CDPQ Infra, a subsidiary of Canadian institutional fund manager Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec, announced on November 25 that it has revised the specification for its proposed Montreal Metropolitan Express automated metro network to include three additional stations.

BOMBARDIER announced on November 22 that it has been awarded an eight-year contract by Montreal’s Metropolitan Transport Agency (AMT) for to operate its six-line commuter rail network and maintain its fleet of locomotives and rolling stock. 

AMTRAK achieved a record for unaudited ticket sales for the 2016 fiscal year, which ended on September 30, of $US 2.14bn which is $US 12m more than in 2015.

CHARLOTTE Area Rapid Transit System (Cats) has selected Siemens as preferred supplier for a contract to supply six LRVs for the second phase of the Lynx light rail Gold Line.

NEW York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and its Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) subsidiary announced that they have received four design proposals from qualified engineering firms for the modernisation of LIRR’s part of Penn Station as part of plans to transform Penn Station and the historic James A. Farley Post Office into a transport hub.

FOLLOWING the election of Donald Trump as US president-elect and Mike Pence as vice-president-elect together with the new Congress, three railway associations have set out their priorities for the new administration.

TRAIN and aircraft manufacturer Bombardier has reduced its net loss from $US 4.9bn in the third quarter of 2015 to $US 94m thanks largely to a turnaround in the performance of its two aircraft divisions, while its year-to-date loss has fallen from $US4.66bn in 2015 to $US 722m in 2016.

PUBLIC transport across the United States was a major winner in the November 8 election as 33 of the 48 local and state-wide public transit measures up for a vote were approved; a passage rate of 69%, based on unofficial results.

VOTERS in the Seattle area approved the Sound Transit 3 (ST3) Proposition 1 ballot measure on November 8, unlocking a $US 53.8bn 25-year investment in the region’s public transport network, which includes more than 100km of new light rail lines by 2041.

ALSTOM recorded an 8% increase in sales, a 20% jump in adjusted Ebit, and turned a 2015-16 first-half loss of €57m into a profit of €128m during the first half of its 2016-17 financial year which started on April 1. The company also turned a negative free cash flow of €1.3bn into a positive €333m during the same period.