BOSTON, MA - Progressive Railroading reported on September 6th that, during the previous week, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's board last week awarded an $811 million contract to CAF USA Inc. for the delivery of 102 Green Line Type 10 "Supercar" trolleys.
The contract is a key part of the Green Line Transformation Program, which seeks to improve service reliability, accessibility and safety — including achieving a state of good repair — on the Green Line, MBTA officials said in a press release.
 Artists concept of the seven section, four truck Type 10. |
The new cars will be 40 feet longer than current Green Line rail cars and will feature wider door openings to maximize capacity and efficiency. The design also includes all low-floor boarding to eliminate stairs for passenger entry. Additional accessibility upgrades include bridge plates at double-leaf doors. The Type 10 cars also provide state-of-the-art enhanced communications systems.
The new cars will also employ the latest generation of crash-safety technology, MBTA officials said. The design includes a closed operator cab with increased visibility.
The Type 10 vehicles are currently in the procurement phase, with the design phase scheduled to begin this fall. The cars will be in design for a few years before pilot vehicles are introduced to the system.
As conceived, a two-car train of the new seven-section, four-truck Type 10 "Supercars" would be equal in length to a three-car train of the current Type 7 and 8 vehicles.
BOSTON, MA - On Monday, September 19th, according to Progressive Railroading the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority returned rail service to its Orange Line after a 30-day closure to complete five years' worth of maintenance-of-way projects to restore the line to a state of good repair.
The repair period enabled MBTA to respond to safety actions required by the Federal Transit Administration after the federal department found MBTA to have several safety problems. FTA issued several safety directives to MBTA earlier this year.
For example, crews replaced thousands of feet of track on the line to respond to FTA Special Directive 22-4, which mandated MBTA to address deficiencies in personal protective equipment and right of way safety; correct defective track conditions; and address management practices that negatively impact track repair. FTA noted in the directive that defective track conditions forced MBTA to implement “slow zones” where trains were operating at restricted speeds, MBTA officials said. Those restrictions significantly affected the transit agency's ability to stay on schedule.
“A tremendous amount of choreography, coordination and hard work has been accomplished during these 30 days, including over a dozen projects to replace rail, track, signals, rail fasteners and more that would have taken the T five years of nights and weekends to accomplish,” said MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak.
Other work completed during the month-long service outage includes rail-tie replacement, rail-fastener installation, signal upgrades and weatherproofing.
SAINT LOUIS, MO - The East-West Gateway Council of Governments has approved a $1.26 million federal grant for Loop Trolley operations in St. Louis.
The federal funds come from Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality grant. The Loop Trolley Transportation Development District will provide a $600,000 local match using sales-tax revenue, Bi-State Development officials said in a press release.
BSD took over operation of the Loop Trolley in February. BSD will continue to operate the system through June 30, 2025.
The trolley line went off line in December 2019, with a brief resumption of service in mid-2020. Service restarted Aug. 4 to avoid a default on federal transportation loans awarded to the Loop Trolley several years ago, BSD officials said. One car is currently running on the 2.4-mile route four days a week for eight hours. Those operations will continue through Oct. 30, then the trolley cars and infrastructure will undergo annual maintenance projects and safety inspections so service can resume next spring, BSD officials said.
