Rail technology leader Bombardier Transportation announced today that the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) confirmed an order for 365 additional rail cars for its “Fleet of the Future”. The order, valued at approximately $639 million US ($681 million CDN, 470 million euro), is part of a contract signed in June, 2012. Bombardier now has firm orders for 775 cars with a total value of approximately $1.5 billion US ($1.6 billion CDN, 1.1 billion euro).
“BART is very pleased to be partnered with Bombardier for this important project to bring a new and improved fleet to the Bay Area,” said BART General Manager Grace Crunican. “We look forward to the successful delivery of 775 innovative, reliable, safe and comfortable rail cars.”
Raymond Bachant, President, Region Americas, Bombardier Transportation, added: “This new order is indicative of BART’s satisfaction with our partnership and progress in the design of this new generation of metro cars. The cars will incorporate state-of-the-art, environmentally-friendly technologies and include input from Bay Area citizens who had the opportunity this summer to tour a mock-up of the car and learn about proposed improvements to the interior.” These improvements include a reconfigured interior layout designed to maximize seating, openness, and comfort; more priority seating for seniors and people with disabilities; wheelchair areas at the end of each car; and bicycle racks in every car. Other new features include more comfortable seats; interior and exterior digital displays showing passenger information; a better quality public address system, including automated announcements; more doors to make boarding faster and easier; energy saving lighting; and energy-efficient propulsion and regenerative braking.
Bombardier will assemble the cars at its manufacturing plant in Plattsburgh, New York. The Plattsburgh facility is Bombardier’s center for rolling stock production in the United States. In operation since 1995, it has produced more than 3,300 passenger rail cars and locomotives now in service across the United States. Ten pilot cars are scheduled to be delivered in the spring of 2015, followed by comprehensive testing of the pilot cars on the BART system. The delivery of the 765 remaining production series cars is expected to follow between early 2017 and 2021.
Bombardier is transforming how people get around every day. Worldwide, more than seven billion trips are taken on Bombardier metro cars every year in cities including Boston, New York, Montreal, Toronto and Mexico City as well as London, Paris, Berlin, Delhi and Shanghai. Bombardier’s current metro car orders in North America include 714 new cars for Chicago, 468 cars for Montreal, 420 cars for Toronto and 300 cars for New York.
Press Release of Bombardier, 7 January 2014
