CAF USA Lands MBTA ‘Supercar’ Contract
Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
Proposed concept rendering of MBTA’s Type 10 Supercar for Green Line light rail service. (Courtesy of MBTA).
CAF USA Inc. will supply 102 Type 10 “Supercars” to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) under a nearly $811 million contract.
For use on the Green Line, each car will be 40 feet longer than those currently serving the light rail line, the transit agency reported Sept. 1.
The base contract also covers two operator training simulators; capital spares, manuals, test equipment, special tools, training and training aids; and three-year full vehicle warranty services.
The Supercars are now in the procurement phase; the design phase is scheduled to begin this fall, with the first pilot cars arriving in spring 2026 and delivery wrapping up in spring 2031, according to MBTA.
The car design will feature wider door openings to “maximize rider capacity, boarding efficiency and accessibility,” the transit agency said, and 100% low-floor boarding, which future station upgrades will accommodate. Additional accessibility improvements include bridge plates at all double-leaf doors to assist with boarding and four priority areas in the cars for passengers using wheeled mobility devices. The Supercars will also offer the latest generation of crash-safety technology, a closed operator cab with increased visibility, and audiovisual information screens for improved passenger wayfinding, MBTA added.
According to the Boston Herald, the Supercars will replace Type 7 and 8 cars that went into service between 1986 and 2007; a 114-foot-long Supercar will “provide the same capacity as a two-car trainset [of] those existing legacy cars.” CAF’s factory in Elmira, N.Y., will handle car shell manufacturing and assembly, and truck frame assembly, while truck frame manufacturing will occur in Spain.
This contract award follows MBTA’s May 2014 order for 24 LRVs (Type 9s), under a $118 million contract with CAF USA; the first of those cars entered service in December 2018. Expanding the fleet from 189 to 213, their aim was to improve overall Green Line reliability and to accommodate train frequency once the $2.3 billion Green Line Extension (GLX) project is completed this November. GLX will extend the northern end of the Green Line from Lechmere to Union Square in Somerville and College Avenue in Medford (see map below).
The Supercars’ procurement is part of the transit agency’s Green Line Transformation Program to “improve safety and state of good repair, enhance accessibility, increase passenger capacity, and modernize the rider experience.” Other program projects in progress are the Green Line Train Protection System implementation, which “combines vehicle and wayside equipment to avoid train-on-train collisions, add red-light signal protection, and incorporate speed enforcement”; track upgrades; Hynes, Newton Highlands, and Symphony station accessibility improvements; D Branch station accessibility improvements; and solar-powered electronic-ink sign installation. Projects already completed include the Lechmere Viaduct rehabilitation; Brookline Hills Station accessibility improvements; D Branch track and signal replacement; B Branch station consolidation; track and intersection upgrades (2021, 2020 and 2019); Fenway Portal flood protection; and the 24-LRV procurement and delivery.
“This is an incredible moment that marks an inflection point for the MBTA’s Green Line riders as we continue to work to transform the entire line,” MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak said.
