Our weekly “New Starts” roundup of new and newsworthy transportation projects worldwide.

Stopgap U.S. Budget Has Good News for Sacramento, Twin Cities
Amid news of likely booby traps planted in the path of rail transit projects nationwide by President Donald Trump’s infrastructure spending plan, there’s some funding in the stopgap spending bill Congress cobbled together Friday to avoid a federal government shutdown that’s likely to make a few cities smile.

There’s $50 million toward a 4-mile modern streetcar line that will run through downtown Sacramento and West Sacramento. The Sacramento Bee reports that work on this project could begin as early as next year as a result of this funding but adds that local officials ultimately want the federal government to pick up half the line’s projected $200 million construction cost. Approval by property owners along the line’s route in downtown Sacramento and a full funding grant agreement with the Federal Transit Administration, set for later this year, are both required for work to proceed.

Meanwhile, the Star Tribune reports that Minneapolis-St. Paul will get $10 million for the controversial Southwest LRT project as part of the bill. Metropolitan Council officials consider this a sign that the FTA will approve a $928 million full funding grant agreement for the $1.9 billion line connecting downtown Minneapolis with Eden Prairie by year’s end. That doesn’t mean smooth sailing ahead for the Southwest LRT project, however; it remains enmeshed in a political tug-of-war between Governor Mark Dayton and an LRT-hostile Republican-controlled state legislature, and local environmental groups have sued to overturn the federal approval of the line’s environmental impact statement, claiming that its route had been decided before environmental review was completed.

Always reliable for news about transit funding and planning, urbanist and journalist Yonah Freemark noted that some other cities might be celebrating too.

In the federal budget agreement: New Start funds approved for DC Purple Line; Minneapolis Southwest light rail; Seattle Lynnwood Link. pic.twitter.com/lLc2QoAXH2

— Yonah Freemark (@yfreemark) May 2, 2017

“Regional Rail Revival” Planned for Victoria
The Australian state of Victoria has committed a total of A$1.45 billion ($1.09 billion U.S.) to a multiyear statewide regional rail renewal and upgrade program in its budget for the coming fiscal year, the International Railway Journal reports.

The one asterisk: To proceed with the whole package, the Victoria state government is counting on Canberra to chip in.

Assuming the Australian federal government’s Asset Recycling Initiative comes through with A$1.46 billion ($1.1 billion U.S.) in funding, the Victoria state government will begin a series of improvements that will expand capacity and speed service on the V/Line regional rail network centered on Melbourne, the state capital and Australia’s second-largest city.

The biggest project announced as part of this package is an A$435 million ($327.1 million U.S.) upgrade of the Gippsland Line that includes double-tracking the line between Moe and Traralgon, improving grade crossings and signals, and station improvements that include additional platforms at several stations.

A$200 million ($150.4 million U.S.) is being allocated for services in the southwest region, including acquisition of land for a future expansion of service to Torquay, and A$39 million ($29.3 million U.S.) will go toward Phase 2 of the Ballarat Line upgrade, a A$518 million ($389.5 million U.S.) project announced in last year’s budget that is also being funded by the allocation from Canberra. Finally, A$91 million ($68.4 million U.S.) will go toward improvements on the Bendigo Line to the northwest.

International Tram Begins Service in Strasbourg
The International Railway Journal reports that service began April 28 on a new international tram line connecting the French city of Strasbourg with the German town of Kehl.

The line extends the Strasbourg tram network’s Line D eastward through the port of Strasbourg, then across the Rhine on a new bridge to the mainline railroad station and town hall in Kehl. The route includes four new stations in Strasbourg at Citadelle, Starcoop and Port du Rhin.

Total cost of the extension is 93 million euros ($101.5 million U.S.). The German federal government picked up 19 million euros ($20.7 million U.S.) of the 44 million euro ($48 million U.S.) cost of the line’s German segment.

Know of a project that should be featured in this column? Send a Tweet with links to @MarketStEl using the hashtag #newstarts.