Skip to main content

Twin Cities’ Metropolitan Council chooses Siemens to provide new light rail vehicles for Southwest expansion

Siemens has been chosen by the US Twin Cities of Minnesota and St Paul Metropolitan Council to manufacture 27 new light rail vehicles that will operate on the Metro Transit Southwest line expansion. Siemens will begin engineering the new vehicles, which will feature improvements including a redesigned middle section to improve passenger flow including wheelchairs and bicycles, ice cutters to remove sleet from the overhead wires that provide the electrical current to power the vehicles, and preferred seat
October 28, 2016 Read time: 1 min
189 Siemens has been chosen by the US Twin Cities of Minnesota and St Paul Metropolitan Council to manufacture 27 new light rail vehicles that will operate on the Metro Transit Southwest line expansion.

Siemens will begin engineering the new vehicles, which will feature improvements including a redesigned middle section to improve passenger flow including wheelchairs and bicycles, ice cutters to remove sleet from the overhead wires that provide the electrical current to power the vehicles, and preferred seating to meet Americans with Disabilities guidelines, among many others.

The contract expands Siemens relationship with the Twin Cities, adding to the existing fleet of 59 Siemens S70 light rail vehicles successfully operating on Metro Transit’s Green and Blue lines.  Five additional S70s are currently in production in Sacramento and will add capacity to the existing system.

The first light rail vehicle is expected to arrive in Minnesota in 2019.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • New York mayor to reduce city’s vehicle fleet
    April 11, 2019
    New York’s mayor Bill de Blasio has signed an executive order to reduce the city’s on-road public sector vehicle fleet. The move is part of a commitment to reduce emissions by 80% by 2050. The city will remove 1,000 vehicles from its fleet by June 2021 and reduce the number of take-home vehicles by at least 500. Additionally, it will replace at least 350 SUVs with electric plug-in sedans and promote greater vehicle efficiency by using advanced data collection. “Eliminating unnecessary vehicles fro
  • MDOT uses connected vehicle technology to clear snow and ice
    January 9, 2017
    Connected vehicle technology is helping Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) clear snow and ice from roadways faster, using GPS-based automatic vehicle location (AVL) devices on its winter road maintenance equipment. These systems report where each truck is, and they gather data from other sensors to report details like atmospheric conditions, camera images, and speed and salt application rates for each vehicle.
  • Its Showtime for NXP
    October 10, 2016
    NXP Semiconductors, the global semiconductor manufacturer which employs around 45,000 people in more than 35 countries, including 11,200 engineers in 23 countries, is using this ITS World Congress to demonstrate the latest technologies for intelligent traffic management, autonomous driving and seamless connectivity. NXP, together with its partners Cohda Wireless, Siemens, Chemtronics, NTU and Marben, is inviting delegates to take part in its ITS live showcase that will demonstrate how the company helps t
  • Ohio River Bridges East End crossing project opened to traffic
    December 21, 2016
    The Ohio River Bridges East End Crossing, now named the Lewis and Clark Bridge, has opened to traffic to connect SR 265 in Indiana with the Gene Snyder Freeway in Kentucky, marking the substantial completion of the $2.3 billion Louisville Southern Indiana Ohio River Bridges project, which included the Downtown Crossing, now named the Abraham Lincoln Bridge. Parsons was the lead partner in the Community Transportation Solutions joint venture (JV). The JV served as the overall project’s general engineerin