The first eight of 136 Metrorail cars to replace Miami-Dade’s metro fleet in Florida are in various stages of testing, according to the county Department of Transportation and Public Works.
The first train is on schedule to begin service by the end of November, and 16 cars are currently in production at the Hitachi facility in Medley. The 140,400-sq-ft custom-designed Hitachi facility opened in March 2016, and was solely made for the manufacturing and subassembly of the county’s new trains. The space can test eight cars simultaneously.
Once the shell arrives in Miami, workers assemble the doors, electrical systems, wheels and axels, the rooftop HVAC and the under-frame equipment that takes the cars down the tracks. Once the trains are proved capable of handling Miami’s climate, work begins on the interior of the cars.
Some trains are already being tested on Metrorail’s main line at night when other cars are out of operation, while others are being tested on the Lehman Metrorail facility’s test track. The new cars are roughly the size of the existing fleet but have improved technology.
Miami-Dade’s transportation department says the cars will feel and sound much different to riders. They have much quieter disc brakes than the existing fleet, computerized control systems for smoother acceleration and reduced use of electricity, making them more reliable. All 136 trains are on track to run by 2019.
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Source: Miami Today
