THE city council of Gmunden, Austria, has voted in favour of linking a metre-gauge tram line with the Gmunden - Vorchdorf line of the same gauge. The €30m project involves construction of a 700m line in the city centre and across the river Traun on a road bridge which needs to be rebuilt.
VIA Transport, which operates the light rail/metro networks in Duisburg, Mulheim and Essen, Germany, has issued a call for tenders for a contract to refurbish its fleet of 45 GT10NC LRVs which operate in Duisburg. Closing date for bids is April 15.
BRAZILIAN president Dilma Roussef approved funding of Reais 800m ($US 404m) on March 6 for the planning and construction of a 15km a light rail line in São José dos Campos northeast of São Paulo.
ŠKODA Transportation has been awarded a contract worth around €104.7m to supply 60 low-floor LRVs to the Turkish city of Konya, beating off bids from Astra Arad, Bombardier, CAF, CNR Tangshan, and Pesa.
BUDAPEST Transport Centre (BKK), which is responsible for managing and developing the Hungarian capital's transport network, has called for tenders for the purchase of 37 low-floor LRVs of two types, with a option for a further 87 vehicles.
THE City of Ottawa has finalised a $C 2.1bn ($US 2.1bn) design, build, fund and maintain contract with the Rideau Transit Group for the Confederation Line, a 12.5km light rail line from Tunney's Pasture in the west to Blair in the east.
MANCHESTER Metrolink launched full commercial services on the East Manchester line on February 11 with the opening of the initial 6.3km section between Piccadilly and Droylsden.
THE Mauritian Ministry of Public Infrastructure has invited expressions of interest for a design-build-operate-maintain PPP concession for the planned light rail line between the island's capital Port Louis and Curepipe.
Casablanca's inaugural light rail line, which began operations on December 12 2012, is already transforming public transport in Morocco's largest city, as Kevin Smith discovers.
MTR celebrated the start of operations on Hangzhou Metro Line 1 in November, its seventh project outside of Hong Kong. And as deputy CEO Lincoln Leong explains to Kevin Smith, the company is committed to strengthening its external presence over the next few years.
