Sound Transit has ordered 122 new light rail vehicles at a cost of $554 million.

Sound Transit has ordered 122 new light rail vehicles at a cost of $554 million.

Sound Transit orders 122 new light rail vehicles

Sound Transit finalized an order on Friday for 122 new light rail vehicles to meet the needs of an expanding rail network amid booming ridership.

  • BY Wire Service
  • Friday, September 23, 2016 2:40pm
  • News

Sound Transit finalized an order on Friday for 122 new light rail vehicles to meet the needs of an expanding rail network amid booming ridership.

The new vehicles will be manufactured by Siemens Industry, Inc. in Sacramento, Calif., at an estimated cost of $554 million, according to a Sound Transit media release. The new vehicles feature a more spacious interior with more passenger room than the current fleet of 62 cars. Final capacities will be determined as the interior designs are finalized.

Along with more passenger room, the new vehicles will have more room for luggage to be stowed beneath seats and hooks to hang four bikes per vehicle. Current trains have hooks for two bikes per car.

Sound Transit needs to nearly triple the size of its current fleet as it expands the light rail network to the north, east and south over the next seven years, adding more than 30 miles of voter-approved extensions.

The new fleet will begin arriving in 2019 for testing ahead of the light rail extension from the University of Washington to Northgate opening in 2021. By 2023, Sound Transit will operate nearly 50 miles of light rail lines extending to Lynnwood in the north, Bellevue and Redmond’s Overlake area to the east and the Kent/Des Moines area in the south.

The extensions and new light rail vehicles are part of the 2008 voter-approved Sound Transit 2 expansion plan.


Talk to us

Please share your story tips by emailing editor@kentreporter.com.

To share your opinion for publication, submit a letter through our website https://www.kentreporter.com/submit-letter/. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) Please keep letters to 300 words or less.

More in News

t
SeaTac man, 21, fatally shot in vehicle in Kent on West Hill

Someone ran up and fired multiple shots into vehicle Nov. 21 at Veterans Drive and Military Road

Kentwood High School, 25800 164th Ave. SE, in Covington, remained without power Thursday morning, Nov. 21, according to Puget Sound Energy. COURTESY PHOTO, Kent School District
Kent schools remain closed due to windstorm damage, power outages

Second consecutive day of closures Thursday, Nov. 21 across the Kent School District

t
Kent-based Puget Sound Fire calls windstorm ‘one for the ages’

Agency responds to 308 calls in 12-hour period, including 245 for storm-related issues

Crews clear trees from State Route 18, which the Washington State Patrol closed in both directions Wednesday, Nov. 20, from Issaquah Hobart to I-90 over Tiger Mountain because of fallen trees during a windstorm. COURTESY PHOTO, Washington State Patrol
Windstorm closes Kent schools, roads due to fallen trees

Many without power in areas of Kent and beyond

t
“Prolific” vehicular theft suspect arrested in Renton

Kent man holds 13 prior convictions and 41 arrests.

tt
Green Kent volunteer program wraps up season at city park

Volunteers remove invasive species, plant native trees and shrubs at Mill Creek Canyon Earthworks Park

t
Copper-wire thieves damage Kent Senior Center roof refrigeration unit

Facility temporarily loses commercial kitchen refrigerator but staff, community keep meals going

t
16-year-old girl dies in Covington single-car crash

Teen was driving when car crashed into a tree Nov. 15 along SE 256th Street just east of Kent

t
Kent Police Blotter: Oct. 24-Nov. 7

Incidents include carjacking, juvenile fight, stolen vehicle pursuit

t
State Patrol catches a pair of motorcycles going over 100 mph on I-5

See a video of their arrest. Agency uses air surveillance to pursue from Federal Way to Renton

Photos by Bailey Jo Josie/Sound Publishing
Official ribbon cutting for the Kent Valley Bezos Academy, which is still accepting applications for the 2024-2025 school year.
Kent Valley Bezos Academy offers student-driven preschool experience

New school offers free enrollment to children of income-eligible families