Metro says light-rail traffic could rise, justify new rail cars
Lingering funds from rail purchase in 2011 are part of negotiations to bring 14 new Siemens units to the Houston area
Metro officials are considering buying an additional 14 rail cars despite declining or flat ridership on Houston’s light-rail lines. They say the region will need more vehicles by the time the trains are ready.
“This is not a final decision to do it,” Metropolitan Transit Authority board vice chairman Jim Robinson said.
The board is scheduled to approve the first step of buying the trains on Thursday, via an agreement with the Minneapolis Metropolitan Council. Though in the preliminary stages, the purchase would be in the range of $70 million for the new trains and be paid for from federal funds still available from Houston’s light-rail expansion, approved by the Federal Transit Administration in 2011.
Minneapolis, which oversees the major transit agency in the Twin Cities, purchased 27 rail cars from Siemens via an agreement in 2016. The deal included the ability to buy 23 more, or transfer the rights to the remaining cars to a partner agency.
If approved by both sides, Metro would buy 14 of the rail cars. The Siemens vehicles would be upgraded versions of Metro’s 37 Siemens railcars, 19 of which Houston officials bought in a similar deal from Utah Transit Authority in 2011 as they readied for light-rail expansion.
Metro has until Dec. 31 to finalize the purchase. Typically, it takes two or three years after agreeing to the purchase for the trains to arrive and enter service, Metro chief operations officer Andy Skabowski said.
Specifics would be worked out as the purchase proceeds, as Houston and Minneapolis have different needs for rail cars. In the north where winters are more severe, agencies
typically install features such as ice scrapers, which would be unnecessary in Houston. Officials here might demand more powerful air conditioners.
Metro has 76 rail cars. Previous purchases were to ensure Metro was ready to open the extension of the Red Line north of downtown that opened in 2013 and the Green and Purple lines that opened in 2015.
As use of the lines increased, officials planned to purchase more railcars, Metro CEO Tom Lambert said. Originally, the agency had estimated it would need 22 rail cars to handle growth, though the board later scaled back the needs to 14 rail cars at the staff’s suggestion in June 2017.
“The fundamental foundations of our plans are the same,” Lambert said, noting officials remain confident increased ridership will come along the lines as Houston’s population increases and development continues along Harrisburg and near the University of Houston and Texas Southern University.
Talk of the purchase, however, comes as Metro reports declining rail ridership. In March, total trips on the light-rail system fell to 1.94 million, down 7 percent from March 2017.
Ridership was affected by the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, which had 23 days of operation last year and only 18 last month.
Ridership along the new lines over the past few months has remained flat, Metro director of service planning Jim Archer said. About 4,400 people hopped aboard the Green Line on workdays in March, agency estimates show. The Purple Line averaged nearly 5,900 riders daily.