Muni light rail vehicles to the fleet
The $648 million contract with Siemens Corps. will add 175 new and improved Muni light rail vehicles to the fleet, with the possibility of adding an additional 85 cars, bringing the total contract to $1.2 billion, Lee said.
The mayor, San Francisco Supervisor London Breed and San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s Director of Transportation Ed Reiskin were among public officials gathered on the Embarcadero today who praised the contract, saying Siemens was awarded the project due to the company’s long history of innovative light rail manufacturing.
The company was also able to provide the city with a lower price tag than competitors and will manufacture the fleet in the company’s Sacramento facilities, providing Californians with jobs.
Reiskin said the current light rail vehicles are heavy, have frequently malfunctioning doors and steps, and are expensive to repair.
The manufacturing contract will be Siemens’ largest U.S. contract for light rail vehicles in the company’s history, according to the mayor.
Siemens engineers have spent decades designing and manufacturing light rail vehicles for 17 U.S. cities and plan to work with the city to make sure the new light rail vehicles fit the needs of the hilly city.