San Francisco orders 175 light rail cars from Siemens for $648M; option for 85 more
19 September 2014
San Francisco’s Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) has awarded Siemens a contract to deliver an initial 175 light rail cars for its Muni transit system at a value of US$648 million. Siemens, which beat CAF for the contract, will deliver a newly-developed light rail car based on its Model S200 for the San Francisco order. With an option for an additional 85 cars, this is one of the biggest orders for light rail cars ever placed in the USA.
With this contract, Siemens secures its position as the US market leader in this segment—every third streetcar or light rail car operating in the US today comes from Siemens.
The trains will be built at the Siemens plant in Sacramento, California, and the first cars are set to be delivered at the end of 2016.
Muni operates a wide variety of transport modes ranging from the city’s famed cable cars and historic streetcars, to light rail trains and electric as well as hybrid buses.
The California city is gearing up for a comprehensive modernization of its urban transport fleet and plans to provide energy-saving, modern light rail trains to transport the city’s more than 700,000 daily weekday passengers.
The car is especially energy-efficient due to a light-weight drive system that recuperates braking energy, and an LED lighting system that uses up to 40% less electricity than standard neon lighting.
The light rail cars will be built according to the Buy America rules at the Siemens plant in Sacramento. Around 80% of the electricity used by the plant for manufacturing is generated by a two-megawatt photovoltaic installation on the building’s roof. The solar units reduce the facility’s carbon dioxide emissions by around 1,470 tons a year.
Resources
MUNI presentation on procurement.
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