Amsted to Produce Truck Systems for Metra Multilevels

Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
In January, Metra’s Board of Directors approved a $1.8 billion purchase of up to 500 Alstom multilevels to replace aging bi-level gallery cars.

In January, Metra’s Board of Directors approved a $1.8 billion purchase of up to 500 Alstom multilevels to replace aging bi-level gallery cars.

Alstom has selected Amsted Rail Transit to supply complete, assembled truck systems, plus couplers, draft gears and crash energy management systems, for the 200 multilevels it's building for Metra commuter rail service in Chicago.

Metra finalized the $775.4 million car order with Alstom in March. That order could be expanded to up to 500 multilevels, worth $1.8 billion

The new cars, which will replace aging bilevel gallery cars, are a customized version of Alstom’s Coradia Duplex. They will be built at the manufacturer’s Hornell, N.Y., facility; the automatic train control system will be supplied by its Rochester, N.Y., facility. Metra reported in January that it anticipated delivery of the first car 42 months after the contract was finalized.

By adding Amsted Rail Transit trucks to the multilevels, “Alstom is ensuring Metra can deliver a smoother, safer riding experience while at the same time enhancing fleet operational performance,” according to Amsted Rail Transit.

“This program will make Amsted Rail the only U.S. provider of cast steel bogie designs with the in-house capability to provide the complete assembled bogie, fully validated with all product static and dynamic testing—literally rolling the full system under Alstom’s newly designed state-of-the-art Metra cars,” said Matt Cook, Chief Operating Officer of Amsted Rail Truck and End-of-Car Systems.

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