Urban transport: a view from the Americas

From Europe to Asia and the Americas, Bombardier Transportation is developing innovative approaches to urban transport that strive to improve mobility within urban areas, reduce congestion, and increase the quality of life for citizens.

Following are some examples of Bombardier metro cars and light rail vehicles that are meeting the needs of cities throughout Canada, the United States and Mexico.

Metro cars

Bombardier diversified its manufacturing activities in the early 1970s to include production of rail rolling stock. Beginning with an initial contract to build 423 cars for the Montreal metro, Bombardier has since supplied thousands of steelwheeled and rubber-tired metro cars to several major North American cities.We became the first rail car builder to supply AC propulsion technology to transit authorities in the US and Canada with the delivery of 86 metro cars to Boston’s Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and 372 metro cars to the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC).

Bombardier has supplied more than 1,800 metro cars to New York City Transit, representing nearly one-third of the transit agency’s entire fleet. Our most recent contract, completed in 2003, was for 1,030 R142 cars one of the largest rail manufacturing projects ever carried out in North America. These cars have earned a reputation for being comfortable, cost-efficient and highly reliable, with a record that consistently exceeds customer expectations.

At present, we are manufacturing 405 rubber-tired metro cars for Mexico City’s Sistema de Transporte Colectivo (STC)- Metro. Bombardier’s site in Ciudad Sahagun, Hidalgo, Mexico has supplied more than two thirds of STC’s rolling stock.

New York City

The subways, buses, and railroads of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) move 2.4 billion New Yorkers a year, about one in every three users of mass transit in the United States and two-thirds of the nation’s rail riders.

The New York City subway opened in 1904. Today, MTA New York City Transit operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, through underground tunnels and elevated structures in the boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. The system has 6,210 subway cars operating on 27 lines, reaching 490 stations over 660 track miles, and serving an average of seven million passengers each weekday.

It is in this demanding operating environment that Bombardier’s metro cars are setting new standards for reliability. For the 12-month period ending September 30, the Mean Distance Between Failures performance for the R142 fleet exceeded 400,000 miles as compared to the contractual goal of 100,000 miles.

The R142 cars, which are customised to New York City Transit specifications, represent some of the most advanced in-service systems for AC propulsion and dynamic braking, trucks, friction brakes, doors, and on-board diagnostics, status and communications systems. The cars also feature advances in passenger comfort and safety such as digital electronic signage, an automatic public announcement system, an emergency passenger intercom system connected to the operator, and a sophisticated climate control system.

Mexico City

The subway system in Mexico City – Sistema de Transporte Colectivo-Metro (STC) – serves extensive areas of the city, as well as part of the State of Mexico. Its ridership is close to five million people per day. Trains on Line A use steel wheels and pantographs.All other lines use rubber tires and have a third rail.

Bombardier’s first contract with STC – our first contract in Mexico – was in 1982 for 180 rubber-tired metro cars. At present, Bombardier, as part of a consortium with CAF, is manufacturing 405 rubber-tired subway cars for STC. The 45 trainsets, consisting of nine cars each, will operate on STC’s Line 2, which carries approximately one million passengers per day.

Bombardier is responsible for the manufacturing, testing and commissioning of 28 trainsets, and for the design and production of 810 rubber-tired bogies. The car shells and train designs are being developed jointly with CAF.

Light rail vehicles

In North America, Bombardier light rail vehicles (LRVs) serve city centres in Portland, Oregon and Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota in the US, and in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey in Mexico.

In Canada, through the acquisition of Ontario-based railway equipment manufacturer UTDC, Bombardier has been an integral part of the light rail experience in Toronto since 1979. It was in that year that the first of 250 Canadian Light Rail Vehicles (CLRVs) went into service. Today, the TTC street car fleet is made up entirely of CLRVs, which carried more than 42 million passengers last year.

At present, we are manufacturing three additional lowfloor LRVs for Minneapolis/St. Paul, and 14 high-floor LRVs for Monterrey. The car shells for the Minneapolis/St. Paul LRVs and the vehicles for Monterrey are being built at the Bombardier facility in Sahagun. One hundred percent of the Mexico City and Guadalajara LRV fleets were produced at this location, as well as more than 70 percent of Monterrey’s LRV fleet. This site is the only manufacturing facility of passenger rolling stock in Mexico. It became part of Bombardier’s North American manufacturing network with our 1992 acquisition of the assets of Concarril (Constructora Nacional de Carros de Ferrocarril).

Minneapolis and St. Paul

Metro Transit is the 11th largest transit system in the United States, serving the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. In addition to 129 bus routes, Metro Transit operates the Hiawatha light rail line. Partial service began in June 2004, followed by full service in December 2004. The line serves 17 stations along a 12-mile route connecting downtown Minneapolis, Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport, and the Mall of America in Bloomington.

The 24 Bombardier LRVs for the Hiawatha Line represent the first North American application of Bombardier’s FLEXITY light rail technology. The vehicles were designed from the ground up to fit the needs of ‘new start’ light rail projects in North American cities like Minneapolis/St. Paul. They incorporate service-proven engineering concepts from Bombardier’s successful low-floor, light rail products operating in Europe – including LRVs in Cologne, Germany and Stockholm, Sweden – while complying with all North American standards and regulations.

The design features Bombardier’s 70% low-floor LRV technology, which positions 70% of the vehicle floor and all the entry ways just 14 inches above the top of the rails. The remaining 30% of the floor, positioned over the bogies at each end of the car, is just one step up from the main floor. The low floor design facilitates passenger access at grade level, helping transit agencies avoid costly construction of special ramps and access platforms. It also greatly facilitates passenger access to the car and enhances rider safety because passengers can enter and exit without engaging cumbersome steps. This design is particularly useful for wheelchair access, and these vehicles are fully compliant with requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act in the US.

Another three LRVs for Metro Transit are in production. The shells are being built in Sahagun, and final assembly will take place at the Bombardier facility in Plattsburgh, New York in the US.

Monterrey

The Mass Transport Authority (Metrorrey) in Monterrey, in the capital of the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, is the second largest mass transit system in Mexico. The system currently has 23 km of rails and operates with 70 high-floor trains, transporting a total of 50 million passengers each year.

The system is regarded as the safest and most modern in Mexico. It crosses through Monterrey and the neighboring counties of Guadalupe and San Nicolas, and has two lines. Line 1, opened in 1991, runs east-west on an elevated structure 18.5 km long, and serves 19 stations. Line 2, opened in 1994, runs north-south, underground and is 4.5 km long with six stations.When finished, it will be 24 km long.

Bombardier and our consortium partners, Siemens and Grupo Garza Ponce, S.A. de C.V. (a local civil works firm), were recently awarded a contract from Metrorrey for a turnkey project that will expand Line 2 towards San Nicolas de la Garza and Escobedo counties. The 8.7 km alignment, of which 1.5 km will run underground and the rest elevated, will include seven new stations. The opening of the new extension is scheduled for the second half of 2007, shortly before the celebration of the Second Universal Forum of Cultures in Monterrey.

Bombardier is responsible for designing and building 14 new high-floor LRVs. The manufacturing, testing and commissioning of the LRVs will take place at our facility in Sahagun.

These units represent the ideal solution for decreased pollution in a large urban centre such as Monterrey. These electrically-operated LRVs require low-investment infrastructure – they can run at street level in mixed traffic or on a segregated right of way at either ground level, elevated or underground.