Siemens MASK LRVs enter service in Calgary

Calgary Transit's new fleet of Siemens S200 high-floor LRVs entered service on the city's CTrain light rail network on July 5 in time for the annual Calgary Stampede.

Calgary Transit signed a C$201.6 million contract with Siemens in September 2013 for 63 S200s, which will support the introduction of four-car operation on the CTrain network and enable the withdrawal of the oldest U2 vehicles, which date from the opening of the system in 1981.

Assembly is being carried out at Siemens’ plant in Sacramento, Calif., and deliveries are due to be completed next year.

The vehicles are known as MASK cars after the exterior design, which was inspired by an ice hockey mask and selected by the citizens of Calgary from three options in a public vote.

The 50 mph, 600 VDC bidirectional single-articulated LRVs are 81.4 feet long and 8.7 feet wide and accommodate up to 247 passengers, 60 of them seated, with two wheelchair spaces and two multi-purpose spaces.

The order is being funded by the government of Alberta, with C$133 million coming from the Green Transit Incentives Program (GreenTrip) and C$67million from the Municipal Sustainability Initiative.

The Canadian government has provided C$51.3 million through the Building Canada Fund for various improvements to the CTrain network, including C$20 million for platform extensions to enable four-car operation.