HORDALAND County Council and Bergen Bybanen have signed a NKr 532m ($US 90.2m) contract with Skanska Norway for the construction of two sections of the third phase extension of Bergen's light rail line from Lagunen to Flesland Airport.
VIENNESE public transport operator Wiener Linien has begun trial operation of the EcoTram, a Siemens ULF light rail vehicle equipped with low-energy heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems.
WEST Midlands transport authority Centro has signed a £18.9m contract with Balfour Beatty to design and build the 1.4km extension of the Midland Metro light rail line from Snow Hill to New Street, where trams will terminate outside the newly-rebuilt mainline station on Stephenson Street.
Cities all over France are investing in light rail infrastructure to ease congestion and improve their urban environment. Bordeaux is entering the third phase of its development programme and Kevin Smith visited the city to see how the work is progressing.
UNITED States Federal Transit Administrator Mr Peter Rogoff and North Carolina governor Mr Patrick McCrory attended a groundbreaking ceremony in Charlotte on July 18 to mark the start of construction on the city's light rail Lynx Blue Line extension.
BRATISLAVA Transport signed a €39m contract with Škoda Transportation on July 18 for a fleet of 15 low-floor 30T LRVs, which will enter service on the metre-gauge network in the Slovak capital in 2015.
UTRECHT Regional Council (BRU) has issued a tender notice for a contract to supply 27 low-floor LRVs for the 7.5km Uithof Line, which will link Utrecht Central station with the Uithof universary campus on the eastern side of the city.
THE Norwegian city of Bergen has awarded Stadler a contract worth more than €100m to supply and maintain eight additional Variobahn low-floor LRVs and maintain the existing fleet of 20 vehicles until 2026.
WATERLOO (Ontario) Regional Council has formally approved an agreement in coordination with Greater Toronto and Hamilton transit authority Metrolinx to acquire 14 low-floor LRVs from Bombardier.
THE governor of Maryland Mr Martin O'Malley announced on July 8 that the state will commit $US 280m for design work and land acquisition on the Washington DC Purple Line LRT project as part of a $US 650m transport funding package for Prince George's County.