USA: CAF has been awarded a contract to supply 26 five-section light rail vehicles for the Purple Line project in the Maryland suburbs of Washington DC.
The contract announced by CAF on June 28 is to be managed by its CAF USA subsidiary, which will manufacture the LRVs at its plant in Elmira, New York. The contract is worth more than US$200m and includes spare parts, tools and test equipment.
CAF USA also has a 20% stake in a joint venture with Fluor and Alternate Concepts that will operate and maintain the Purple Line for 30 years from opening which is planned for early 2022.
The Purple Line will run 16·2 km from Bethesda in Montgomery County to New Carrollton in Prince George’s County with 21 stops. There will be interchanges with MARC commuter and Amtrak inter-city services, the Washington Metro’s Red, Orange and Green lines and bus routes.
