
The Toulouse VAL © Guillame Paumier/Flickr
On 15 January SMTC Tisséo, the transport authority for the Toulouse area, awarded Siemens a contract to increase the capacity of line A of the city’s 2-line automated metro network.
The €66 million-contract includes doubling the length of trains and station platforms from 26 to 52 metres. It also includes modifying the automation, the control centre, platform screen doors, power supplies and depots. Read more →

One of line M4’s 15 Alstom Metropolis trainsets
The Hungarian National Transport Authority has given the green light for driverless operations on Metro Line 4. This was announced by its President, Gyula Győri, and by Budapest Mayor, István Tarlós, on 6 January.
Drivelerless operations have started on the line.
Line 4 started passenger service in March 2014, its trains equipped with a driver’s cabin staffed by a train supervisor. The line was however designed to be fully driverless, with the possibility to remove the cabins.
The line runs between Keleti and Kelenföld railway stations with 8 intermediate stations. It is 7.4 kilometers long and crosses underneath the Danube.
Source: press release (in Hungarian)

Line 4 will be the second Paris metro line, after Line 1, to be converted to UTO.
RATP (Régie autonome des transports parisiens) has chosen Siemens to equip Paris Metro Line 4 with signaling and operations control systems for its conversion to fully automated operation.
The order volume totals slightly over €67 million. Read more →

DTL2 Botanic Gardens station (© LTA)
On 27 December, revenue service started on phase 2 of Singapore’s Downtown Line. The new extension comprises 16.6 km and 12 stations, connecting to Bukit Panjang in the north-west.
Like all existing and future stations of the Downtown Line, the new stations have platform screen doors, lifts, heavy duty escalators with energy saving features, tunnel ventilation and fire protection systems.