THE INTERNATIONAL LIGHT RAIL MAGAZINE HEADLINES l Paris tram network reaches 65km l AnsaldoBreda enters Chinese LRT market l Edinburgh tramway to open early? DUBAI: CREATING THE WORLD’S LONGEST DRIVERLESS NETWORK INSIDE: Light Rail Awards 2012 special Olsztyn Halberstadt Poland’s first How do you new-build sustain a system tramway in with a declining over 50 years population? DECEMBER 2012 No. 900 WWW . LRTA . ORG l WWW . TRAMNEWS . NET £3.80 PESA Bydgoszcz SA 85-082 Bydgoszcz, ul. Zygmunta Augusta 11 tel. (+48)52 33 91 104 fax (+48)52 3391 114 www.pesa.pl e-mail: [email protected] Layout_Adpage.indd 1 26/10/2012 16:15 Contents The official journal of the Light Rail Transit Association 448 News 448 DECEMBER 2012 Vol. 75 No. 900 Three new lines take Paris tram network to 65km; www.tramnews.net Mendoza inaugurates light rail services; AnsaldoBreda EDITORIAL signs Chinese technology partnership; München orders Editor: Simon Johnston Siemens new Avenio low-floor tram. Tel: +44 (0)1832 281131 E-mail: [email protected] Eaglethorpe Barns, Warmington, Peterborough PE8 6TJ, UK. 454 Olsztyn: Re-adopting the tram Associate Editor: Tony Streeter Marek Ciesielski reports on the project to build Poland’s E-mail: [email protected] first all-new tramway in over 50 years. Worldwide Editor: Michael Taplin Flat 1, 10 Hope Road, Shanklin, Isle of Wight PO37 6EA, UK. 457 15 Minutes with... Gérard Glas 454 E-mail: [email protected] Tata Steel’s CEO tells TAUT how its latest products offer News Editor: John Symons a step-change reduction in long-term maintenance costs. 17 Whitmore Avenue, Werrington, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs ST9 0LW, UK. No tea party in Boston E-mail: [email protected] 459 Against a climate of increased US funding, light rail in Contributor: Neil Pulling Boston faces service cutbacks. Richard Buckley explains. Design: Debbie Nolan Production Executive: Carla Corrado 463 Systems Factfile: Hannover Tel: +44 (0)1832 281134 E-mail: [email protected] Following radical changes to its light rail operations, Worldwide Contributors: Aare Olander, Nikolai Hannover continues to modernise, as Neil Pulling reports. 459 Semyonov, Sergei Tarkhov (CIS), Mike Russell, Norman Bartlett, Halberstadt plans for closure Thomas Wagner, Pedro Costa, Richard Felski, Jordi Ibanez (Europe), 469 Yoshiri Nogi (Japan), Anthony Bailey, Ian Hammond, Paul Nicholson Tony Streeter talks to HVG Managing Director Axel Wohlbier (Australia), Vic Simons, Charles Lietwiler, Steve Morgan, Tom Swinney. about the city’s plans to close its 125-year-old tramway. LRTA Website and Diary: Brian Lomas 472 Worldwide Review E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] Oran undertakes first tramway testing; Belkommunmash Commercial Manager: Vicky Binley Tel: +44 (0)1832 281132 E-mail: [email protected] and Stadler sign joint venture for a new factory; Edmonton commits CAD800m (EUR622m) towards the Southeast Advertising Manager: Andy Adams 472 Tel: +44 (0)1832 281135 E-mail: [email protected] light rail line; Work begins on the 129km Doha Metro. Eaglethorpe Barns, Warmington, Peterborough PE8 6TJ, UK. 477 Letters Publisher: Howard Johnston What if trams aren’t the right solution?; Differing views of Tramways & Urban Transit is jointly published by the LRTA and LRTA cycles on mass transit. Publishing on the third Friday of each month preceding the cover date. 480 Classic Trams: Brussels works car day LRTA MEMBERSHIP (with TAUT subscription) Tramways & Urban Transit is sent free to all paid-up members of the Mike Russell reports from an event that celebrates the Light Rail Transit Association. You are welcome to join the LRTA. great unsung heroes of tramway operation – the works car. SUBSCRIPTIONS: LRTA Membership Secretary (Dept T06), 38 Wolseley Road, Sale M33 7AU, UK. BACK ISSUES: Tel: +44 (0)1406 373070 Growth in the east... but decline in the west? PRINT AND DISTRIBUTION: Warners (Midlands) plc, The Maltings, SIMON JOHNSTON, EDITOR West Street, Bourne, Lincs PE10 9PH, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1778 391000. LRTA REGISTERED OFFICE: c/o 138 Radnor Avenue, Welling, Kent DA16 2BY. Private company limited by guarantee, No. 5072319 Another month and another vehicle from Halberstadt, Germany. Faced in England and Wales. manufacturer heads east as we see with a declining population and shift in LRTA Chairman: Andrew Braddock. LRTA Deputy Chairman: Vic Simons AnsaldoBreda sign a deal with CNR economic focus, this city with a proud LRTA PUBLISHING REGISTERED OFFICE: c/o 8 Berwick Place, Welwyn Dalian that should see wire-free low-floor 125-year tramway legacy faces the Garden City, Herts AL7 4TU. Private Limited Company, No. 06169422 trams running in China by 2013. prospect of closure. Financing isn’t the in England and Wales. In related news, after signing a direct issue, it’s an issue of low take-up © LRTA Publishing 2012. mega-order with German national rail from passengers: what do you do when Articles are submitted on the understanding they may also later be used on our websites or other media. A contribution is accepted on the basis that operator DB, PESA unveils its first Russian your passengers disappear? its author is responsible for the opinions expressed in it, and such opinions tram contract with a modest requirement Despite all the good news and growth are not those of LRTA Publishing or the LRTA. All rights reserved. for Kaliningrad – the snowball is really in emerging markets, I fear we may No part of this magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording gathering pace in the East. be entering an age when LRT schemes or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior In our special focus this month, we look conceived in boom times may have a permission in writing from the copyright owner. Multiple copying of the at another impressive project – the Dubai very hard time justifying themselves if contents of the magazine without prior written approval is not permitted. Metro. Built with a ‘money no object areas they are designed to serve wither approach’, this underground/elevated away, or new developments they are THE INTERNATIONAL LIGHT RAIL MAGAZINE HEADLINES system was built in record time and at planned to serve are cancelled. l Paris tram network reaches 65km l AnsaldoBreda enters Chinese LRT market one point had a staggering 24 000 As you’ll see from our letters pages, l Edinburgh tramway to open early? workers engaged on the scheme! there are some strong views on this topic Dubai’s Metro is now officially recognised State-of-the-art in every respect and and I think that even the most staunch as the world’s longest immaculately maintained, this showpiece light rail advocates are re-evaluating driverless rail system. system is a model for how mass transit the affordability and sustainability of See our special review can transform the urban landscape. With schemes in many parts of the world. DUBAI: CREATING THE WORLD’S further schemes planned (albeit slightly The bubble hasn’t burst, as the wealth of LONGEST DRIVERLESS NETWORK for the full story of INSIDE: Light Rail Awards 2012 special delayed), Dubai is a city in transition and exciting projects from the Light Rail Awards Olsztyn Halberstadt its construction and Poland’s first How do you new-build sustain a system tramway in with a declining it is fantastic to see urban rail at its heart. shows, but the way in which LRT grows is over 50 years population? DECEMBER operation. 2012 No. 900 WWW . LRTA . ORG l WWW . TRAMNEWS . NET £3.80 On the flipside, we report with concern ever more under the microscope. TAUT_1212_Cover.indd 1 30/10/2012 15:03 Melissa Beattie www.tramnews.net . www.Irta.org DECEMBER 2012 447 News THREE PARIS TRAMWAY OPENINGS TAKE EXPANDED NETWORK TO 65KM THREE of Paris’ separated tramlines are be- ing extended in November and December, bringing the network to 65km (40.3 miles). On 15 November, the original line, T1 (St- Denis – Noisy-le-Sec), was to expand at its western end by 4.9km (three miles) from Saint- Denis RER to Asnieres-Gennevilliers, with ten new stops. The existing fleet of 35 Alstom TFS partially low-floor trams (101-119 and 201-216) will suffice for the extended service. A few days later, on 19 November, line T2 (Porte de Versailles – La Defense) will be extended north by 4.2km (2.6 miles) from La Defense to Pont de Bezons, with seven new stops; 19 new Alstom Citadis 302 trams (442-460) were delivered some months ago ready for this extension. Then on 15 December line T3 (Pont du Garigliano – Porte d’Ivry) will be extended by 14.5km (nine miles) around the eastern side of the inner boulevards from Porte d’Ivry to Porte de Chapelle. The 22.4km (13.9- mile) line will be operated in two sections: T3a from Pont du Garigliano to Porte de Vincennes and T3b from Porte de Vincennes to Porte de Chapelle. A total of 25 new Alstom Citadis 402 trams (322-46) have been delivered to line T3. Top right: A map of the T1 extension west from Saint-Denis. RATP Right: The new section of line T3 around the eastern side of central Paris. RATP Below: The alignment of the T2 extension crosses the Seine to reach its new terminus at Pont de Bezons. RATP The new Paris line T2 terminus at Pont de Bezons with a pair of Alstom Citadis 302 trams on trial. ORTF 448 DECEMBER 2012 www.tramnews.net . www.Irta.org LRT INDUSTRY CELEBRATES CNR reveals domestic low-floor tram The first aluminium-bodied 2012 SUCCESS IN LONDON 100% low-floor tram was unveiled at CNR’s Changchun UK PARLIAMENTARY Under-Secretary of State plant on 19 October, the first Norman Baker addressed the largest ever Light Rail A capacity crowd celebrated an such domestically-developed Awards audience on 3 October, speaking in London outstanding year for LRT innovation vehicle in China.