Barcelona, Spain – AP Moeller-Maersk AS (OTC: AMKBY) is launching a new rail product from the Port of Barcelona to Southern France especially designed to cut transit times of ocean cargo destined to the areas Toulouse, Bordeaux and Lyon by using Barcelona as an alternative gateway. Starting early November there will be three weekly direct block trains between Barcelona and Toulouse as well as one weekly connection between Barcelona and Lyon. Via Toulouse the solution also connects cargo to Bordeaux seamlessly by using a partner network. Furthermore, it is intended to extend the connectivity on the Spanish side by rail to the areas of Tarragona and Zaragoza.
This new offering can shorten transit times for import and export cargo in the areas Toulouse, Bordeaux and Lyon by up to 12 days (7 days on average) compared to traditional routings via French or North European ports. Thanks to shorter transport distances and the utilisation of electrified trains it can also be a more environmentally friendly routing. The block trains can also be booked for intra-continental cargo between Spain and France.
Maersk is operating this new end to end service via its own company APM Spain Railways and cooperates for the trains with the partners Captrain and Naviland.
Thanks to brand new interoperable locomotives, the block trains neither have to stop to change the locomotive or replace wheel-sets at the Spanish-French border for seamless operations and best-in-class reliability.
With around 4,500 train cars already delivered, Bombardier’s Chinese joint venture is the only Sino-foreign entity to win a new Chinese standard high-speed train bid
New Chinese standard high-speed train cars to enhance passenger experience and contribute to the expansion of the world’s longest high-speed rail network
Global mobility solution provider Bombardier Transportation announced today that its Chinese joint venture, Bombardier Sifang (Qingdao) Transportation Ltd. (BST), has been awarded a contract from China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. (CHINA RAILWAY) to supply 160 CR400AF cars, a new Chinese standard high-speed train car for China’s evolving high-speed rail network. The 160 cars will be configured into ten 16-car trainsets with an operating speed of 350 km/h. The total contract is valued at approximately 2.97 billion CNY ($427 million US, 380 million euro). Bombardier Transportation owns 50 per cent of the shares in BST, which is consolidated by Bombardier Transportation’s partner CRRC Sifang Rolling Stock Co., Ltd.
Jianwei Zhang, President, Bombardier Transportation China, said, “We are very proud to have been chosen to supply the new generation of CR400AF cars, a high-speed railway car, through our BST joint venture. China’s high-speed rail industry has become one of the nation’s economic pillar industries and the high-speed network has brought greater mobility and prosperity to the public. Bombardier is proud of its contributions to China’s rail industry and looks forward to delivering more of the high-quality products that are helping China meet its ambitious long-term mobility goals.”
In 2018, BST won two contracts to build a total of 288 CR400AF cars and every car was delivered on-time and on quality. This latest contract is BST’s third and reflects the trust that CHINA RAILWAY has in BST’s efficiency, reliability and competitive edge. All 160 cars will be delivered by mid-2020.
Bombardier Transportation in China is the full solution provider across the entire value chain. From vehicles and propulsion to services and design, Bombardier Transportation in China has seven joint ventures, six wholly foreign-owned enterprises, and more than 8,000 employees. Together, the joint ventures have delivered 4,500 railway passenger cars, 580 electric locomotives and over 2,500 metro cars, Monorail, APM, and trams to China’s growing rail transit markets. It is a major signalling supplier to the Chinese high-speed network and through its joint ventures, propulsion equipment and signalling systems are utilized in a total of 30 Chinese cities.
In 1996, Bombardier Transportation pioneered a new mobility solution for Singapore’s first light rail transit system – the driverless BOMBARDIER INNOVIA APM 100 automated people mover. This fully automated transit system went into service in 1999 on the revolutionary Bukit Panjang LRT line to improve the quality of life for residents by connecting outlying residential areas with the high-capacity Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) rail network as well to schools, retail, community and healthcare centers.
2019 marks the 20th anniversary of the first APM’s entry into service, a historic milestone for Bombardier. The INNOVIA APM system embodies the evolution of automated transit operations over many years at numerous locations around the globe, from London and Guangzhou to Phoenix and San Francisco – the INNOVIA APM is in use in many of the world’s busiest international airports and city districts. Currently, Bombardier has 32 APM vehicles circulating Bukit Panjang with an annual ridership of 24 million passengers, bringing residents closer to their homes.
Singapore’s Bukit Panjang LRT line
Singapore’s Bukit Panjang LRT line, runs on afully-automated people mover system based on the INNOVIA APM 100 automated people mover system. Already in service in many of the world’s busiest cities and biggest airports, this proven passenger mobility solution provides safe, swift and seamless connectivity between the outlying residential areas and the city.
The iconic Bukit Panjang LRT line is an 8-km automated guideway transit solution intended to serve the residential town located in the West Region of Singapore, acting as a replacement to the many buses deployed through the town, especially during rush hour. With an estimated population of 140,000, half of Bukit Panjang’s residents rely on the LRT for their daily commute. A complete loop journey takes 28 minutes, serving 13 stations, providing a feeder service to connect residents to the two high-capacity North-South (red) and Downtown (blue) MRT lines, moving them to the city.
Operating on a dedicated elevated guideway at a speed between 20km/h to 65 km/h, this arrangement ensures consistent service that provides shorter waiting times for the passengers without interfering with surrounding road traffic. The current BOMBARDIER CITYFLO 550 rail control and signalling system and wireless communications supports the system’s operation while ensuring seamless integration into the city’s existing infrastructure.
Singapore’s INNOVIA APM system
Upgrading Bukit Panjang
In 2018, Bombardier signed an asset replacement contract to upgrade the Bukit Panjang LRT system by supplying a fleet of 19 BOMBARDIERINNOVIA APM 300 vehicles, retrofitting 13 existing INNOVIA APM 100 vehicles, as well as upgrading its current CITYFLO 550 technology to the advanced CITYFLO 650 CBTC solution for a smoother ride for commuters. Other works include power rail enhancement and condition monitoring through Train Control Management System.
Working hand-in-hand with the Singapore Land Transport Authority to design a next-generation train with modern aesthetics, the new features incorporated advanced technology for improved performance and functionality, as well as enabling interchangeability with existing APM 100 vehicles. From 2022, the asset replacement is set to improve rail reliability, safety and availability for optimal performance of the Bukit Panjang LRT line.
The ride ahead
After two decade of services, the system achieved an improved performance and for the period of October 2018 to September 2019, it reached a rail reliability performance of 64,000 train-km before a delay of more than five minutes occurs on the system. Along with the Bukit Panjang LRT system upgrade, Bombardier will support a ten-year maintenance and spare part supply agreement to provide reliable services, ensuring that the authority and operator gain the maximum value from their assets over the lifetime of their system with proven competence. The renewed APM system will continue to set the high urban mobility standards for the Bukit Panjang LRT line and globally in the frame of Bombardier’s urban transit innovation.
Singapore LTA’s target is to expand its urban rail network to 360km by 2030, which creates demand and opportunities for rail manufacturers while driving innovation towards Singapore’s Smart Nation vision. Bombardier’s full spectrum of rail solutions, combining technology and performance with empathy, from driverless metros to automated people mover, helps deliver sustainable mobility and reduces energy consumption to create substantial benefits for operators, commuters and the environment.
Investing in Singapore for the last twenty years, Bombardier has delivered 276 driverless BOMBARDIERMOVIA metro cars for Singapore’s Downtown Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line and 32 INNOVIA APM 100 cars for the Bukit Panjang LRT system. In 2018, two asset replacement contracts were awarded to supply 19 new INNOVIAAPM 300 cars for the Bukit Panjang LRT line and 396 MOVIA metro cars for the two high-capacity North-South and East-West MRT lines. Bombardier is committed to designing better trains, customizing solutions and creating better ways to move residents across Singapore, making sure Bombardier’s mobility solution works for the community and providing for the future.
The renewed INNOVIA APM system will continue to set the high urban mobility standard for the Bukit Panjang LRT line and globally in the frame of Bombardier’s urban transit innovation.
INNOVIA APM vehicles carry twelve million passengers annually at Frankfurt am Main Airport – with almost 100 percent reliability
The system’s 25-year anniversary corresponds with Fraport’s opening of Terminal 2
Bombardier’s Frankfurt team celebrating the 25th anniversary of successfully operating and maintaining the INNOVIA APM fleet at Frankfurt Airport.
Today, global mobility solution provider Bombardier Transportation celebrates 25 years of fully automatic BOMBARDIER INNOVIA APM 100 people mover system’s operation at Frankfurt am Main Airport. The system and Fraport’s Terminal 2 opened on the same day 25 years ago. Since 1994, Germany’s first elevated passenger transport system called the SkyLine, has connected Terminals 1 and 2. With an average reliability of 99.83 percent, twelve million passengers and guests per year safely and comfortably arrive at their destinations in the terminals – around the clock.
“We’d like to congratulate our customer on this quarter century anniversary. We have a very successful and long-standing partnership with Fraport, which marks our joint success in moving millions of travelers between terminals at the Frankfurt Airport,” said Michael Fohrer, Head of Bombardier Transportation Germany.
“Fraport benefits from a high-performing turnkey transit system, which was not only manufactured by Bombardier, but also operated and maintained. I am grateful to all our committed and competent employees, without them this milestone would not have been possible,” emphasized Alexander Ketterl, Head of Sales and Delivery German cities at Bombardier Transportation.
Volker Maul, Head of the Bombardier team at Frankfurt Airport, can look back on the people mover system’s 25 years of service. “The excellent cooperation within our team and with our customer built the foundation for the system’s near 100 percent reliability. Bombardier’s operations and maintenance program is carefully designed to optimize system performance and ensure potential problems are identified and resolved before the service’s efficiency is compromised,” he explained.
Fraport’s fleet of 18 INNOVIA vehicles transport around thirty-five thousand passengers daily, on the 3.8 km route between departure terminals. During peak times, the trains depart every 90 seconds with each wagon carrying up to 60 passengers and their luggage.
In 1994, Fraport was the first German customer to invest in Bombardier’s driverless system, installed with the proven BOMBARDIER CITYFLO 550 signaling system. CITYFLO delivers the highest levels of safety while meeting customer demand for flexible, high-performance and cost-effective solutions.More than 30 Bombardier people mover systems are in successful operation worldwide, including urban areas such as Guangzhou and airports in London, Rome, Madrid, Phoenix, Dubai and Tampa among other cities.
Once completed in 2023, the $2 billion transit hub will be the largest facility of its kind in the world with a vehicle leaving every two seconds at peak operations
Board of Airport Commissioners (BOAC) Commissioner Bea Hsu, BOAC Commissioner Gabriel Eshaghian, BOAC Vice President Valeria Velasco, BOAC President Sean Burton, Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) Chief Executive Officer Deborah Flint, Councilmember Joe Buscaino, Mayor Eric Garcetti, Councilmember Mike Bonin, Deputy Mayor Billy Chun, Director of Economic Infrastructure -Office of Mayor Garcetti David Reich, LAWA Chief Operating Officer Justin Erbacci, LAWA Chief Development Officer Bernardo Gogna and LAX ConRAC Partners Project Executive Karl Schaefer.
(Los Angeles, CA) Mayor Eric Garcetti broke ground today on the Consolidated Rent-A-Car (ConRAC) facility at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), which will centralize rental car operations into one convenient location and offer a direct connection to the upcoming Automated People Mover (APM) train. The Mayor was joined at the ceremony by Councilmembers Mike Bonin and Joe Buscaino, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, Board of Airport Commissioners (BOAC) President Sean Burton, and Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) CEO Deborah Flint, as well as community and labor leaders.
“We are building the world-class airport travelers need and deserve — and the Consolidated Rent-A-Car facility groundbreaking demonstrates how we’re keeping this promise,” said Mayor Garcetti. “Our city is doing so much more than building a parking structure — we are making an investment that will improve the traveling experience, reduce congestion in surrounding neighborhoods, and create middle-class careers for years to come.”
Since taking office, Mayor Garcetti has led a more than $14 billion transformation of LAX that began in 2009. Mayor Garcetti’s historic infrastructure investments have strengthened working families and the middle class. Under his leadership, unemployment has been cut in half while close to 200,000 new jobs have been created. Construction of the ConRAC is expected to create more than 1,000 jobs.
The 5.3 million square foot ConRAC facility will feature 18,000 parking stalls with 6,600 ready/return spaces, 10,000 idle vehicle storage spaces, and 1,100 rental car employee spaces as well as visitor parking. A Quick-Turn Around facility will also be on-site, allowing for fueling, washing, and light maintenance of rental car vehicles.
Mayor Eric Garcetti provides remarks during the groundbreaking ceremony.
Reducing congestion at LAX — as well as in surrounding communities — is at the heart of the ConRAC project. The consolidated facility will completely remove rental car shuttle traffic from the Central Terminal Area (CTA), which equates to 3,200 shuttle trips per day. The removal of the shuttles will improve traffic on the roadways and free up critical curbside boarding space in the CTA.
“This is a big step toward LAX becoming a world-class airport for travelers and a first-class neighbor to Westchester and Playa del Rey,” said Councilmember Mike Bonin. “Especially once it is connected to the new Automated People Mover, this new Consolidated Rent-A-Car Facility will reduce the number of shuttles and vans navigating the Central Terminal Area and nearby neighborhoods, improving both local traffic and air quality. That is a big win and exciting progress to celebrate.”
“This has been a momentous year for LAX,” said Councilmember Joe Buscaino. “LAX continues to move full steam ahead with its $14 billion investment to create a fully transformed airport of the future. The ConRAC is just one of the many groundbreakings held this year which highlight the efforts LAX is making to improve passenger experience which increases tourism and improves our local economy.”
As the second largest rental car market among domestic airports, the ConRAC will improve and streamline the car rental process at LAX. The facility will be built with an eye to the future and designed to accommodate new and emerging vehicle types such as autonomous vehicles. Additionally, movable concrete barriers will allow for the quick reallocation of space as rental car companies’ market shares shift.
The ConRAC is an important component of the Landside Access Modernization Program (LAMP), which also includes an Automated People Mover train that will connect travelers directly to airport terminals and create new and convenient locations for passenger pick-up and drop-off outside the Central Terminal Area. Once completed in 2023, the APM will connect with L.A. Metro’s light rail system.
Rendering of the ConRAC Facility at night.
“The ConRAC Facility will provide a rental car experience worthy of a world-class airport,” said BOAC President Sean Burton. “This project doesn’t just benefit those renting cars — it benefits the local economy and community through the creation of 1,000 jobs and by relieving vehicle congestion on the roads in and around LAX.”
“We are future-proofing everything we build at LAX,” said Deborah Flint, CEO, LAWA. “Every project under construction or on the drawing board will meet our needs now and be capable of adapting to new technology and demands. The ConRAC Facility is a prime example of how to future-proof so we can protect our investments.”
On October 26, 2018, the Los Angeles City Council approved an approximately $2 billion public-private partnership between LAWA and LAX ConRAC Partners (LAXCP), with LAXCP designing, building, financing, operating, and maintaining the facility for a 28-year period. LAXCP has committed to 30% local hiring, which exceeds local hiring requirements, and together with LAWA is developing opportunities for local small businesses. LAXCP has also agreed to sponsor 100 new, local apprentices and feature all-union labor on the ConRAC facility.
“Collectively, the LAXCP team has extensive experience designing, building, and operating nearly 30 ConRACs domestically and internationally,” said Karl Schaefer, LAXCP Project Executive. “We are proud to use our shared know how to help LAWA create a top tier experience for the traveling public at LAX while we honor our commitment to provide local hire economic opportunities and environmental sustainability.”
Mayor Garcetti has made sustainability a priority of his administration. The ConRAC facility is designed to reflect Los Angeles’ standing as one of the world’s leading sustainable cities and will include native drought-tolerant landscaping, reclaimed water usage, more than 200 Level 2 electric vehicle chargers, and a solar farm generating over 8,400 megawatt hours annually.
New agreement continues long-standing relationship with San Francisco International Airport
Latest contract highlights Bombardier’s position as industry-leading services provider for automated transit systems
Mobility technology leader Bombardier Transportation announced today that it has signed a new contract with the City and County of San Francisco to provide ten years of operations and maintenance services for the BOMBARDIER INNOVIA APM 100 automated people mover (APM) system at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). The contract is valued at $220 million US (193 million euro) and includes an option for an additional five years.
“With this new contract, we will continue to provide San Francisco International Airport with the operations and maintenance services as well as the INNOVIA APM vehicles and signalling technology that bring safe and reliable service to the over seven million passengers who ride the AirTrain system every year,” said Elliot G. (Lee) Sander, President, Americas Division, Bombardier Transportation. “We look forward to supporting the airport as it extends and modernizes the AirTrain system to meet its future mobility requirements.”
Bombardier delivered the airport’s transit system, known as SFO AirTrain, and has been providing operations and maintenance services since it opened in 2003. The AirTrain fleet of 38 INNOVIA APM 100 vehicles serves nine stations along six miles of elevated guideway and connects the airport’s terminals, parking garages, rental car center, and a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station. Under a contract awarded in 2016, Bombardier is providing three additional INNOVIA APM 100 vehicles, a 2,000-foot guideway extension, a new station, and a signalling upgrade.
Bombardier has nearly 50 years of experience in designing, building, operating and maintaining automated transit systems for airports and cities in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Nine of the ten busiest airports in the United States, including SFO, have chosen Bombardier for their automated transit systems.
SFO AirTrain was the world’s first automated transit system to feature the state-of-the-art BOMBARDIER CITYFLO 650 communications-based train control technology. Among other features, this technology allows a high degree of operating flexibility to accommodate peak passenger demands.
