City Purchases 60 New LRT Cars

The City has finalized negotiations with Siemens Canada for the purchase of 60 new LRT cars.

Since December 2012, Calgary Transit had been in the process of selecting a new, long-term strategic partner for the supply of new vehicles. Siemens — out of Sacramento, California — and their S200 vehicles was one of five companies bidding for the project. The S200 cars are air-conditioned, have a new design compared to what Calgarians are used to increasing comfort, passenger information, reliability, security and accessibility. The new vehicles will enable future four-car CTrain operation and the replacement of some of the oldest vehicles in the Calgary fleet with the expectation of being three to four times more reliable.

City council approved $133 million of Provincial Green TRIP funding in addition to $67 million in previously approved funds for a total of $200 million to purchase 60 new cars. Each new vehicle will cost approximately $3.2 million.

Calgary's entire U2 fleet — the oldest cars — has 32 cars older than their planned life. RouteAhead, Calgary's strategic plan has identified the fleet will need to grow from 192 to 390 over the next 30 years to achieve transportation targets.

The first new vehicle has an expected delivery date of August 2015 with all 60 cars in the city by December 2016.

Tagged: Calgary Transit | City of Calgary | RouteAhead | Uncategorized