Swiss railway vehicle manufacturer Stadler Rail has won a $600 million (CHF597 million) order in the United States.
The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTAexternal link) on Friday announced its decision to award Stadlerexternal link the contract for 127 Metro (underground) trains with two options of 25 additional trains each.
For Stadler, which has been present in the US since 2002, this is the first large Metro contract in the US and the largest order of vehicle units in the company’s history.
The new trains are intended for service to the world’s largest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Stadler plans to assemble the trains for Atlanta, which has one of the largest metro systems in the United States, at its new plant in Salt Lake City. According to the contract, Stadler is obligated to create at least 60% of the project’s value in the United States, with the first units going into service in Atlanta in 2023.
Stadler currently has several Metro projects in production. The trains manufactured for these projects will go into service in Minsk, Barcelona, Berlin, Glasgow and Liverpool.
Stadler in the US
Stadler’s first US order dates back to 2002 for 20 articulated rail cars for the New Jersey Transit River Line.
It was followed by an order from the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority in Texas for six diesel articulated rail cars that ran from the centre of Austin to Leander. The fleet was delivered in 2008 and another four vehicles were ordered in 2015.
In 2012 Stadler delivered 11 diesel articulated rail cars to the Denton County Transportation Authority in Texas.
In 2014 the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) ordered eight diesel articulated rail cars.
In 2017 it started building a factory in Utah.
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