USA: The City of Milwaukee agreed terms with rolling stock manufacturer Brookville Equipment Corp on November 13 for the supply of four Liberty Modern Streetcars to operate its starter line. The $18·6m contract includes options for up to 20 more vehicles.
The three-section bidirectional trams will be 20·4 m long and 2 600 mm wide with capacity for 150 passengers. There will be 32 seats, including four tip-up seats, and two doors per side. The trams will be equipped with bicycle racks and air-conditioning, and will be powered by four 99 kW AC traction motors. They will be ‘majority low-floor’, with floors to be supplied by Milwaukee Composites.
Deliveries are scheduled to take place between late 2017 and early 2018. The order is funded from federal grants, which means that the vehicles are mandated to meet Buy America requirements specifying at least 60% US content and final assembly in the USA.
The trams will run in mixed traffic on the 3·4 route-km standard gauge route between Burns Commons and Clybourne Street.
The city’s Joint Committee on Downtown Streetcar Implementation has also authorised the Department of Public Works to exercise an option for a fifth vehicle, which will be required for the 1·2 km Lakefront Line branch. In October the Department of Transportation announced that Milwaukee is to receive a $14·2m TIGER grant for construction of this extension.
