Sumitomo, Nippon Sharyo land VRE car order
Written by Douglas John BowenSumitomo Corp. of America, in conjunction with its car builder partner Nippon Sharyo, said Thursday it has landed a contract from Virginia Railway Express (VRE) "for 50 gallery-type bi-level passenger cars."
Sumitomo said the base order is for eight cars, at a contract price of $21 million, scheduled for delivery in 2014. The contract includes an option for VRE to purchase up to an additional 42 cars. If the option is exercised, the total contract would amount to $119 million, Sumitomo said.
VRE will use the cars both to replace some of its older rolling stock and to increase capacity on its lines.
VRE selected gallery cars in part to allow ticket collectors to check tickets on both levels from the bottom level.
Nippon Sharyo will manufacture the new cars at its passenger railcar production facility in Rochelle, Ill., which it opened in 2010.
