opened every year. We are covering 10% of project costs; cost of Mumbai metro line 4, due former Managing Director of the already moving at a snail’s pace. and a 50/50 equity share between for completion in 2021. The 32km Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Now with this policy, everything central and state governments. (20-mile) elevated line will link (DMRC), known as ‘Metro Man’. will come to a standstill.’’ Warsaw abandons mega tram tender LRT commuters face lower pollution Electrically-powered light rail and in the levels found in the has been published in the Warsaw tramway’s municipal commutes have the lowest two types of train commutes.