Light Rail News from around the World
Posted by Cardinal Fang on Sunday, December 8, 2013 · Leave a Comment
Hong Kong
Tram operator proposes $2.8b Kai Tak line
Hong Kong Tramways has proposed building a HK$2.8 billion tram system for the Kai Tak site.
Under the tram operator’s proposal, there will be 23 stations in the system, which will link Kai Tak pier, Ngau Tau Kok and Kowloon Bay MTR stations in 2018. The fare is expected to be HK$3 a trip.
The tram will be barrier free and able to shuttle along roads, said a spokesman, adding the “modern tramway” is the most efficient road space user.
TURKEY
CNR Tangshan streetcars for Samsun
Samsun tram flown from China to Turkey
The first of five trams which Samsun Metropolitan Municipality ordered from CNR Tangshan Railway Vehicles has been delivered from China to Turkey onboard the world’s largest heavy freight aircraft.
The ai??i??7Ai??5m contract signed on December 17 2012 required the first tram to be delivered by December this year, with the last due by February 2014.
The trams were due to be shipped by sea, however Typhoon Haiyan would have caused the deadline to be missed and so CNR Tangshan selected the faster but more expensive option of flying the initial vehicle from Shijiazhuang Zhengding International Airport to Samsun-Ai??arsamba airport onboard the Antonov Airlines An-225 Mriya, which was originally developed to transport the USSR’s Buran spacecraft.
Edinburgh
Edinburgh trams: first Princes Street night test complete
One of Edinburgh’s new trams has completed the first test run along the city’s most famous shopping street.
Tram 264 made the journey on Princes Street late on Wednesday night, flanked by teams of engineers.
It travelled from the tram depot at Gogar on Edinburgh’s western outskirts to York Place in the city’s east end.
The tram crew and engineers completed the necessary track tests ahead of schedule, returning to the depot in the early hours of the morning.
It was the first time since 1956 that a tram has run on Princes Street.
