On Dec. 15, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, Toronto Mayor John Tory, Ontario Minister of Transportation, Steven Del Duca, Toronto Transit Commission CEO Andy Byford and other officials to open the TTC’s 8.6 km (5.3-mile) Toronto York Spadina Subway Extension (TYSSE) of the Line 1 Yonge-University subway to the new Vaughan Metropolitan Centre. The extension opened to the public on Dec. 17.
Amtrak’s Avelia Liberty, the Alstom-built integrated high-speed trainset that will replace the equipment currently used to provide Amtrak’s premium Acela Express service on the Northeast Corridor, will be significantly different in design and livery that its predecessor. The trainset sports four exterior colors: white and blue, with red accents and gray power car noses.
It’s official: Siemens AG and Alstom SA have signed a Memorandum of Understanding “granting exclusivity to combine mobility businesses in a merger of equals.” The combination is largely viewed as a move to remain competitive in a global market in which Chinese rolling stock manufacturers have gained considerable market share. Based on how the merged company, “Siemens Alstom,” will be structured and named, Siemens is the lead company, with 6 of 11 board members.
Germany’s Siemens AG and France’s Alstom SA are discussing a merger to create a European rail transportation manufacturing conglomerate to counter growing competition from China, according to a report in the Sept. 23, 2017 Wall Street Journal. Meanwhile, Siemens continues to engage in talks with Canada’s Bombardier, Inc. about merging their railway businesses.
Metrolinx, the Ontario Government’s transit agency, has dropped its appeal of the court decision earlier this year that had prevented the authority from cancelling a C$770 million order with Bombardier for 182 Flexity Freedom LRVs.
In the wake of Bombardier Transportation’s ongoing problems with light rail vehicles it’s building for various Ontario LRT projects, the purported combination of the railway businesses of Siemens and Bombardier appears to have taken on an interesting twist. This folllows the filing of an official protest letter by Siemens Canada with Ontario’s Transportation Minister over Metrolinx’s awarding of a single-source LRV contract to Alstom.
RIDEAU Transit Group (RTG) has awarded Alstom a $C 300m ($US 227m) contract to supply 38 Citadis Spirit low-floor LRVs for the Stage 2 O-Train light rail expansion project in Ottawa, Ontario, which received federal funding on June 16.
Alstom has been awarded a contract worth more than $140 million by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority to perform the midlife overhaul of 52 P2000 light rail vehicles, which operate on the city’s Blue, Green and Expo lines.
Alstom and Metrolinx of Canada announced a C$529-million ($388-million) order for 61 Citadis Spirit light rail vehicles for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area.
Alstom and the San Francisco Municipal Transit Authority (SFMTA) have signed a two-year, $18.2 million contract extension for an inventory control program to improve the agency’s fleet availability. The city operates 151 light