THE INTERNATIONAL LIGHT RAIL MAGAZINE www.lrta.org www.tautonline.com SEPTEMBER 2017 NO. 957 CHINA’S NEWEST LRT: WIRE-FREE IN WUHAN Is there a crisis in maintaining US rail infrastructure? Sidi Bel Abbès: Algeria’s 4th tramway Essen and Mülheim merge operations End of the road for Kramatorsk’s trams UK Conference Sydney 09> £4.40 ‘Follow the money, Celebrating the life of sell the benefits’ a once-great tramway 9 771460 832050 4 October 2017 Entries open now! t: +44 (0)1733 367600 @ [email protected] www.lightrailawards.com CONTENTS The official journal of the Light Rail Transit Association SEPTEMBER 2017 Vol. 80 No. 957 www.tautonline.com 341 EDITORIAL EDITOR Simon Johnston E-mail: [email protected] 13 Orton Enterprise Centre, Bakewell Road, Peterborough PE2 6XU, UK 324 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 316 Tony Bailey, James Chuang, Paul Nicholson, Richard Felski, Ed Havens, Bill Vigrass, Andrew Moglestue, NEWS 324 S YSTEMS FACTFILE: BOGESTRA 345 Mike Russell, Nikolai Semyonov, Vic Simons, Herbert New tramlines in Sidi Bel Abbès and Neil Pulling explores the Ruhr network that Pence, Alain Senut, Rick Wilson, Thomas Wagner Wuhan; Gold Coast LRT phase two ‘90% uses different light rail configurations to PDTRO UC ION Lanna Blyth complete’; US FTA plan to reduce barriers to cover a variety of urban areas. Tel: +44 (0)1733 367604 E-mail: [email protected] private investment in transport; Essen and DESIGN Mülheim undertakings sign merger. WORLDWIDE REVIEW 350 Debbie Nolan Sydney welcomes firstCitadis X05; Luas ADVertiSING UK LIGHT RAIL CONFERENCE 328 Cross City line to begin driver training; COMMERCIAL ManaGER Fifty presentations and debates and hours of Cosenza signs contracts for 950mm-gauge G eoff Butler networking. TAUT rounds up the highlights tramline; Second phase opens to complete Tel: +44 (0)1733 367610 E-mail: [email protected] of two fascinating days in Manchester. Klang Valley MRT; Fort Lauderdale invites PublISHER tramway construction bids. H oward Johnston POI NEERING WIRE-FREE IN THE UK 335 Tramways & Urban Transit is jointly published by the LRTA and LRTA Publishing on the third Friday of each Phil Hewitt and Alejandro Moreno outline MAILBOX 355 month preceding the cover date. the detailed plans for Midland Metro – the Why is light rail ignored in the mass media; LRTA WEBSITE anD DIARY biggest UK tram expansion in a decade. and why can’t others see the benefits? Brian Lomas E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] LOW TAXES, GREAT EXPECTATIONS 341 CLASSI TRAMS: sydney 356 LRTA MEMBERSHIP (with TAUT subscription) Herbert Pence offers a personal commentary Mike Russell tours Sydney’s Tram Museum Tramways & Urban Transit is sent free to all paid-up on US rail infrastructure maintenance. and examines a few of its impressive exhibits. members of the Light Rail Transit Association. SUBSCriPTIONS AND MEMBERSHIP ENQUIRIES LRTA Membership Secretary (Dept T06), 38 Wolseley Road, Sale M33 7AU, UK. Dear automobile, it’s over. It’s not you, it’s me... Tel: +44 (0)117 951 7785 It’s time for a divorce. Our century-long love affair with the automobile has BACK ISSUES increasingly turned into a toxic interdependency where the lows outweigh Tel: +44 (0)117 951 7785 the highs. 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The technology is there to make the change – Andrew Braddock some might argue it always has been, we just fell out of love – it just requires the bravery E-mail: [email protected] to do so. Like an addict cleansing their system, as a society we need to do the same. LRTA DeputY CHAIRMAN ‘I can change’, is the desperate cry from the automotive industry. ‘We’ve got new Paul Rowen ways of doing things, please don’t leave.’ Sorry, but it’s too late. There will always be a LRTA PUBLISHING REGISTERED OFFICE c/o 8 Berwick Place, Welwyn Garden City, Herts AL7 4TU, place for the car, but instead of being the daily go-to it needs to now be second choice – UK. Private Limited Company, No. 06169422 our guilty pleasure – as we seek a healthier, stronger relationship with public transport. in England and Wales. That was very much the message from this year’s 12th Annual UK Light Rail © LRTA Publishing 2017 Conference (see page 328). Authorities from around the world came to share their Articles are submitted on the understanding they may also urban rail experiences in Manchester, all with the enthusiasm of a lovestruck teenager. later be used on our websites or other media. A contribution is accepted on the basis that its author is responsible for the They’ve had trials, sure, but all are convinced that they’ve invested wisely in light rail opinions expressed in it, and such opinions are not those of –and are continuing to do so. Cities such as Tallinn have gone a step further and raised LRTA Publishing or the LRTA. All rights reserved. parking tariffs and made city transport free for residents. What a utopian vision! No part of this magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in Since a public referendum in 2011 showed a three-quarter majority for the policy, the any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and Estonian capital has actually made money from the initiative – while at the same time retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from giving greater access to employment, retail and leisure activities. This has spurred more the copyright owner. Multiple copying of the contents of the investment in new vehicles and more services, creating a virtuous circle. Not all cities magazine without prior written approval is not permitted. can, or maybe should, be so bold immediately, but steps need to be taken. Those who do COVER: Final testing in progress on Wuhan’s will forge ahead, those who don’t risk a bleak future. Simon Johnston, Editor modern tramline, July 2017. D. Schulz www.tautonline.com . www.lrta.org SEPTEMBER 2017 / 323 News Sidi Bel Abbès opens for business Algeria’s fourth modern tramway in the last seven years launches passenger services on 25 July assenger service on the possibly most famous as the base The first trial run was made in Independence Day (5 July 2017); new tramway in Sidi of the French Foreign Legion. December 2016. 62 000 passengers/day are Bel Abbès began on The new 14.3km (8.9-mile) Service is managed by the expected to use the system. 25 July after an opening tramline links the Gare du Nord SETRAM joint venture of RATP A second line is planned. Pceremony attended by Minister with the south bus station in the Dev and EMA, operator of the Yapi Merkezi is also building of Transport, Abdelghani southern suburbs; 30 seven- country’s other tramways in the Sétif tramway, a 22.2km Zaalane, Entreprise du Métro section Alstom 44m Citadis Algiers, Oran and Constantine; (13.8-mile) system that is due d’Alger CEO Aomar Hadbi and operate the route, with 22 stops at 98 Alstom Citadis are in use to open in two phases, with 27 President of Alstom in Algeria, an average spacing of 700m. The across these systems. stops to be created for the first Henri Bussery. The city is located CITRAL-assembled trams feature Work started in June 2013, section and ten for the second. in north-western Algeria, 75km a golden yellow livery intended when it was hoped that passengers Two depots and six park-and-ride (47 miles) inland from Oran to reflect local wheat fields. would be carried before the end sites are under construction. which opened its own low-floor Infrastructure was built by of 2016. Progress was held up by Three more Algerian tramways tramway in May 2013. With a Turkish contractor Yapi Merkezi local protests which also delayed are under construction, at Annaba, population of 230 000, the city is at a cost of ALD32bn (EUR245m). the planned opening for Algerian Ouragla and Mostaganem. Ruhrbahn G:link phase two nears completion ready to launch The transport companies in the German cities of Essen (EVAG) and Mülheim (MVG) complete the final stage of their long-planned merger into Ruhrbahn GmbH on 1 September. The coalition incorporates the joint undertaking Via Verkehrsgesellschaft and will realise significant cost-savings through the combining of administrative functions. Longer-term it is envisaged to give the new operator a stronger position for joint procurement through collective ordering. The merger was signed on 14 July by Essen Mayor Thomas Kufen and his counterpart from Mülheim Ulrich Scholten.