San Diego’s Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) awarded Siemens Mobility a contract for 25 S700 low-floor LRVs which will replace the high-floor SD100 LRVs which were manufactured in the 1990s.
The new vehicles will enter services on the entire 85-km double-tracked MTS light rail network, including on the 18 km Mid-Coast Trolley extension, which is scheduled to open in 2021.
The S700 cars are the latest advancement of the fully-electric S70 low-floor vehicle platform designed and manufactured by Siemens Mobility at its solar-powered facility in Sacramento, California. They are characterized by an open and spacious low-floor interior. The wide aisleway makes the vehicle much easier to traverse into and around for passengers, bicycles and wheelchairs. There are also energy efficiency features like LED lighting, which not only utilize less energy, but also last longer.
In 1980, MTS ordered 71 cars high-floor U2 model and in 1993 the transport company awarded Siemens a contract for the supply of 52 – SD100 cars. Since 2004, MTS has started the transition to low-floor LRVs with an order for 11 – S70 vehicles, followed by another orders for 65 – S70 cars and 45 – S70 cars.
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