New light rail trains hit the track | Finance & Commerce

Metropolitan Council Chairwoman Sue Haigh, at podium, spoke at the Target Field Station on Wednesday as public officials cheered the arrival of the first light rail vehicle that will be used on the Central Corridor Light Rail Transit line. (Staff photo: Bill Klotz)

The train has entered the station.

The Metropolitan Council on Wednesday celebrated the delivery of the first light rail vehicle slated for use on the Central Corridor Light Rail Transit line, describing its arrival as the latest milestone in a hard-fought effort to build out a transit system in the Twin Cities.

Simply labeled No. 201, the vehicle was delivered to the Twin Cities three weeks ago but was presented during a ceremony at the Target Field Station, where city and county officials used it to make the case for more transit investment.

?This, to me, is about momentum and about the reality that this is really going to happen for this region,? Met Council Chairwoman Sue Haigh said in an interview.

The $3.3 million vehicle is one of 47 being assembled by Siemens in Sacramento, Calif., and will be used on the 11-mile, $957 million LRT line between the downtowns of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The second vehicle arrived early Wednesday morning and four more will be delivered every month through April 2014.

Met Council officials say work on the Central Corridor LRT is due to be 75 percent complete by the end of the year, and that the vehicles should begin test runs in mid-2013. Though no official opening date has been set, there are hopes of beginning service by July 15, 2014, when the Major League Baseball All Star Game comes to Target Field.

Another 12 vehicles are also on order for the existing Hiawatha LRT line between Minneapolis and Bloomington, and the Met Council has an option to buy 35 more for the Southwest LRT line, which would run from Minneapolis to Eden Prairie.

No funding for the 15-mile, $1.25 billion Southwest LRT line has been committed, but transit backers say the advancement of the Central Corridor LRT helps make the case for additional investment.

Metropolitan Council Chairwoman Susan Haigh, left, joined St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Arlene McCarthy, the Met Council?s director of transportation services, on Wednesday inside the first light rail vehicle to arrive for the Central Corridor Light Rail Transit line. (Staff photo: Bill Klotz)

?People say we should go slow,? Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak said. ?They are wrong. We are getting our butts kicked.?

If the Twin Cities is catching up in creating its transit system, though, it is ahead of the game in technology.

Mark Fuhrmann, who leads LRT projects for the Met Council, said the new model has more than 1,000 new features compared with those purchased for the Hiawatha LRT line.

The vehicles are lighter weight, have better insulation, improved heating and cooling systems and more safety features.

?This is the best technology available,? Fuhrmann said.

Three-car trains are grouped together during peak periods. Each vehicle can carry up to 200 people when fully loaded ? 68 seated passengers and 132 standing passengers. They weigh roughly 100,000 pounds and have a life expectancy of around 30 years.

For now, the vehicles are being stored at the Hiawatha LRT operations and maintenance facility on Franklin Avenue. A separate storage facility being built in downtown St. Paul will open in nine months.

The new vehicles are also introducing commuters to new branding being rolled out by Metro Transit, the agency that operates the LRT lines.

The vehicles carry the ?METRO? moniker, the name given to the system, and feature new designations for the LRT lines. The Central Corridor LRT is being branded as the Green Line, while the Hiawatha LRT is being branded as the Blue Line.

If built, the Southwest LRT would become the Green Line Extension.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 10th, 2012 at 4:01 pm and is filed under Construction & Development, Regional Planning. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Source: http://finance-commerce.com/2012/10/new-light-rail-trains-hit-the-track/

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