Skip to main content

Siemens to upgrade Santa Clara light rail

Siemens has been chosen by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), a US independent special district that provides sustainable, accessible, community-focused transportation options for Santa Clara County, California, to provide innovative electrification technology to power the Guadalupe Corridor light rail line. VTA’s infrastructure modernisation will replace 27-year-old systems with Siemens’ new technology that includes advanced monitoring and diagnostic features to streamline maintenance a
March 17, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
189 Siemens has been chosen by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), a US independent special district that provides sustainable, accessible, community-focused transportation options for Santa Clara County, California, to provide innovative electrification technology to power the Guadalupe Corridor light rail line. VTA’s infrastructure modernisation will replace 27-year-old systems with Siemens’ new technology that includes advanced monitoring and diagnostic features to streamline maintenance activities.

The new technology includes traction power substations that convert alternating current electricity provided by the local utility to direct current in order to power the light rail trains, modern protection communication devices and circuit breakers and controllers that monitor the system and report issues if they arise. These systems can detect faults sooner and minimise stress on the line, resulting in a longer vehicle lifecycle.

Siemens will be responsible for the full delivery of the project from design and production to final commissioning, including all elements of preparing the site and replacing the old existing traction power substations that converts electric power for the vehicles. Commissioning is scheduled to begin in November 2017.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • IBTTA seeks transportation innovation
    December 16, 2016
    IBTTA’s Patrick Jones contemplates the need for, sources of and constraints on transportation innovation. For years now, visionary thinkers and doers in the highway transportation community have been laser-focused on the role of innovation in addressing the most pressing mobility challenges.
  • How AI and digital infrastructure power safer, smarter cities
    July 23, 2025

    Modern cities need transport infrastructure that can meet today’s mobility demands while preparing for the innovations of tomorrow. Derq, an MIT spinoff, will use ITS in Atlanta to showcase how it delivers AI-powered intelligent transport systems that help cities and agencies prevent crashes, tackle road safety challenges, and improve traffic flow.

  • Dynamic lighting control for San Francisco’s Presidio Parkway
    February 5, 2015
    Canadian lighting specialist Nyx Hemera Technologies is to provide its intelligent lighting control system for the four tunnels of the Presidio Parkway in San Francisco in California, US. The company will install its tunnel lighting addressable control system (TLACS) in the four tunnels built to access the Golden Gate Bridge as a replacement for the former Doyle Drive or Route 101. All four tunnels will be equipped with the TLACS to dynamically control the luminance at the tunnel portal according to the
  • Honolulu says 'aloha' to light rail system
    July 5, 2023
    Passengers on Hawaiian island can now ride on 11-mile section with more to come