Light Rail Vehicle procurement

Since December 2012, Calgary Transit has been in the process of selecting a new, long-term strategic partner for the supply of future light rail vehicles.

 

Five major companies bid on the RFP that Calgary Transit put out. The City has finalized negotiations with the highest rated bidder and has entered into a contract with Siemens Canada for the purchase of new S200 light rail vehicles. These vehicles will be manufactured in Sacramento, CA. at a Siemens Industry Inc. plant.

 

The S200 air-conditioned vehicles have a new design, a new look and new features to improve the passenger experience. The new design will increase overall comfort, passenger information, reliability, security and accessibility. They will also enable future four-car CTrain operation and the replacement of some of the oldest LRVs (U2s) in the fleet. The new cars are three to four times more reliable than the old U2 trains.

 

City Council has 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 CTrain cars. Each LRV will cost approximately $3.2 million CDN.

 

RouteAhead, Calgary Transit’s strategic plan, identified that the LRV fleet will need to grow from 192 to 390 over the next 30 years to achieve targets, including four-car train service.

 

The entire U2 fleet is close to retirement and 32 cars are actually older than their planned life (planned retirement age is 30 years.)  

 

The first new LRV will be delivered in August 2015 with the full order of 60 to be  completed by December 2016.

 

Calgary Transit thanks all bidders (Bombardier, CAF, Hyundai Rotem, Kinki Sharyo, Siemens) for their interest in seeking The City of Calgary as a customer.

 

Calgary Transit’s CTrain system is one of the most successful LRT systems in North America. CTrain ridership is over 300,000 every week day. 

 

-30-