Met Council Awards $118 Million​ Contract to Build New Light Rail Vehicles

The Met Council announced Wednesday it has awarded a $118 million contract to German-based Siemens for 27 new light rail vehicles for the Southwest LRT Project. The new vehicles will include improvements for passengers and more accessibility features, all while increasing cost-savings, according to the transit agency.

The Council’s action authorizes Siemens to begin engineering the updates for the light rail vehicles. Siemens provided the existing Green Line vehicles five years ago – the new SWLRT vehicles will be improved versions of the Green Line cars, including improvements for users of wheelchairs and passenger with disabilities. They will be compatible with the existing Green Line vehicles, according to a news release.

The Star Tribune reported that construction on the 14-mile line from downtown Minneapolis to Eden Prairie will cost $1.858 billion. The Federal Transit Administration is expected to contribute $928.5 million to the project. Heavy construction will begin in summer 2017.

Light rail vehicle improvements

The Southwest cars will be improved versions of the Green Line cars, also designed and produced by Siemens. Improvements include:

• A redesign of the middle section of the vehicles to provide users of standard wheelchairs three more inches of aisle space, allowing them to traverse the full length of the low-floor area of each car. This will be accomplished by building the seats to face the aisles in the middle sections.
• The addition of automatic passenger counters.
• Ice cutters to remove sleet from the overhead wires that provide electrical current to power the trains.
• Ergonomic improvements for operators.
• Preferred seating to meet Americans with Disabilities guidelines.
• Low-sounding bells.
• Changes to parts and materials that will maintain high quality vehicle performance.

The new light rail vehicles can be paired with the original Green Line cars on both the Green Line and Green Line Extension. Each vehicle will hold more than 200 people fully loaded, with more than 600 people on three-car trains with just one operator. They will provide level boarding with room for four wheelchairs and two bicycles per vehicle, officials say.

Like the original Green Line cars, the Southwest cars will weigh 100,000 pounds, 6,000 pounds lighter than the light rail vehicles made for the Blue Line, which opened in 2004. Lighter cars translate into greater efficiency because they use less electricity, according to transit officials.

First light rail vehicle to be delivered in 2019

The first vehicle is expected to arrive in Minnesota in 2019 from the Siemens plant in California via freight train. After that, delivery is expected at a rate of two cars per month. They will be stored initially in Metro Transit’s operations and maintenance facilities in Minneapolis and tested overnight on existing Blue Line tracks in the tunnel under the MSP Airport. Each vehicle must undergo 500 miles of testing before entering revenue service in 2021.

Production of the light rail vehicles will begin in early spring 2018, after the Council awards the second stage of the contract for Siemens to build the cars.

Image via Michael Hicks, Flickr, used under Creative Commons