Alstom CTDOT Single Level Passenger “Adessia” Coach Order

"We are pleased to announce a new order confirmed with the @CTDOTOfficial for 60 single-level rail #coach cars valued at approximately €285 million. Delivery is scheduled to begin in 2026.

Read more: ow.ly/Am4i50Pw4l0

#MobilityByNature #PassengerTrain "

Options include up to 313 additional cars. 2x2 seating arrangment. 125mph design.

Maybe I'm missing something. But I don't see any passenger display screens on the outside of the cars. Also, push-pull over DMU is extremely shortsighted, but we've beaten that topic to death already.

Just read that these will be capable of 125mph operations. Will be a big improvement over the 80mph MBBs and 85mph Mafersa's, and will hopefully make the trip times between CTrail and Amtrak on the Hartford Line identical.

"#CTDOT is purchasing 60 new rail cars for use on the Hartford Line, as well as the branches of the New Haven Line. Based on the Adessia rail car produced by ALSTOM, this next-generation rail car will have spacious seating, workstations, luggage racks and bike storage.

The new rail cars will be custom designed to meet Federal Railroad Administration requirements and tailored for CTDOT. The final design will ultimately be a unique rail car specific for #Connecticut riders! Learn more at https://bit.ly/3KWwWXJ."

From the CDOT Facebook.

Unique == costs more, as it's not an off the shelf design.
Also, EMUs and trailers would have been a better idea, long term.

I'm sure we'll know more later on, but they do look suspiciously close to Bombardier M7 shells, so I have to wonder if they are mostly based off that from the rendering.

60 cars is not that much when you consider the goals of a clock face schedule of 30 min peak, 60 min off peak.

$315 million for 60 cars plus parts works out to $5.25 million per car. Seems like a big number.

Also, from the Alston press release,
"options to build an additional 313 cars, as part of CTDOT’s coach renewal program for its statewide rail system. "

What might CTDOT do with an extra 313 cars with 2-2 seating?

Alstom to supply 60 single-level coach cars to the Connecticut Department of Transportation for its statewide rail system:

https://www.alstom.com/press-releases-news/2023/8/alstom-supply-60-single-level-coach-cars-connecticut-department-transportation-its-statewide-rail-system wrote:Alstom

Press Release:

Base order valued at approximately €285 million (approximately USD 315 million)
Comfortable two-by-two seating enhancing passenger experience
Fully compliant with FRA, APTA and ADA standards
9 August 2023 – Alstom and the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) confirmed an order for 60 single-level rail coach cars valued at approximately €285 million (approximately USD $315 million) with options to build an additional 313 cars, as part of CTDOT’s coach renewal program for its statewide rail system. Delivery is scheduled to begin in 2026.

The agreement calls for the delivery of fully customised, sustainable, next-generation commuter rail cars specifically designed for North America, providing riders with safe, comfortable, 125 mph commuter rail service. The new vehicles will all be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and American Public Transportation Association (APTA) requirements.

Michael Keroullé, President, Americas Region
“We look forward to further building upon our relationship with CTDOT by providing extensive expertise ranging from passenger ergonomics, experience, and comfort to operational considerations and optimized maintenance practices for years to come.”

Michael Keroullé
President, Alstom Americas
The vehicles will have a convenient two-by-two seating configuration with foldable tables and easy access for wheelchair passengers. The new cars will also provide an enhanced passenger experience with convenient overhead luggage racks, workstation tables and a bicycle storage area, safe and reliable wi-fi access, real time information on upcoming stops, conveniently located power and USB access, and the most current cybersecurity safety features. In addition, passengers will enjoy panoramic balcony-style windows at wheeled mobility spaces, allowing for the flow of natural sunlight through the car’s interior, giving riders great views.

“Having a modernised transit system with safe, comfortable, and convenient access to work, homes and fun is essential to attracting the kind of businesses and workforce talent we need to grow good-paying jobs and remain economically competitive,” Governor Lamont said. “Connecticut is the home of the busiest rail line in the nation, and the purchase of these new rail cars continues our efforts to deliver better and more reliable service for commuters.”

“The CTDOT Office of Rail is working hard to upgrade the trip for rail customers across Connecticut. We know they want more comfortable seats, Wi-Fi access, bike storage, and ADA accessibility, and we’re taking action on those needs with steps like this,” said Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto. “We’re pleased to partner with Alstom on the order of this next generation of rail cars. This order is part of our ongoing capital program to purchase new rail cars and improve the customer experience.”

€285 M
valued at approximately €285 million (approximately USD 315 million)
60
single-level rail coach cars
313
options to build an additional 313 cars
“We are proud to be a part of this exciting new chapter for CTDOT and the people of Connecticut,” said Michael Keroullé, President, Alstom Americas. “We look forward to further building upon our relationship with CTDOT by providing extensive expertise ranging from passenger ergonomics, experience, and comfort to operational considerations and optimized maintenance practices for years to come.”

Alstom is leading the way toward more sustainable mobility options. With demand on the rise, cities and countries need transport solutions that help decrease greenhouse gas emissions, congestion, and pollution to improve public health for the years to come. The new cars will offer CTDOT passengers a reliable and fast regional rail option, reducing traffic congestion along the region’s interstates and the state’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to meet its 2030 targets.

With more than 2,500 bi-level and multi-level cars and more than 1,400 single-deck cars developed and manufactured in North America, Alstom is a significant contributor to the capacity and quality of passenger rail transportation of major cities across the United States, specifically the northeastern region.

Alstom’s commuter transport solutions support urban ecosystems all over the world to grow sustainably, accommodate increasing numbers of commuters and alleviate traffic congestion. Alstom is a leader in the commuter market with over 40 years of experience in designing, manufacturing, and maintaining commuter trains. Alstom is constantly improving its products to provide passengers and operators with the best and latest railway technologies based on electric overhead catenary, hybrid, battery, and hydrogen energy supply. More than 31,000 Alstom commuter rail cars have been delivered to 15 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas and Australia, facilitating the daily life of millions of urban citizens. 

Alstom™ is a protected trademark of the Alstom Group.

For about a century now, since the days of doodlebugs, it has been thought desirable to distinguish the head end of self-propelled units with either bold contrasting stripes or a bright solid color, often yellow. Is it current opinion that solid black is better? Unlike in Acela territory, these cars will see many grade crossings.

LIRR used yellow, but the M-9s broke the trend.

Unless the 3-headlight rule since 1997 (added ditchlights) provides sufficient coverage.

The early 20th century MUs (PRR, Lackawanna, NH, NYC) had no bright color on the front, even the ACMUs
and Washboards had their front in standard livery. LIRR did begin using orange postwar, possibly a response
to the 1950 wrecks.

$5.25m per car is insane.

It's an interesting choice to get 313, but utterly strange as to why they're going with single-levels of a custom-"tailored" design. In general i kinda was on the team that single-levels were on the way out - perhaps these "custom" cars are an intent to launch a competitor on the regional market for the Siemens sets?

$5m per car sounds like a lot, but as a new design, there's some added cost and risk that CDOT may have agreed to front.

Maybe there's royalties in the deal so that if other agencies jump on this as an alternative CDOT gets some of that back?

If Metra is rethinking their bilevel order with Alstom, getting a few of these instead might be a way out of that deal.

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edflyerssn007 wrote:Options include up to 313 additional cars. 2x2 seating arrangment. 125mph design.

For an organization jokingly known here as the “Dept. Of Tar” they sure are making quite a sell job with that 2-2 seating. Nicely done! (Though of course the fact that the leased MBB cars had 2-2 seating must have factored in).

Traingeek3629 wrote:Maybe I'm missing something. But I don't see any passenger display screens on the outside of the cars. Also, push-pull over DMU is extremely shortsighted, but we've beaten that topic to death already.

1. It’s not the final design just a rough schematic. Even the ACS64 looked a bit different by the time the final design was revealed.

2. No one is making DMUs compatible with high level platforms and even so they don’t allow for fleet flexibility vs engines and coaches.

scratchyX1 wrote:Unique == costs more, as it's not an off the shelf design.
Also, EMUs and trailers would have been a better idea, long term.

.I don’t see any overhead wires on the Danbury, Waterbury, and Hartford lines…

ST Saint wrote:I'm sure we'll know more later on, but they do look suspiciously close to Bombardier M7 shells, so I have to wonder if they are mostly based off that from the rendering.

They really do look like the fusion of an M7, M8, and MBB coach. Hopefully they won’t look so “boxy” looking in the end.

nomis wrote:60 cars is not that much when you consider the goals of a clock face schedule of 30 min peak, 60 min off peak.

If the Hartford Line gets them first that replaces all 16 MBBs and 33 Mafersa cars and adds 11 extras (or two whole 4 car consists). Plus not even half of those 49 coaches are in service at any one time since prior to the M8s on SLE the Mafersas were in service on both lines. Perhaps ConnDOT wants to wait and see what Metro North wants to do with their push pull replacement project before exercising any option cars (though the real reason could be that the MBB and Mafersa fleets are the oldest non-rebuilds and have manual doors vs the late 90s-built and 00s-rebuilt automatic door Shoreliners).

Train60 wrote:$315 million for 60 cars plus parts works out to $5.25 million per car. Seems like a big number.

Also, from the Alston press release,
"options to build an additional 313 cars, as part of CTDOT’s coach renewal program for its statewide rail system. "

What might CTDOT do with an extra 313 cars with 2-2 seating?

1. Inflation and supply chain issues likely culprits for that.

2. I guess they’ll replace all their Comet II and IV coaches if they don’t like the multilevels Metro-North has in mind for their diesel fleet replacement plans. There’s no major service expansion on the horizon. New Milford is dead in the water for now, Norwich ain’t happening for a long time if ever, Middletown is a pipe dream, Manchester is low hanging fruit the DOT won’t grab…, a WTBY extension to Berlin or Hartford is also dead for now so that leaves replacing the Comets with some extras on hand.

ConstanceR46 wrote:It's an interesting choice to get 313, but utterly strange as to why they're going with single-levels of a custom-"tailored" design. In general i kinda was on the team that single-levels were on the way out - perhaps these "custom" cars are an intent to launch a competitor on the regional market for the Siemens sets?

Well no one’s making single level commuter coaches en masse for the North American market so they have to start from scratch. I would be interested in knowing if Siemens placed a bid for a “commuter variant” of the Venture coaches. That would seem to be a slam dunk since ConnDOT has already signed a contract for 6 new Chargers with up to 14 option units on the table.

eolesen wrote:$5m per car sounds like a lot, but as a new design, there's some added cost and risk that CDOT may have agreed to front.

Maybe there's royalties in the deal so that if other agencies jump on this as an alternative CDOT gets some of that back?

If Metra is rethinking their bilevel order with Alstom, getting a few of these instead might be a way out of that deal.

1. With multilevels all the rage nowadays I don’t see anyone else picking these up. They’d be an ideal fit for the LIRR Montauk and Greenport trains, but no way would they want a small captive fleet of single level coaches for 1 or 2 lines (even if they offer better luggage storage for East End weekenders/vacationers than MLVs).

2. Since Metra’s got the 2x daily Chicago-Rockford express train coming in 2027 and these would be perfect for that service.