Sound Transit Orders Additional Siemens Light Rail Vehicles
Sound Transit, the regional transit system serving the Seattle and Central Puget Sound area in the US state of Washington, has placed an order with Siemens for 30 additional S70 type light rail vehicles (LRVs).
The trains will be operated on the regional transit system serving Seattle and the central Puget Sound area. With this order, Sound Transit is exercising an option of a contract that was signed in 2016. The original contract was for a total of 122 LRVs.
Siemens Light Rail Vehicles
This new order will bring the total number of Siemens light rail vehicles for the region to 152. The trains will be built at the Siemens plant in Sacramento, California, where the first batch is now in production. The first LRV is expected to arrive in early 2019.
With these new trains Sound Transit is to continue to expand their fleet, accommodate its growing ridership and specifically serve the extension projects to Federal Way and downtown Redmond. The new vehicles will feature a sleek appearance with a more spacious interior with additional room for passengers and will further enhance the rider’s experience through advance passenger information systems. Additionally, the vehicles will include extra space for luggage, hooks to store up to four bicycles per vehicle, and an energy efficient LED lighting system.
Sound Transit CEO Peter Rogoff, said:
“Ordering more Link cars earlier than planned is just one example of how we’re moving forward aggressively to build a light rail network that will serve up to 188 million riders a year by 2040”
“These additional vehicles will ensure that we will be ready in 2024 to launch service on the first two light rail extensions just adopted by Puget Sound voters in November.”
Sandra Gott-Karlbauer, CEO of the Siemens Business Unit Urban Transport, added:
“Light rail systems play an essential role in helping cities to reduce congestion, spur economic development and manage population growth. We provide tailor-made transportation solutions for cities around the world which meet their needs”
Siemens Presence in Seattle
Siemens has an extensive transportation portfolio footprint in Seattle and the Washington State region including the light rail vehicles for Sound Transit, new California-built clean diesel-electric Charger locomotives that will soon be running on the Amtrak Cascades service, and traffic management software that intelligently syncs and manages Seattle’s traffic systems to reduce congestion.
Original article © Siemens.
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