Sacramento RT taps Siemens for 20 new light rail vehicles

The S700 low-floor light rail vehicles will have low-level boarding at every doorway, a spacious seating design, and larger windows for better light and views. Siemens

Calif.’s Sacramento Regional Transit (SacRT) awarded a contract to Siemens Mobility for 20 new light rail vehicles (LRVs). This is the first new order from Sacramento since the late 1980s, when SacRT ordered 36 U2A vehicles from Siemens Mobility.

The contract, including the 20 trains, spare parts, and tools is approximately $100 million.

The S700 low-floor light rail vehicles will have low-level boarding at every doorway, a spacious seating design, and larger windows for better light and views. They will feature improved accessibility with wider aisles, built-in storage space for luggage, and areas for bicycles. In addition, the vehicles will have improved performance and optimized availability provided by condition monitoring, remote diagnostics, and predictive maintenance.

The Siemens Mobility Sacramento plant manufactures the full range of vehicles from light rail and trams, to locomotives and passenger coaches. It is a full-scale modern manufacturing plant powered almost entirely by a two-megawatt solar installation.