THE FIRST of 31 Škoda type 26THU3 ForCity low-floor LRVs for Hungary's third-largest city Miskolc entered service on Line 1 on January 20 following the completion of more than 11,000km of endurance testing.
ALSTOM has announced plans to invest €15m in new assembly line at its Taubaté hydro manufacturing plant in the Brazilian state of São Paulo to produce light rail vehicles for the South American market.
TEL AVIV Metropolitan Mass Transit System (NTA) announced on January 13 that four international consortia have prequalified for the railway systems contract for the city's planned 22km light rail Red Line from Petakh-Tikva to Bat Yam.
THE FRENCH city of Besançon celebrated a milestone in the construction of its low-cost light rail network on January 15, when test operation began on the city centre section between Planoise and Viotte stations.
MILAN public transport company ATM has awarded Italian construction company Cooperativa Muratori e Cementisti (CMC) a contract to reconstruct the Milan-Desio-Seregno suburban tram line, which was closed in October 2011.
STUTTGART Tramways (SSB) has ordered an additional 20 Tango S-DT8.12 high-floor LRVs from Stadler Pankow, exercising an option from an initial contract for 20 vehicles, which was signed in January 2010.
THE sustained growth in public transport usage in Brussels in recent years has mirrored a rapid increase in the city's population, which swelled from 960,000 in 2000 to 1.14 million in 2012 and is expected to reach 1.31 million this year.
THE official opening date for the second tram line in Hungary's second-largest city Debrecen has been set for March 1 following the start of test operation last month.
TRANSPORT for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has signed an option worth £18m with a consortium of Bombardier and Vossloh Kiepe for the supply of 10 additional Flexity Swift light rail vehicles (LRVs).
GOLDLINQ, the consortium building the first light rail line in Gold Coast, Australia, confirmed on December 20 that it had laid the final section of track on the 13km link between Gold Coast University Hospital and Broadbeach.
