Stadler dispatched from its Salt Lake City manufacturing facility the first three diesel multiple units (DMUs) to San Bernardino County Transit Authority (SBCTA).
Upon arrival in San Bernardino County, all the three vehicles are scheduled to undergo extensive testing on SBCTA’s network.
“This initial shipment represents the culmination of a lot of hard work and collaboration to improve transit options in San Bernardino County. It is also the pivotal first step to bringing cleaner transit technologies that will effectively move our residents throughout the region,” Curt Hagman, the president of the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority said.
The design of the DMU vehicles allows operation of a mixed fleet including freight trains. The diesel multiple units comply with alternative vehicle technology (AVT) requirements of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and meet the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Buy America requirements. The Flirt trains for SBCTA offer 116 seats and additional standing room for 120 passengers.
The new trains are part of a contract signed in September 2017 when SBCTA ordered from Stadler three diesel electric low-floor Flirt multiple units for the Arrow passenger rail service, also known as the Redlands Passenger Rail Project.
“This is just the beginning of a longstanding relationship between Stadler and SBCTA. As we finish up the DMU project we have already started the next project for SBCTA: the hydrogen train FLIRT H2,” Martin Ritter, CEO Stadler US Inc. said.
In addition to the three DMUs, in 2019 SBCTA and Stadler signed the first ever contract to supply a hydrogen-powered train with an option to order four more vehicles in the future.
The hydrogen train Flirt H2 is currently in development at Stadler’s headquarter in Switzerland and is planned to be introduced in 2024 as part of Arrow project.
The trains operate on a 14.5 km commuter route with 5 stations on the corridor between the San Bernardino Transit Centre and the University of Redlands. The construction works for Redlands Passenger Rail Project (Arrow) started in 2019 and it is expected to enter operation in 2022.
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