According to MDOT MTA, each Purple Line LRV is 142-feet long—currently the longest of its kind in the U.S.—and assembled in Elmira, N.Y., before being transported to Maryland by flat-bed trucks.
“Celebrating the arrival of the Purple Line’s first light rail vehicle is the latest significant milestone in getting this much-needed new transit line up and running,” said Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul J. Wiedefeld. “This new light rail vehicle embodies the many benefits transit provides from connecting communities to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The progress being made is because of the commitment and effort over the past year and a half to expedite work along the alignment.”
The unveiling, held at the Operations and Maintenance Facility in Glenridge, Md., was attended by Secretary Wiedefeld, MTA Administrator Holly Arnold, FTA Regional Administrator Terry Garcia Crews, MTA Purple Line Senior Project Director, Ray Biggs II and Purple Line Transit Partners CEO Doran Bosso, in addition to state and local officials from Prince George’s and Montgomery counties.
The vehicles, which are being built by CAF, a Spain-based rail car manufacturer, have capacity for 430 passengers, with seating for 80, can accommodate up to eight wheelchairs and feature 8 bike racks to encourage passengers to take their bicycle or scooter onboard. The electric-powered vehicles have also been designed to reduce noise as they travel through communities, MDOT MTA noted.
Once delivered to Maryland, the LRVs, the agency says, “will undergo an extensive commission and testing process, followed by static track testing that is scheduled to begin later this year.” CAF is expected to deliver the entire fleet of 28 LRVs by the end of 2025.
“Today marks a major milestone for the Purple Line and a major step forward for Maryland’s public transit future,” said Maryland Transit Administrator Holly Arnold. “With thousands of feet of rail track installed and 16 of 21 stations currently under construction, we are happy to announce that the project is now more than 65% complete.”
“Over the past several years, the Purple Line project partnership has steadfastly worked toward today’s milestone,” said Purple Line Transit Partners CEO Doran Bosso. “We’re heartened by our accelerating progress, and we’ll continue to rely on our strong partnership with the State of Maryland and the communities we are connecting.”
The Purple Line is a 16-mile light rail line that will extend from New Carrollton in Prince George’s County to Bethesda in Montgomery County. It will provide a direct connection to the Metrorail Red, Green and Orange Lines; at Bethesda, Silver Spring, College Park, and New Carrollton. The Purple Line will also connect to MARC, Amtrak, and local bus services.
More information is available here.
