USA: Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority has formally selected Siemens Mobility to supply 24 S200 light rail vehicles to replace its Red Line metro fleet, with options for more to operate on the Blue and Green lines.
The firm order announced on July 10 is supported by a $130m grant from the Federal Transit Administration’s FY22/23 Rail Vehicle Replacement Programme, with further funding from the Ohio Department of Transportation, Northeast Ohio Areawide Co-ordinating Agency and GCRTA.
The high floor LRVs will be similar to the S200 cars delivered to Calgary Transit since 2013. Michael Cahill, President of Siemens Mobility Rolling Stock in North America, said they would offer ‘enhanced accessibility, technology and safety’.
The vehicles will have doors at two different floor heights for use at high and low-level platforms, which will enable through running from the Red metro line to the Blue and Green light rail lines. Each car will have 52 seats in a transverse configuration, along with standing room, four wheelchair spaces and two bicycle racks.
Features to withstand Cleveland’s cold weather will include ice-cutting pantographs and dedicated cab heating, ventilation and air-conditioning units, heated cab windows and enhanced visibility.
GCRTA and Siemens Mobility expect to finalise the design over the next 15 months, before the vehicles are manufactured at the company’s Sacramento plant. Deliveries are scheduled to be completed in four years.
There are options for up to 36 more cars, which would enable the replacement of the remaining Breda LRVs on Cleveland’s Blue and Green light rail lines, subject to additional funding being secured.
GCRTA estimates that the new fleet will save it $7m/year by reducing repair costs and being more reliable.
‘These new LRVs are catalytic for the health and economics of Greater Cleveland’, said GCRTA General Manager & CEO India L Birdsong Terry. ‘They will promote increased ridership and encourage transit-oriented development along the Red Line communities from East Cleveland to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.’
