Tram transport

TRANSADELAIDE has spent a hefty $3.5 million fixing air-conditioning units in its troubled tram fleet over the past two years. The cost equates to $318,000 per tram or about $63,600 to upgrade each airconditioning unit across the three-year-old 11-tram Bombardier Flexity Classic fleet. The costly replacement program was prompted by chronic shortcomings in the $5.5 million German-made trams - which started appearing on city tram tracks in January 2006 - and couldn't cope with Adelaide's sweltering summ

I still can't believe you would go and buy new equipment and within the first few years you spend an extra $3.5 million to make it suitable for Australian conditions   -David Ridgway

 

San Francisco is very spread out, so a rental car is a great idea. Most locals drive. That said, parking is a challenge.  

MORE than 200 people took part in a mock accident in the Mercado underground station in Alicante, to check the efficiency of coordination of the emergency services in the case of an accident on the metropolitan TRAM. The participants, from the Ciudad de la Luz Centre, member of the Nacional and Local Police, firemen from Alicante, health professionals and FGV (Valencian Train) personnel acted out a fire in one of the cars on Line 3 of the TRAM, in the tunnel between the MARQ and Mercado stops, which took m  

A street car — like those seen in San Francisco and Portland — could connect downtown with places such as Belmont Shore or Bixby Knolls, a recent study found. But finding a way to pay for it remains a challenge. Last week, a first report came back to the council that presented some broad-stroke answers and costs about the proposal.

A street car is a pedestrian accelerator   -Suja Lowenthal

 

Ottawa city councillors will begin the process of drafting the 2010 budget on Friday, as they grapple with ways to pay a multimillion dollar settlement for the city's failed light rail plan while limiting program cuts and a tax increase. The city's $36.7 million settlement with Siemens Canada, PCL Constructors, Ottawa LRT Corp. and St. Lawrence Cement Inc. — the companies originally contracted to build a north-south light rail system in Ottawa — is expected to have a big impact on the city's capital expe  

THE outgoing boss of Yarra Trams says he has a key regret as he departs this week: that Melbourne's tram fleet was not expanded with new, air-conditioned trams before he was tossed out. The consortium behind Yarra Trams was the shock loser in June, when the State Government announced $9 billion worth of contracts to keep public transport in private hands for the next eight years. Dennis Cliche, chief executive at Yarra Trams since 2004, finished up this week and will take up a job as chief executive o  

San Francisco is very spread out, so a rental car is a great idea. Most locals drive. That said, parking is a challenge.  

A fter hard financial times hit, the city of Calgary has included some rather brash cuts in their proposed 2010 budget. Nearly every city department faces reductions, except for the Calgary Police Service. One of the departments hardest hit is Calgary Transit.  

Four pieces of Wellington history rode into the sunset and, in typical fashion, one broke down. The four remaining Volvo trolley buses were retired from service on Monday, after being edged off Wellington's streets by a new fleet of low-floor buses introduced in the past year, each at a cost of $500,000. Three of the old buses plied their final trips without a hitch, but Volvo No 227 pulled down the overhead wires as it travelled along Bowen St and had an ignominious end - it had to be towed back to t  

Bombardier's (TSX:BBD.B) transportation division has high hopes that its success in winning big rail contracts isn't confined to Europe and China. The company sees opportunities in North America, thanks to a growing interest in rail transportation and stimulus spending particularly in the United States. "Some of those moneys have not trickled down to projects, but we are very optimistic that the future looks good for that industry here in North America," Bombardier spokesman Talal Zouaoui said in an i

Some of those moneys have not trickled down to projects, but we are very optimistic that the future looks good for that industry here in North America   -Talal Zouaoui