American light rail systems renew fleets
SEVERAL cities in the USA started building light rail systems in the 1980s and 1990s, often in places that previously had tram networks which had been removed in the 1930s-50s. As a result, many of these cities now need to replace their original light rail fleets.
In recent months an order from St Louis operator Metro Transit for up to 55 new high floor Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs) has been placed with Siemens. The St Louis ‘MetroRail’ light rail system opened in stages between 1993 and 2006 and now stretches to 74km in length. Reopened with light rail tracks on the former mainline rail deck in 2003, the route includes crossing the river Mississippi on the oldest bridge over that river – the Eads Bridge which celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2024.
The contract includes a firm order for 24 vehicles and options for another 31; if all the vehicles are ordered it will be worth around $390 million. The new LRVs, designated S200 by Siemens and based on those delivered to San Fransico from 2017, will replace much of the original St Louis fleet built by Siemens and Duewag (the first 31 delivered were partly built in Germany in 1991-93), as well as later similar vehicles built by Siemens in the USA. The new LRVs will all be built in the USA and deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2026.
In California, the light rail system in the State Capital, Sacramento, has also ordered new LRVs from Siemens, which will build them at its factory in the city. A fleet of 36 low floor type S700 vehicles were ordered in 2020, followed by a further eight in late 2023.
The first of the new vehicles have been delivered and should enter service in mid-2024, replacing Siemens U2a type vehicles built in the mid1980s for the opening of the Sacramento system in 1987. Expansion over the next four decades has resulted in a system that is now 69km long.