CAF
Bring on the CAFs!
A vehicle similar to the Cincinnati Streetcar is making the journey across Europe from Zaragoza, Spain to Wednesbury Depot in England. Trams Today posted about the much-anticipated Urbos 3, which was manufactured by CAF, the same company creating streetcars for the Queen City. The only difference is that instead of coming from Spain, Cincinnati’s streetcars will be built by CAF in Elmira, New York in compliance with the Federal Transit Administration’s “Buy America” incentive. The pictured Urbos 3 will ride the rails through the West Midlands, one of the most heavily urbanized counties of the United Kingdom.
More from Trams Today:
“The CAF built trams should then become a regular sight on the tramway. It is still the intention that they will enter passenger service later this year, ahead of the opneing of the extenstion of the tramway through the streets of Birmingham to serve New Street station.
The artists impression shows a taste of things to come for the West Midlands as a CAF built Urbos tram glides through the streets of Birmingham, approaching the future terminus of the line outside New Street Station. This sight should become a reality at some point during 2015.”
KC and Detroit are looking to piggyback on Cincinnati’s streetcar order
If you haven’t heard yet, Cincinnati’s streetcar vehicles are going to be top of the line and will be the best found in North America once in operation.
The streetcar vehicles currently in use, or recently ordered in other cities, are an older generation. One of the main functional differences riders will notice is all level-boarding doors – four to be exact. Streetcar vehicles in other cities only have two level-boarding doors, with a third door requiring passengers to go up two steps.
What this means is that the Cincinnati Streetcar system will be the most ADA friendly system in North America. It will be easier for the disabled, the elderly, people with strollers, and bicyclists to use the system. It’s an obvious advantage for CIncinnati and others have taken notice.
Since placing our streetcar vehicle order with CAF, both Kansas City and now Detroit have announced that they would like to get in on the same order. This will help all parties save money and ensure that riders in Detroit and KC have equally impressive operating systems.
Cincinnati’s five initial streetcar vehicles are being built now. Details regarding the vehicle’s color scheme and interior designs are expected to be announced soon.