Hitachi Rail finalizes contract to build up to 800 DC Metro cars
Hitachi Rail has received a contract worth up to $2.2 billion to build new 8000-series railcars for the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority, finalizing a decision and setting financial terms for a deal first reported in October. The initial contract with DC Metro is for 256 cars, with options to build as many as 800. The new cars are designed to be lighter, safer, and more energy efficient. They will include more digital screens for real-time information, dynamic maps, electrical outlets for charging personal devises, and more hand-holds. The pilot cars are expected to be delivered in 2024. “We are honored to help Metro meet their mobility needs, providing innovative solutions to customers and improving the passenger experience,” Andrew Barr, Hitachi Rail Group CEO, said in a press release. “The rapid growth of our business translates into direct and indirect U.S. jobs, and further capital investments. The 8000-series award signals a major expansion of our U.S. business.” The new cars will replace the two oldest series of cars in the Metrorail fleet; those cars date to the 1980s [see “Hitachi Rail lands contract …,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 2020].
Metra to add three-stage air filtration system under $6.6 million contract
Metra announced it will upgrade the ventilation system on its passenger cars with a three-stage filtration and purification process, using ultraviolet light, electrical fields, and stronger filters to create a system expected to remove and eliminate 99% of all airborne particulates, baterica, and viruses, including the virus that causes COVID-19. The Chicago-area commuter railroad says it already refreshes the air in its cars every four minutes and uses hospital-grade MERV 13 filters; the new system will be equivalent to or better than MERV 17 or HEPA standards. “The air in our trains is already proven safe and healthy, but this new cutting-edge system sets the highest industry standard for quality,” Metra CEO/Executive Director Jim Derwinski said in a press release. “Combined with all the other steps we have taken to clean, disinfect and sanitize our system, and to promote healthy behavior by riders and workers, this is just one more reason our customers can ‘Commute with Confidence.’”
Transitair Systems of Hornell, N.Y., will provide the system on nearly 700 railcars under a $6.6 million contract approved Wednesday by Metra’s board of directors. The system will be tested on 50 cars before options for additional units are approved.
Ontario Northland test trains begin process of restoring service between North Bay and Cochrane
Test trains on the former route of Ontario Northland’s Northlander have increased hopes train service between North Bay and Cochrane, Ontario, could be close to returning. The CBC reports Ontario Northland has operated the trains to see what safety and infrastructure improvements are needed to revive the train, which last operated in 2012 and once operated six times a week between Toronto and Ontario. An Ontario Northland spokeswoman said Ontario Northland and provincial transit agency Metrolinx have submitted a business plan for the resumption of service to the Ministry of Transportation, but has no timeline for the process. A spokesman for the ministry said the government is working with both parties, and is “accelerating work … by working with [Ontario Northland] to begin an initial audit of tracks on a section of the North Bay corridor.”
