This back-up control centre will be installed at the Ariz depot in Basauri, which will take over control of the operation of all systems on the network should a serious incident knock out the current control centre at Calle Navarra 2.

Work is already ongoing to adapt the Metro’s interlock systems, to the tune of a further €400,000, to ready them for use with the new back-up control centre.

The current control centre is also to be fitted with additional traffic management functions to upgrade its internal operation.

The main actions include refurbishing the track between Ibarbengoa and Larrabasterra at a cost of €2,194,794 and purchasing a new lathe to repair and optimise wheels at the maintenance sheds in Sopela at a cost of €1,149,500. In its meeting this morning the CTB also approved the early repayment of two loans using the remaining budget allocation from last year, and gave the go-ahead for the funding of improvements in the sewerage and water supply networks for the below-ground area in Urduliz.

The Artxanda funicular railway has obtained the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence for the second year running. This is the 7th edition of these recognitions, which are awarded on the basis of favourable reviews from users on the TripAdvisor website.

At the San Nicolás station today, CTB General Manager Manu Tejada announced the winners of the 4th “A Look at Public Transport in Bizkaia” photo contest. He thanked contestants for all the 352 entries submitted. The winning pictures were those of Iñaki Alonso in the category of “Our Public Transport], Manuela Gallardo in “My Life on Public Transport” and José Ignacio Olabarria in “Innovations and Improvements in Public Transport in Bizkaia”. The consolation prize went to Cristina Vañes.

The Bizkaia Transport Consortium (CTB) rates the first full, comparable month since the introduction of the new one-off multi-mode tickets on 8 March. The new system has proven to respond well to the demand from public transport users in Bizkaia.

The usual customer service points of Metro Bilbao, Euskotren, Bizkaibus, Bilbobus, Renfe and the CTB Customer Service Office (OAC) at San Mamés continue to offer information and advice on which tickets best suit users in each case.

In an event held at the municipal theatre in Barakaldo with the participation of Provincial Councillor for Sustainability and the Natural Environment Elena Unzueta, Head of Environmental Affairs at the Provincial Council fo Biuzkaia Unai Gangoiti, Head of Natural Heritage and Climate Change Affairs at the Basque Government Aitor Zulueta and Chairman of GAP Internacional Carlos Oppe, the pupils in question received diplomas acknowledging their involvement in Actívate+.

The jury for the programme also awarded the prizes for the best projects out of all those submitted by the 19 schools that took part in the scheme this year.

TAmong other points, the plan is to analyse possible shortcomings, overlaps and duplications in the various modes of transport and work towards the implementation of a far integration system.
The first meeting of this new institutional cooperation body also approved the setting up of new integrated customer service offices.

The General Council of the CTB has approved a tender for the supply of a new track car for catenary maintenance at a cost of €1,270,000 and for the adaptation of passenger doors on 24 Metro units, for the amount of €1,520,000

• With investment to the tune of €21 million and 24 months of work, the last level crossing on the Metro network has finally been eliminated.
• The new track runs below ground for 543 m, including a new underground station with a single, 6 m wide central platform shared by both tracks.”
• With this change the residents of Urduliz have gained 6000 m2 of public space. Track layouts in Sopela and Plentzia are also being upgraded as a result of this work.
• The replacement shuttle bus service that has been running between Plentzia and Sopela over the 24 months of the work has ceased to run today.

Barik card users can now access discount fares on the whole network, and multi-validation is now possible on non personalised cards.

This inter-operability project was first introduced on Line 45 in February and has been gradually extended week by week, up to today.