The rollout this month of Sacramento Regional Transit’s new S700 low-floor light rail vehicles offer a major light-rail system upgrade for the capital region that current and future riders will enjoy for decades to come. 

But that’s not all. 

It also represents the latest successful partnership for two key players on the American urban transit scene – SacRT and Sacramento-based train-builder Siemens Mobility North America. 

That partnership dates to a pivotal moment nationally four decades ago, when light rail was just getting started in American cities, including Sacramento. 

Officials at German manufacturing giant Siemens saw that movement starting, and decided to open an American manufacturing plant so that it could participate. 

It chose Sacramento for its North American home. And in the process, it won the bid to produce SacRT’s original light rail fleet.  

Michael Cahill, President of Rolling Stock for Siemens Mobility North America, said California’s capital city was a logical choice for a home base. 

“At a time,” he said, “when traffic-clogged cities were a new problem, Sacramento was one of few pioneering communities who took a chance on the resurgence of passenger rail – sparking a rail renaissance in America and giving way to the modern rail era we see today.” 

It worked out well. Today, Siemens Mobility North America employs 2,500 workers at its French Road plant. It has made light rail cars, locomotives and other train vehicles for 35 North American cities and agencies, including Atlanta, Calgary, Denver, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Portland, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle. 

But, when asked, Siemens officials say they feel they have a special relationship with SacRT. Siemens Mobility’s Cahill calls Sacramento his company’s hometown and SacRT his employees' local transit company. 

SacRT has purchased train cars and materials from other companies at other time points over the decades as part of its competitive procurement/bidding process. But even at times when SacRT is doing business with other companies, agency officials say they appreciate Siemens’ commitment to the Sacramento community.  

“Siemens has not only created opportunities for transit throughout the nation by building these cars right here in south Sacramento, but they also have created high-paying skilled jobs here in Sacramento,” SacRT Board Chairman Patrick Kennedy said., “and it makes them, I believe, outside of healthcare, the largest private employer in south Sacramento. They have been committed to this region since they came here in the 1980s.” 

SacRT still operates some of the original Siemens-Duewag Type U2a light rail vehicles first launched on Sacramento streets in 1987. They are workhorses that have served the region well. But they are well beyond their 30-year useful lifespan. Other agencies who also bought the U2a vehicles have already phased them out. 

Now, it’s SacRT’s turn. This month, we are adding sleek new Siemens S700 low-floor vehicles to our fleet. While we have 20 new S700s in our fleet, another 25 are under construction now at Siemens’ facility, with potentially more to follow for a total of up to 76 trains. SacRT is also starting station platform construction on the Blue Line this month, to get stations ready for the new trains by 2027.  

“SacRT’s new vehicles are a testament to American-made manufacturing and the next generation of modern rail,” Siemens’ Cahill said. “Our team of local talent feels great pride in delivering light rail vehicles, streetcars, locomotives, trainsets and passenger coaches to transit agencies across the nation, and even greater pride delivering light rail vehicles right here in our hometown of Sacramento, where our friends and families are daily passengers.” 

The new trains, “are as modern as it gets,” Cahill said during a recent public event in Folsom to display one of the first vehicles. The low floors allow people in wheelchairs to roll aboard using a deployable ramp. The vehicles are high tech with overhead digital signage, and with adjustable voice and volume sound level control. 

The long relationship between SacRT and Siemens is also a story of close connections among employees of both companies. 

SacRT’s S700 project manager Colleen Elder personifies that cross-pollination. Elder was among the first employees at Siemens in south Sacramento decades ago. Later, she moved to SacRT. She says she loved working at Siemens, but, thanks to the relationship between Siemens and SacRT, she gained an appreciation for SacRT. 

As SacRT’s S700 project manager, Elder has worked side by side the last few years with Siemens engineers and crews. It’s been a challenging and fruitful experience. 

“Everybody on both sides is happy to see the new cars,” she said. “Siemens is finally going to see their new light rail cars running in their hometown. It is going to be awesome.” 

Some current Siemens employees date back to the early days in the mid-1980s when the company first set up shop in Sacramento to build the cars for SacRT to run on its first line. Among them is Mike Mooney, a group leader master technician at Siemens, who did electrical testing for Siemens on SacRT’s first train cars and was part of the Siemens team that loaded those cars onto trucks and delivered them to SacRT in 1987. 

“We were happy to build them, and SacRT was happy to receive them,” Mooney said. “They were a good design. That was the start of everything. Without them starting us here, we couldn't have done light rail all over the country.” 

But time and technology move on. And partnerships move forward. “The new low-floor car, you’re going to love it,” Mooney said. “Our employees take real pride in building these cars for SacRT.” 

   Learn more about the new low-floor light rail vehicles at sacrt.com/newtrains.  

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