Inauguration of M5 extension
The third section of metro Line 5 from Garibaldi to San Siro Stadio opened on 29 April 2015, two days before the inauguration of Expo 2015, providing for the first time a direct convenient access to the famous San Siro football stadium. The five new stations of the 7.1 km west extension are Domodossola, Lotto, Segesta, San Siro Ippodromo and San Siro Stadio. Milan’s major Giuliano Pisapia and transport operator ATM’s chairman Bruno Rota attended the opening ceremony at San Siro Stadio station, before travelling on the inaugural train between the new stations. Line 5, the first fully automated – driverless – metro line in Milano, has been operated by ATM since 2013: the first 4.1 km long stretch from Bignami to Zara (7 stations) opened in February 2013, followed by the 1.4 km long Zara – Garibaldi extension in March 2014.
Line M5 now reaches the San Siro temple of football
The new 7.1 km extension provides connections at Domodossola station with the suburban railway station, and, above all, at Lotto station with metro line M1, allowing passengers to interchange with the “old” red light and Expo visitors to continue their travel to the Expo site. Trains run every 3 minutes during peak times and from 4 to 6 minutes in off-peak times. During the first days, ridership has almost doubled, carrying from the previous 50.000 to more than 95.000 passengers a day. At the new San Siro stadium terminus, a specific filter zone has been installed, just outside the stop, in order to regulate passenger flows in case of football matches or concerts, when no more than 500 passengers at a time will be able to enter the station.
Stations equipped with platform screen doors
With the opening of this latest extension, Milan’s metro network increased from 103 to 108 stations and from 94 to 101 km, confirming the recent large development of the transport network, which will soon be visible during the UITP World Congress and Exhibition in June 2015. The remaining five stations of the 7,1 km extension of Line 5 – Monumentale, Cenisio, Gerusalemme, Tre Torri and Portello – are to open later this year, reaching altogether 12,6 km and 19 stations.
Daegu Line 3 train
Sky Rail, the Line 3 monorail of Daegu’s urban railway system and the third metro line in the city of Daegu, South Korea, opened on April 23.
The automated line is 24 kilometer long, has 30 elevated stations and runs ten meters above the ground from Chilgok in the northwest to Dong-A Suseong in the southeast, intersecting with Line 2 at Sinnam (formerly Seomun Market) station, and with Line 1 at Myeongdeok Station.
The line is operated by the Daegu Metropolitan Transit Corporation (DTRO).
Trains by Hitachi and Woojin Industrial Systems
The contract for the construction of the 28 three-car driverless trainsets was awarded to Hitachi, Ltd., Transportation Systems in 2008 and construction began in June 2009.
The first vehicle on the line is a Hitachi model produced in Japan and the remaining vehicles have been produced by Woojin Industrial Systems in Korea. Though the driverless vehicles are able to reach a top speed of 70km/h, they will travel at a much slower average speed of 30km/h. In the event of an emergency, the vehicles are equipped with special emergency “spiral chutes” which drop down so passengers can quickly evacuate to the ground below.
Special glass to protect privacy
The highlight of the Daegu Monorail is the “mist or smart glass”, which automatically activates when passing close to apartments or other residential buildings to help prevent invasion of privacy.
Trains run every 3.5-4 minutes and admit up 265 people (398 at maximum in pick hours). They are 2.9 meters wide, 15 meters long, and 5.24 meters high.
Video: Timelapse of Daegu monorail
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