The Los Angeles County Transportation Authority (L.A. Metro) has received the first of 16 modernized Siemens P2000 light-rail vehicles that were sent to an Alstom Transportation Inc., facility so that critical systems could be overhauled.
L.A. Metro’s light-rail vehicles were originally put into service in 1996 on the A Line (Blue) and C Line (Green) and are now due for their midlife work. This will extend the lifespan of rail vehicles and help ensure they remain safe, reliable and maintainable for the future.
Sixteen rail cars were sent to the facility on Mare Island in Vallejo, Calif., in early 2017. Once the modernized rail cars arrive — L.A. Metro will be getting one per month — it will perform inspection and testing at L.A. Metro’s rail maintenance centers to ensure all cars are in good working order. Then the modernized cars will be placed into service on the A Line, E Line (Expo) and C Line.
L.A. Metro’s Arts & Design staff worked with operations to update the decades old graphic package with a wrap to reflect contemporary standards, with the L.A. Metro Rail brand prominently displayed against the bespoke bright yellow speed bead pattern.
As more modernized cars return to the agency, L.A. Metro will decommission the remaining P2000 vehicles from service and ship them north for modernization work until all 52 P2000s are overhauled.
