New LRT cars ordered for Green Line

While it won’t be operational for a few more years, we have a better idea of what the LRT cars will look like on the new Green Line.

The City and the Green Line Board have selected Spain-based CAF to supply the new cars, which have a bit of a different look compared to the cars currently operating on the Red and Blue lines.

The contract includes 28 low-floor cars, which is something seen more often in European and Asian countries and are becoming more popular in North America as well.

This means there won’t be a need for the higher platforms we have become accustomed to.

WATCH: CAF shows off the low floor LRV and how it is a key for sustainable urban mobility

“You’re looking at a platform that’s just slightly higher than the curb,” said Green Line CEO Darshpreet Bhatti. “So ramps, from an accessibility perspective, become very different and because it’s so low the entrance point is much lower in elevation, and you can easily integrate them into a road network.”

Bhatti said this will improve the experience for passengers getting on to the trains, and to make it even better the new cars have updated safety features.

“If you’re hit by one of these vehicles, or another vehicle hits them, the front and the end cabs … have those crumple zones just like cars and other vehicles do. They also have certain types of deflectors built into them so nothing can be trapped underneath,” he added.

The new cars are also longer than existing LRT cars, which increases passenger capacity and the technology will be state of the art.

Building more on the technology, the new cars can contribute to the city’s climate goals by being more efficient.

“These vehicles do have provisions for regenerative braking,” Bhatti said. “Technically you can generate electricity as the vehicles are decelerating, and then that electricity can be pumped back into the system.”

Preliminary work is ongoing for the Green Line, centring on some utility work mainly in the Beltline, and major construction on the project won’t begin until late 2023. At that point, we will start to see the first leg of the line get built, which stretches from Shepard in the southeast up to Eau Claire at the northern edge of the downtown core.