CAF USA has been selected to manufacture and deliver 15 new vehicles for use on the Portland Streetcar system.
The new vehicles will utilise hybrid battery-electric equipment to serve a new, off-wire portion of the Portland Streetcar system as the NS Line expands to Montgomery Park in Northwest Portland.
CAF USA will manufacture and deliver 15 new vehicles for use on the Portland Streetcar system
© Steve Morgan
CAF USA was awarded the contract by the City of Portland Bureau of Transportation, with the new off-wire service set to be an entirely new element to the system and form part of an expansion project.
Jitendra Tomar, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for CAF USA, said:
CAF USA is thrilled to be a part of making history by entering a partnership with the Portland Streetcar system.
The system is a landmark for modern streetcars in the United States.
All new streetcars will be built at CAF USA’s railcar manufacturing facility in Elmira, New York, following previous streetcar deliveries that saw vehicles enter service in Kansas City, Cincinnati and Omaha.
With CAF USA now officially selected, the process will now move into a phase to determine vehicle specifications, cost, delivery timeline and other critical elements. City of Portland, Portland Streetcar, Inc. and CAF representatives will begin negotiating those items in early April.
The new vehicles will replace Portland’s original Czech-built modern streetcar fleet that began service in 2001 and is nearing the end of its operating lifecycle, in addition to a few others in need of replacement due to age or damage.