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London will invest €4.5 billion into public transport infrastructures over the next 5 years
The British government released on 20th July its White Paper about the future of Transport in the UK by 2030. This document, in line with the Spending Review for 2004/2009, supports the Business Plan of Transport for London of almost €4.5 billion of capital investments for the coming 5 years. This announcement is good news
The French State will withdraw from public transport organisation in Paris (Ile-de-France)
The French Parliament adopted on 30th July a law on devolution of powers from the State to local authorities, which contains a chapter on public transport in the region of Paris Ile-de- France (11 million inhabitants). According to this law, the French State, which currently has the majority of stakes in STIF, the regional public
Metro keeps growing in Porto and fare integration under way
One year after the inauguration of its first section (see EMTA News n°9), the metro network keeps growing in the second largest Portuguese metropolitan area (1.5 million inhabitants). The section of 12km (18 stations) inaugurated in December 2002 (Blue line) carried 6 million passengers during its first year of operation, and patronage increased by 30%
New contract for local and regional railways in Rhine-Ruhr
VRR, the public transport authority of the Rhine-Ruhr conurbation (7.2 million inhabitants on a 5,000km2 territory in Germany around Düsseldorf and Essen), signed in July a new contract with DB German railways for the operation of local and regional railway services. The 15-year contract reaches a total value of €6 billion. According to the contract,
Successful fare integration implemented in Seville
Greater Seville includes 22 municipalities for a total population of 1.2 million inhabitants. Achieving greater fare integration between the 10 companies operating transport networks on its 1,300km2 territory has been a major objective of the Consorcio de Transportes del Area de Sevilla, the metropolitan transport authority since it was set up in March 2001. On
The Commission releases a White Paper on services of general interest
The European Commission released on 12th May a White Paper on services of general interest, which acknowledges that services of general interest are an essential component of the European model of society, and stresses the need to achieve public service obligations in competitive open markets. The Commission thinks it is premature to propose new framework
Bombardier cuts plants and jobs and Alstom is still between life and death
The Canadian manufacturer Bombardier (turnover of €13 billion in 2003), one of the main railway manufacturers, announced in March that it will cut 6,500 jobs, that is to say 18% of the staff working in its transport division, so as to reduce excess capacity. Seven plants will be closed in five European countries (Germany, Portugal,
Belgian Railways SNCB to be split soon
The Belgian government announced in March that national railways SNCB (turnover of €3.7 billion in 2003, with 42,000 staff members) will be split into two companies soon: one responsible for managing the infrastructure, other in charge of operating services. A new holding owning the two sister companies will be set up. This evolution, which takes
New shareholder for Keolis
Keolis one of the main public transport operators in Europe (turnover of €1.6 billion in 2002 in 9 countries with 27,000 staff members, leader on the French urban transport market with a share of 40%), is about to go through a major reshuffling of its ownership structure with the sale by the bank BNP-Paribas of
Tramways are back in Barcelona
34 years after the closure of the last tramway line serving the Catalan capital city, four lines of the new tramway network of Barcelona (see EMTA News n°2) were inaugurated in April and May. This network consists in two separate infrastructures: Trambaix, connecting Barcelona with Southern suburbs, and Trambesos, connecting Barcelona with Northen suburbs. Trambaix,
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