Passenger Trains > Cleveland RTA first Siemens S-200 light rail car is on its way

The Cleveland RTA has shared that the first Siemens S200 light rail vehicle is headed to Cleveland. They are being shipped from the Siemens Mobility Facility in Sacramento, California to Cleveland, Ohio by rail. They will be on flatcars. So keep an eye out for the first car as it makes it way cross-country. Please share pictures if you happen to catch it or just share its location if you see it. Chances are it will be shrink-wrapped to protect it during its journey. Here is an artist rendering of what they will look like. Traction fans in Cleveland are excited to see the next chapter of our rich rapid transit history being written.  Thanks.

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As an adopted Clevelander, I'm very glad to hear about this. The first car was caught in a recent YouTube video. I have a screenshot but TO doesn't take PNGs.

I'm glad to hear that it's moving by rail too. That follows a tradition going back to the days of the Cleveland Transit System as shown in this video of future-preservation engine NKP 763 passing one of the first "Bluebird" heavy cars being delivered to CTS during the 1950s.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-fyG60RogZ/

They look small with low capacity.

coach Wrote:
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> They look small with low capacity.

There is less seating capacity as I understand but more standing capacity so it evens out.

Tragically RTA's numbers aren't what they once were, so any lost capacity likely won't hurt much. There will be some (hopefully temporary) service cuts being implemented over the winter. It will not affect the rail services for now although frequency on one of the two bus routes directly serving my neighborhood is being halved. 😑 The agency is going to see a small sales tax increase next year - one that the Plain Dealer is already trying to gin up opposition to under Chris Quinn's leadership. If Cuyahoga County voters pass it (in May), it will not only reverse these impending cuts but also include service increases in spots.

These cars are going to be a very good thing for the system overall, for fleet simplification and service expansion (the blue and green lines can now run all the way to Hopkins International thanks to these cars having dual-level Boarding). Believe me when I say this is very much going to be an all around improvement.

GP40 Wrote:
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> coach Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > They look small with low capacity.
>
> There is less seating capacity as I understand but
> more standing capacity so it evens out.
>
> Tragically RTA's numbers aren't what they once
> were, so any lost capacity likely won't hurt much.
> There will be some (hopefully temporary) service
> cuts being implemented over the winter. It will
> not affect the rail services for now although
> frequency on one of the two bus routes directly
> serving my neighborhood is being halved. 😑 The
> agency is going to see a small sales tax increase
> next year - one that the Plain Dealer is already
> trying to gin up opposition to under Chris Quinn's
> leadership. If Cuyahoga County voters pass it (in
> May), it will not only reverse these impending
> cuts but also include service increases in spots.
>
> These cars are going to be a very good thing for
> the system overall, for fleet simplification and
> service expansion (the blue and green lines can
> now run all the way to Hopkins International
> thanks to these cars having dual-level Boarding).
> Believe me when I say this is very much going to
> be an all around improvement.

I am excited to see these cars finally coming. Siemens does much better with transit equipment than passenger rail equipment. These cars really can't come soon enough, both the Red and Blue/Green fleets are barely holding on. At least the Breda cars do not leak!

Yes, the ridership is not what it once was, and the RTA needs to adjust to that. Service needs to be trimmed. Honestly, the blue/green could be converted to BRT, but that's another topic. The blue line does a little better, but the green line needs to be extended to something, anything. Either way, when you have fare box recovery of 10%, and a smaller area hit hard by a lot of the same issues, Buffalo, NY can manage 24% something is wrong. The first cut needs to be EVERY 24hr bus route. Even larger operators, like the MBTA where I am originally from, do not run 24hrs. There are a lot of times where I see buses running either empty or with one passenger. Instead, the RTA is cutting service on buses that are actually running with passengers. From what I have been told by some friends/neighbors that have lived here for a long time, it's just more mismanagement from the RTA. I will be voting against the tax increase for RTA.

Either way, it will be awhile before I get to ride these cars, as the red line is getting them first.


 

... but the green line
> needs to be extended to something,

I'm a native Clevelander, though not lived there for decaeds. Way back when, I thought it should be extended to I-271, with a park&ride lot there. There's plenty of room in the median of Shaker Blvd for the tracks.

symph1 Wrote:
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> ... but the green line
> > needs to be extended to something,
>
> I'm a native Clevelander, though not lived there
> for decaeds. Way back when, I thought it should be
> extended to I-271, with a park&ride lot there.
> There's plenty of room in the median of Shaker
> Blvd for the tracks.

I read somewhere that the original plan was not to end at Green Rd forever, and that a line was graded to Richmond Rd, but nothing ever happened beyond that work. It's really a shame, as it could be extended either to Woodmere or Beachwood Place.

It still could be, you would just have to rip out a very beautiful park in Beachwood to do it, and I don't really see that happening. Extending the blue line down towards either North Randall or the development at Harvard and Richmond Road near I-271 would be a much more politically feasible idea. 

But it's been discussed here many times that Ohio, or Ohighway as some like to call it, is so anti-transit that RTA doesn't want to think about anything remotely bold, particularly when it comes to the rail services. Long time All Aboard Ohio director Ken Pendergast, in his neotrans blog, recently called them out on this.

I wonder who owns the land. My guess is Beachwood does, and my other guess is Beachwood kept it from happening. I am not as worried about extending the blue line, it at least has a lot of density on the outer end of the line but bringing it down to Thistledown might not be a bad idea. While we are dreaming of expansion, how about building a new line south to Parma and Strongsville and extending the red line under the airport and out to Westlake. The red line could also be extended to I 90, plenty of room off Bluestone Blvd to put a large park and ride, and Laketran could end their commuter buses there instead of downtown. I agree Ohio is not a fan of transit but most of the transit I do see is so lightly used. I would expect them to pour money into transit on Columbus long before we see any money. On the bright side though, they seem warmly interested in the 3C corridor.

GP40 Wrote:
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> It still could be, you would just have to rip out
> a very beautiful park in Beachwood to do it, and I
> don't really see that happening. Extending the
> blue line down towards either North Randall or the
> development at Harvard and Richmond Road near
> I-271 would be a much more politically feasible
> idea. 
>
> But it's been discussed here many times that Ohio,
> or Ohighway as some like to call it, is so
> anti-transit that RTA doesn't want to think about
> anything remotely bold, particularly when it comes
> to the rail services. Long time All Aboard Ohio
> director Ken Pendergast, in his neotrans blog,
> recently called them out on this.

The GE looks like an 80 Ton that has had a lot of work done to it. The cab looks like something you would see in a steel mill.

Is the GE still around? The last few times I have been by 55th St, it's nowhere to be found. I have always wanted to catch it, but have not had any luck. I thought chances would go up while the blue/green was shut down for track work but still nothing. It is interesting that it has LED ditch lights. That's a nice shot of it at Warrensville-Shaker.

It is a 1943 built 65 ton diesel. Built for the U.S. Navy. The cab got cropped so it would fit under rapid transit station canopies.