The Maryland Department of Transportation, the Maryland Transit Administration – a division of the Maryland DOT – and the Purple Line project team recently heralded the arrival of the first Purple Line light rail car. Those light rail cars – which measure 142-feet long – are built by Spain-based rail car maker CAF, assembled in Elmira, NY, and then transported to Maryland by flat-bed trucks.
[Above photo by the Maryland DOT]
The Purple Line project encompasses a 16-mile, 21-station light rail line connecting communities from New Carrollton in Prince George’s County, MD, to Bethesda in Montgomery County, MD.
The Purple Line will directly connect to Metrorail’s Red, Green and Orange subway lines at Bethesda, Silver Spring, College Park, and New Carrollton. The Purple Line will also connect to Maryland Area Rail Commuter or MARC trains, Amtrak trains, and local bus services.
In attendance at the Purple Line light rail car reception – held at the Operations and Maintenance Facility in Glenridge, MD – were Maryland DOT Secretary Paul Wiedefeld, MTA Administrator Holly Arnold, FTA Regional Administrator Terry Garcia Crews, MTA Purple Line Senior Project Director Ray Biggs II, and Purple Line Transit Partners CEO Doran Bosso, as well as other state and local officials from Prince George’s and Montgomery counties.
“Celebrating the arrival of the Purple Line’s first light rail vehicle is the latest significant milestone in getting this much-needed new transit line up and running,” said Maryland DOT’s Wiedefeld in a statement.
“This new light rail vehicle embodies the many benefits transit provides from connecting communities to reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” he added. “he progress being made is because of the commitment and effort over the past year and a half to expedite work along the alignment.”
“Today marks a major milestone for the Purple Line and a major step forward for Maryland’s public transit future,” said MTA’s Arnold.
“With thousands of feet of rail track installed and 16 of 21 stations currently under construction, we are happy to announce that the project is now more than 65 percent complete,” she pointed out.
The Maryland DOT noted that each Purple Line rail car can hold 430 passengers, with seating for 80; can accommodate up to eight wheelchairs; and features eight bike racks that can hold either bicycles or scooters. The agency said CAF is expected to deliver the entire fleet of 28 light rail vehicles by the end of 2025.
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