The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) announced it has selected Siemens Mobility to replace GCRTA’s Red Line fleet.

GCRTA’s purchase of 24 S200 Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs) includes an option for up to 36 additional vehicles which would replace GCRTA’s Blue and Green Line fleet.

“These new LRVs are catalytic for the health and economics of Greater Cleveland. They will promote increased ridership and encourage transit-oriented development along the Red Line communities from East Cleveland to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport,” said GCRTA GM/CEO India L. Birdsong Terry. "This achievement was made possible by the support GCRTA received from U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Congresswoman Shontel Brown (OH-11), FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez, the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA), and the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT).

GCRTA Light Rail Fleets, Order Details

GCRTA’s current heavy and light rail fleets are 39 and 42 years old, exceeding the design life of typical transit passenger rail cars.

Delivery of the new S200 LRVs is scheduled to be completed in four years.

The new high-floor vehicles will feature two-door heights for high- and low-level platform accessibility, allowing the trains to operate on both the Red Line and the Blue and Green Line tracks.

The base order will serve the Red Line and as modifications to the existing platforms on the Blue and Green Lines are made, additional options may be exercised. GCRTA received a grant of $130M from the Federal Transit Administration through the FY22/23 Rail Vehicle Replacement Program, a new program created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The final design will be co-created by GCRTA and Siemens Mobility over the next 15-month period, before being built at Siemens Mobility’s rail manufacturing facility in Sacramento, CA.