Siemens S70

Siemens S70 car for the LYNX Blue Line in Charlotte, North Carolina

The Siemens S70 or Avanto is a low-floor light rail vehicle (LRV) or tram manufactured by Siemens AG. In the United States, Siemens refers to this model only as the S70,^[1] while the Avanto name is used in Europe.

The S70 is in use, or on order, by several light rail systems in the United States.

In Europe, Siemens Combino and Avenio models are the preferred offerings for purely light rail or tramway systems, and the Avanto is principally sold to tram-train systems which, in whole or part, share their tracks with heavy rail trains. Here its principal competitors are Bombardier’s Flexity Link tram-train and Alstom’s Citadis Regio-Citadis/Citadis-Dualis tram-train variants. To date, the Avanto has been sold to two tram-train operations in France.^[2]

Size and configuration

The S70/Avanto has a modular design, and can be built in a number of different sizes and configurations.

To date, all S70s delivered in North America have had a length between 91 feet (28 m)^[3] and 96 feet (29 m),^{[citation needed]} but the 77 cars currently on order by Salt Lake City's TRAX system and the 65 cars on order for the San Diego Trolley will be only 81 feet (24.7 m) long.^[4][3] The Avantos built for France have a length of 36.68 m (120.3 ft).^[2][5]

While most S70 vehicles are double-ended, with operating controls at both ends, and double sided (doors on both sides), the 22 cars in service on Portland's MAX system are single-ended, with operating cabs at only one end of each car. However, they have doors on both sides, and in service they always operate in pairs, coupled back-to-back, so that each consist has operating cabs at both ends.^[6]

The S70/Avanto can be configured to operate on various combinations of power supply. The Avantos ordered for France are capable of operating on 750 V DC, when running on tram or light rail tracks, and on 25 kV AC, when running on main line tracks.^[2]

Usage and current orders

United States

• Houston METRORail, Texas: 18 units purchased, with delivery complete in late 2004. 19 additional units on order, procured using Salt Lake City options, to be delivered starting in late 2012. The original cars are the long variant; the new cars are the shorter variant as used in Salt Lake.^{[citation needed]}
• Metro Transit, Twin Cities, Minnesota: 41 purchased with 58 options. Delivery began in 2012, with the first unit entering service in early 2013.^{[citation needed]} Deliveries from the initial order are expected to continue until early 2014.
• San Diego Trolley, California: 11 'full size' 92-foot (28.04 m) units purchased in first order in October 2004, with delivery complete in July 2005. A second order, for 57 81-foot (24.69 m) cars, was placed in October 2009;^[7] the order was later increased to 65 'streetcar length' S70s in 2012.^[4] All of the S70 vehicles are projected to be in service by 2014.^[4]
• LYNX Blue Line (CATS), Charlotte, North Carolina, United States: 16 units purchased, in service since November 2007. Four additional units purchased in 2008 and in service by March 2010 to keep up with higher than expected ridership.^[8]
• MAX, Portland, Oregon: 22 units purchased. Order for 21 cars announced on May 11, 2006;^[9] later expanded by one car. Entered service starting in August 2009.^[10] Order placed 2012 for another 18 cars.^[11]
• The Tide Light Rail, Norfolk, Virginia: 9 cars, ordered in 2007. First cars delivered October 2009.^[12] Entered service with the opening of the Norfolk system, in 2011.
• Utah Transit Authority: 77 units ordered; in service since August 7, 2011. The order also includes an option for 180 additional cars.^[5][8]
• Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, Georgia: 4 cars, ordered in 2011.^[13] In May 2011 Siemens announced that it had won the $17.2 million contract to build the four streetcars that will run on the new Downtown Loop line. According to Siemens, the first vehicle was expected to be delivered in September 2012. The vehicles would be built at Siemens’ plant in Florin, California, but with major components, including the propulsion system, assembled at Siemens' plant in Alpharetta, Georgia.^[14]

France

• SNCF, Paris region: 25 tram-train units purchased. Entered service starting on November 18, 2006, with the opening of new route T4, between Aulnay-sous-Bois and Bondy.^[15] The S70 model used here is known as the Avanto.
• Mulhouse tramway, Mulhouse: 12 tram-train cars delivered, for use on an SNCF line from Mulhouse to Thann, Haut-Rhin.^[2][16] First unit delivered on November 6, 2009.^[16]

An order for 22 S70 cars, placed in 2006 by Ottawa, Ontario for a planned expansion of its O-Train system, was later cancelled. Political problems had resulted in cancellation of the entire expansion project, which in turn led to lawsuits by Siemens and other contractors against the City of Ottawa.^[17]

Gallery

• 

  An S70 in Houston, on the METRORail system

• 

  The S70 model operated by the San Diego Trolley on the Green Line as a 2-car train

• 

  A train of S70 cars on Portland, Oregon's MAX system

• 

  An Avanto tram-train car on Paris's Transilien route T4

• 

  S70 testing in Norfolk, Virginia for the Tide Light Rail system

• 

  A Red Line train stationed at Daybreak Parkway on Salt Lake City's TRAX system

See also

• Light rail in North America
• Siemens–Duewag U2
• Siemens SD-100 and SD-160
• Siemens SD-400
• Siemens SD-460

References

External links

• Siemens USA Light rail vehicles and streetcars (official webpage)