BANGKOK inaugurated the latest extension of its metro network on December 5 with the opening of the 3km western extension of the BTS Skytrain Silom Line from Talat Phlu to Bang Wa in the district of Phasi Charoen.
THE mayor of Chicago Mr Rahm Emanuel and Illinois governor Mr Pat Quinn announced on December 5 that Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) will invest $US 492 in the modernisation of the Blue Line O'Hare Branch, which links the city's main international airport with the city centre.
MILAN metro operator ATM has commissioned a new €11.5m centralised traffic control centre, which supervises the operation of all lines except the driverless Line 5.
THE president of Taiwan Mr Ma Ying-jeou and the mayor of Taipei Mr Hau Lung-bin inaugurated Taipei's MRT Xinyi line on November 24, nearly eight years after the start of construction.
A consortium of CAF and Thales has won a $US 451.86m contract from Santiago metro to supply and maintain trains and install communications-based train control (CBTC) on two metro lines under construction in the Chilean capital.
THE first of 468 new-generation Azur metro cars being built by a consortium of Bombardier and Alstom for Montreal public transport company STM was formally presented to representatives of the government of Quebec and the City of Montreal at Bombardier's La Pocatière plant in Quebec on November 25.
THE board of Bay Area Rapid Transit (Bart) announced on November 21 it has exercised an option worth $US 638.9m for an additional 365 metro cars from Bombardier as part of its "fleet of the future" programme, taking the total number of vehicles on order to 775.
BRITISH Columbia transport authority TransLink has begun returning to service the first of 114 Vancouver Skytrain Mark 1 light metro vehicles to be refurbished under a $C 37.9m ($US 35.2m) overhaul programme, which is expected to extend the life of fleet by 15 years.
THE Mayor of London Mr Boris Johnson and Mr Mike Brown, London Underground (LU) managing director announced on November 21 that 24-hour operation will be introduced at weekends on five Underground lines from 2015.
SERVICES commenced on a new 6.1km, six-station metro line in Gurgaon, India, on November 14, which links Gurgaon Cyber City, which is located 30km south of central Delhi, with Delhi metro Line 2 at Sikandepur.
