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Pittsburgh pursues grant to replace light rail equipment

By Trains Staff | December 20, 2023

| Last updated on February 2, 2024


Majority of railcar fleet dates to 1980s

Gray light rail trainset
Pittsburgh Regional Transit has applied for a grant to help with replacement of its light rail fleet. Pittsburgh Regional Transit

PITTSBURGH — The city’s transit agency has applied for a $100 million federal grant as part of its process to replace its current fleet of light rail vehicles, the Pittsburgh Union Progress reports.

Pittsburgh Regional Transit is looking to replace its entire 81-car fleet of 53 cars built by Siemens AG in the 1980s, with the remainder manufactured by CAF. Those newer cars are about 20 years old, and would face major upgrades by the time the new equipment is available, so will also be replaced, CEO Katharine Eagan Kellerman told the news site.

The replacement process is expected to take six to eight years. The agency expects to hire a consultant in 2024 to begin design of a prototype in 2024

Applications under the Federal Transit Administration’s Rail Vehicle Replacement grant program were due by Dec. 18 [see “FTA offers almost $200 million …,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 12, 2023].

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