SOUND Transit announced on September 22 that it has finalised an order worth around $US 554m with Siemens for 122 LRVs, which are being procured as part of the Sound Transit 2 plan to expand Seattle’s light rail network.
THE US city of Charlotte has issued a call for tender for the construction of Phase 2 of its CityLynx light rail Gold Line, adding extensions totalling 4km at each end of the 2.4km Phase 1 which opened in mid-2015.
THE first of six Liberty LRVs being built by Brookville Equipment Corporation, United States, for Detroit’s first modern tram line arrived at the line’s Penske Technical Center depot on September 13, two months ahead of schedule.
THE San Diego Association of Governments (Sandag) has announced on September 14 that it secured a $US 1bn grant from the Federal Transit Administration for the 17.7km Mid-Coast LRT extension.
THE first of 300 Bombardier R179 cars ordered by New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority for the subway B Division was unloaded at 207th Street yard in Upper Manhattan on September 6.
HONOLULU leaders and US Federal Transit Administration (FTA) officials reached an agreement on the Honolulu metro project on August 30 in which the 32km line will be built all the way to Ala Moana as planned rather than being cut back to Middle Street, but without additional federal funding.
THE mayor of San Francisco Mr Ed Lee visited Siemens’ Sacramento plant on August 29 to view the first of 215 S200 SF LRVs for San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA).
GROUNDBREAKING ceremonies were held in Fort Worth, North Richmond Hills, and Grapevine, Texas, on August 24 to officially launch construction on the $US 996m Tex Rail commuter rail project.
PROPOSALS for a 74km light rail network and a second commuter rail line for Nashville have been included in a 25-year transit strategy for the region, which was presented to the boards of Nashville Metropoitan Transit Authority (NMTA) and Regional Transportation Authority of Middle Tennessee (RTA) on August 17 following 16 months of public consultation.
THE California State Transport Agency (Calsta) announced on August 16 the 14 recipients for the $US 390m 2016 Transit and Intercity Capital Programme (TIRCP) grants, $US 374m of which will be invested in rail.
