Our new low-floor light rail train cars are ready to roll; meet the SacRT team that made it happen
At Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT), we’ve always known that great teamwork leads to great moments.
That may have never been more the case than now. Starting on Sunday, September 1, 2024, we begin rolling out the first of a modern fleet of sleek new low-floor light rail vehicles. It’s a significant milestone moment in the history of SacRT.
It represents the work of more than 100 SacRT employees spanning six years, working in teams on thousands of tasks big and small, from planning and designing to fabricating and testing.
We think riders will love these new vehicles. They come with low-floors that will allow people in mobility devices to glide easily on board using deployable ramps from redesigned station platforms. Their cutting-edge technology will give passengers the smoothest ride ever and will provide better interior temperature control and clearer auditory and visual messaging.
We still have work to do before our light rail system is fully modernized. However, we are extremely proud of what we have accomplished.
Here is a look at how we arrived at this historic moment:
Our goal: Put customers first with accessible service
A project this big starts at the top. Eight years ago, General Manager/CEO Henry Li and the SacRT Board of Directors announced a rededication to fundamental goals: Put customers first, offering them a clean, safe, convenient and responsive transit service.
It was time, we decided, to implement an expensive but much-needed overhaul of our light rail system. Some of our existing light rail train cars date a few years before 1987, the year we opened our first light rail line. They are true workhorses, but they are years past their allotted life span. Many are so antiquated that companies no longer make spare parts for them.
But we couldn’t just go to a supplier, buy new trains off the shelf and roll them out on the lines. We had to analyze our existing rail system for the type of new vehicles we needed. We got lucky, our selected vendor not only is among the biggest and best in the world; it resides in our backyard – Siemens Mobility, located on French Road in south Sacramento.
Once the new S700 light rail vehicles arrived at our facilities, our crews teamed with Siemens engineers to dial in the final software and reconfigure parts of our light rail system to match up with the technology of the new cars, and start the first of three phases to get them ready for revenue service.
Meanwhile, over the course of seven months, SacRT teams worked nights and weekends with contractors to raise platforms at light rail stations on our Gold Line to accommodate the new low-floor vehicles. We’ll do that next on the Blue Line. We’re also in the process of adding a passing track to operate 15-minute service frequency between the Sunrise and Historic Folsom stations, rather than the existing 30-minute service.
A complicated project, and ‘amazing cooperation’
The modernization effort included teaching hundreds of our team members about the ins and outs of the new vehicles. We wrote training manuals and then trained our mechanics and our light rail operators. Our teams went out most nights this year to test, or “burn in,” the new trains on our rail lines after peak service hours, monitoring each vehicle’s performance.
“They shake down every wire, test everything,” said Director of Light Rail Maintenance Michael Cormiae.
We did it all while keeping our existing fleet running. It was nerve-racking at times, but also exhilarating, said Director of Engineering and Construction Craig Norman.
“We’ve never done such a complicated construction project while maintaining revenue service,” Norman said. “This required all departments to be on the same team and everyone to sacrifice. And everyone did. I was amazed at how well we cooperated together.”
Each station platform reconstruction led to a “hold your breath” moment, Norman said, as operators slowly drove the first new light rail vehicle through newly elevated platforms, making sure the train’s flank was within two inches of the new concrete platform, but not scraping up against it.
“Our team would be there to watch,” Norman said. “Every time the train came through and didn’t hit, we were like, ‘Yes!’ It was so satisfying to see that the design worked.”
‘We were like kids on Christmas morning!’
For Light Rail Maintenance Superintendent George Kirbyson, one satisfying moment came the night Siemens delivered the first new car. A 135-foot-long Siemens flatbed truck positioned itself over the light rail line on Del Paso Boulevard, then slowly tilted downward, allowing the 100,000-pound train car to slide onto the tracks.
“That night, it was 34 degrees out. It was so cold,” he said. “We were out there for three hours. We had an audience. People had heard about it.”
It was a thrill. “The amount of work it had taken to get to that point, the hours we all put in, it’s like you’re a kid and it’s Christmas morning,” Kirbyson said. “It is something that you have been waiting for, for a long time.”
As the new vehicles arrived, SacRT’s light rail facility on Academy Way became a beehive of activity. Maintenance workers learned the new systems, operators took turns trying out the new train controls, and supervisors figured out each night in an increasingly crowded facility where to station the cars that needed work or testing so that crews could get right to them the next morning.
“It’s like a big, never-ending puzzle,” Light Rail Maintenance Supervisor Michael Smith said. “We just keep jockeying cars based on which ones we need to get to next.”
Materials Management Superintendent and S700 Project Manager Colleen Elder has worked on the project from the start. She signs the papers giving a final thumbs-up on each train car after testing and is excited to finally get to manage materials for brand-new machines, where new parts are readily available.
“It’s going to be awesome,” she said. “It’s like going from an old Ford Capri to a Tesla in terms of technology. It’s night and day.”
Opening doors for our disabled community
All train riders will find the new low-floor trains much easier to use. But we had our disabled community and other riders with limited mobility squarely in mind when we made the decision to launch this low-floor vehicle project.
Our existing train cars have high floors, requiring passengers to walk up steep steps in the train while boarding, and people in wheelchairs have to wait for operators to help them board from the first train car using a separate mini-high ramp.
To make sure we took the correct steps, our Americans with Disabilities Act Compliance Officer Priscilla Vargas and our volunteer Mobility Advisory Council (MAC) were involved in the project throughout.
Vargas and MAC members visited Siemens’ south Sacramento factory several times to view the vehicles, and tested out the reconfigured station platforms, offering insights and advice.
Vargas calls the introduction of the new cars into service a major step toward our goal of becoming a more accessible transit service.
“This is a big step for ADA and accessibility for all,” Vargas said. “It opens the door for the public to simply just roll or walk on board easily.”
Fine-tuning the little things. It’s ‘a big deal’
One of the critical moving parts of each new vehicle is the “mobility ramp” that self deploys at the touch of a button, bridging the small gap between the doorsill and the station platform, thus allowing passengers to roll or step easily and safely onboard. Crews continually adjusted the deployment process to get the ramps “just so,” said Cormiae.
“It was a big deal,” Cormiae said. “We had to do tweaks so they would land gracefully on the detectable boarding pad. They need to deploy thousands of times a month, so I want it to work like it needs to without undue stress, so that the ramps can stand the test of time. We found that sweet spot. I’m liking it.”
Cormiae’s crew is even ordering softer brushes to wash the new cars, which are painted a sleek and shiny deep blue. “I put my hand on the paint and said, ‘I don’t want to mar this finish!’ We came up with a softer brush, almost like an oven mitt. Hopefully, we’ll keep that finish for a long time.”
Every new car to be put into service in September will already have undergone 1,000 miles of testing on our system, said Director of Light Rail Operations Vince Beatty.
“We’re trying to run fault free,” Beatty said. He’s been pleased with the performance.
Chris Hix, a transportation superintendent for light rail, has been working with operators and supervisors on training. He said operators are pleased with the computer systems that make it easier to troubleshoot, even before a problem hits.
“When they get a trouble code, it shows you right on the screen what to look for,” Hix said. “You can tell exactly where you have issues and what is going on. They like it. One operator called it ‘fancy.’”
A project’s success hinges on people
Light Rail Maintenance Superintendent George Kirbyson is among those who consider this project a career highlight.
“This is a mark of pride,” he said. “I have tried to take all my experience from my career to make this a high note for the district. And hopefully have a huge positive impact on our community.”
Our job is not complete, though. We have major construction yet to do in the next few years on the Blue Line. We will continue adding new trains to our lines for the next few years.
One of our biggest challenges continues to be coming up with the funding. Under the direction of General Manager/CEO Henry Li, the SacRT team and local state and federal leaders have been at work incrementally winning local, state and federal grants.
So far, we have 20 new cars in hand, each costing roughly $5 million. Another 25 are under construction now at Siemens’ south Sacramento facility, with more expected to follow after that.
We have teams putting together instructional videos to introduce the new cars to passengers, and we plan to have transit ambassadors, guards and other staff on the station platforms in the first weeks to help riders discover the new vehicles.
But even as we continue to work, we recognize why we have gotten this far:
It’s been not only a team effort but one marked by many instances of ingenuity and initiative. Light Rail Maintenance Supervisor Michael Smith is inspired by the efforts he has seen.
“It is the people who are making this happen,” Smith said. “It’s about people, working hard and figuring things out. It’s about the technicians, body mechanics, service workers and many others. It’s about work ethic and being part of a team.”
Learn more about the rollout of the new low-floor light rail vehicles at sacrt.com/newtrains.