Bombardier BiLevel Coach
Bi-Level Coach and Cab Car | |
---|---|
![]() A GO Transit train with Bombardier BiLevel coaches | |
Interior of a New Mexico Rail Runner Express coach | |
Manufacturer | Hawker Siddeley Canada-SNC Lavalin (Can Car) and UTDC-SNC Lavalin , Bombardier Transportation, Alstom Transport |
Built at | Fort William (Thunder Bay), Ontario |
Constructed | 1976–Present |
Entered service | 1976 |
Capacity | 136 to 162 (seated); 142 in IV series, 276 standees |
Operator(s) | see article |
Specifications | |
Car body construction | Riveted or welded aluminum body on a steel frame |
Car length | 85 ft (25.91 m) |
Width | 9 ft 10 in (2.997 m) |
Height | 15 ft 11 in (4.851 m) |
Doors | Pneumatically-operated doors |
Weight | 50,000 kg (110,000 lb) |
Power supply | 480 or 575 V HEP |
Braking system(s) | Pneumatic tread brakes and disc brakes |
The Bombardier BiLevel Coach is a bilevel passenger railcar currently built by Alstom Transport, previously by Bombardier Transportation, Hawker Siddeley Canada, the Canadian Car and Foundry (Can Car) and the UTDC. They are designed to carry up to 360 passengers for commuter railways. These carriages are easily identifiable: they are double-decked and are shaped like elongated octagons.
History[]
The BiLevel coaches were designed by Toronto's regional commuter rail service, GO Transit and Hawker Siddeley Canada in the mid-1970s as a more efficient replacement for GO's original single-deck coaches and cab cars.[1] Later coaches were manufactured by Urban Transportation Development Corporation/Can-Car and finally Bombardier, who now owns the designs and manufacturing facility. There are more than seven hundred such coaches in service today and almost all have been built at the company's Thunder Bay, Ontario, and Plattsburgh, New York, plants.
Construction[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e3/Brampton_ON_GOT-358_Cab-Car_2017-03-22.jpg/250px-Brampton_ON_GOT-358_Cab-Car_2017-03-22.jpg)
The coaches feature an aluminum body on a steel frame. They are 15 ft 11 in (4.851 m) high and 9 ft 10 in (2.997 m) wide, and weigh about 61,000 kg (134,000 lb).[1] Depending on car design and seating configuration, seats are available for between 136 and 162 passengers, along with standing room. The coaches have two pairs of doors on each side which allow the entire coach to be emptied in 90 seconds. Some of the newer coaches have electrical outlets for laptop computers and other devices along with small tables.
All newly built coaches have a washroom on the lower level; the original coaches for GO Transit have the washroom on the intermediate level in the same location as where the cab is located in cab cars (see below). The washrooms feature a stainless steel chemical flush toilet, sink, mirrors and waste receptacles. The sliding washroom door, when locked, shows a light that indicates the washroom is in use. The washroom door is wheelchair friendly with wide doors and handle bars to assist those with mobility needs on the toilet.
One major variant is the cab car. The cab car is placed at the end of the train and features a full cab built into the end of the coach, from which the train's locomotive can be remotely controlled. This allows for push–pull operation with a faster turnaround time for trains, by avoiding having to physically turn around the train or locomotive. Unlike the similar Driving Van Trailer used by Britain's InterCity 225, the cab cars are otherwise identical to the regular coaches rather than imitating the design of the locomotive, leading to the appearance that the train is travelling 'backwards'. In 2014 Metrolinx (the provincial agency operating GO Transit) and Bombardier announced a new design for the cab car, which included a larger cab end and crash-energy management crumple zones.[2] Sounder Commuter Rail, Altamont Corridor Express, and COASTER have also purchased this type of cab car. This new series of BiLevel Cabcar are currently planned to replace all the older generation BiLevel Cabcars on three of the aforementioned four commuter rail services, many of which will be converted to normal coaches.
Most operators of these coaches use a 480 volt head end power (HEP) system for heating, lighting, and air conditioning. The only exception to this is with GO Transit which uses a 575 volt system (575 volts is a standard industrial Canadian voltage, having been previously used by CN for their Tempo cars — also built by HS). Whenever GO has leased coaches to other agencies, a power unit has been supplied with the coaches, or when GO has leased coaches from other agencies, a locomotive with 480 volt HEP capabilities was also leased. Amtrak, Via Rail and Exo also use 480 volt HEP (480 volt is a standard industrial U.S. voltage).
Series[]
Model | Operators | Builder | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Bi-Level I coach | GO Transit,[3] Metrolink | Hawker Siddeley Canada/Can Car | |
Bi-Level II coach | GO Transit, Caltrain, Trinity Railway Express, COASTER | ||
Bi-Level III coach | GO Transit, Metrolink, Tri-Rail | UTDC/Can Car | |
Bi-Level IV coach | GO Transit | ||
Bi-Level V coach | |||
Bi-Level VI coach | GO Transit, West Coast Express (some leased to GO Transit), Sounder Commuter Rail, New Mexico Rail Runner Express, Altamont Corridor Express, Trinity Railway Express, COASTER, Caltrain | Bombardier Transportation | |
Bi-Level VII coach | GO Transit, FrontRunner, Northstar Commuter Rail, SunRail, Trinity Railway Express, Exo | ||
Bi-Level VIII coach | GO Transit, Sounder Commuter Rail | ||
Bi-Level IX coach | GO Transit, Sounder Commuter Rail, COASTER, Altamont Corridor Express |
Operators[]
Many North American commuter rail agencies operate Bombardier BiLevel Coaches. They include:
Image | Operator | Hub City | Fleet size | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
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Altamont Corridor Express | Stockton, California | 24 cars | [4] |
Caltrain | San Francisco, California | 41 cars | ||
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Coaster | San Diego, California | 28 cars | [5][6] |
FrontRunner | Salt Lake City, Utah | 22 cars | [7] | |
GO Transit | Toronto, Ontario | 845 cars | [8] | |
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Metrolink | Los Angeles, California | 184 cars | [9][10] |
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Northstar Line | Minneapolis, Minnesota | 18 cars | |
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Rail Runner Express | Albuquerque, New Mexico | 22 cars | [11] |
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Sounder | Seattle, Washington | 58 cars | [12] |
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SunRail | Orlando, Florida | 20 cars | [13] |
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Tri-Rail | Miami, Florida | 26 cars | [6][14] |
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Trinity Railway Express | Dallas, Texas | 17 cars | [6][15] |
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West Coast Express | Vancouver, British Columbia | 44 cars | [16] |
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Exo | Montreal, Quebec | 22 cars |
Similar units[]
Bombardier also produces two other models of bi-level railway coach, the Bombardier MultiLevel and the Bombardier Double-deck Coach.
The MultiLevel was designed to a smaller loading gauge than the BiLevel in order to fit within the North River Tunnels used by New Jersey Transit in New York and the Mont Royal Tunnel used by Exo in Montréal. It also features doors on the middle level rather than the lower level in order to serve the high-level platforms in those two regions.
The Double-Deck Coach is designed, built and operated in Germany, so it is built to the German loading gauge and therefore features a narrowing profile on the upper deck.
Other bi-level or double-deck railcars competing against the Bombardier BiLevel and MultiLevel in the North American market include:
- Alstom Coradia Multilevel coaches
- Kawasaki L2 Double-Deck Coaches
- Kawasaki L3 Double-Deck Coaches
- Kawasaki MARC III Bi-Level coaches and cab cars
- Kawasaki CTC-4/BTC-4 series bi-level cars
- Hyundai Rotem BTC-5 bi-level train set
- Gallery commuter cars (Numerous builders including St Louis Car and Pullman Company)
- St. Louis Car Company and Nippon Sharyo Highliner cars
- Colorado Railcar (now US Railcar) DMU bi-level and bi-level trailer cars)
See also[]
- Train 48 - a Canadian TV show that used a 64' replica Bi-Level car for train interior scenes
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b "The Bi-Level Coaches (1977-?) - Transit Toronto - Content". toronto.on.ca. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
- ^ "The Bi-Level Coaches (1977-?) - Transit Toronto - Content". toronto.on.ca. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
- ^ "The Bi-Level Coaches (1977-?) - Transit Toronto - Content". toronto.on.ca. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
- ^ [1][permanent dead link]
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-04-22. Retrieved 2008-09-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Friends of SMART". northbayrail.org. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
- ^ "FindArticles.com - CBSi". findarticles.com. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
- ^ "Info to GO" (PDF). GO Transit. September 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-11-07. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
- ^ "Metrolink". rapidtransit-press.com. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
- ^ Equipment Archived April 22, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "FindArticles.com - CBSi". findarticles.com. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
- ^ Sounder Archived September 16, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "They're here! First SunRail cab car arrives in Sanford". Webcitation.org. Archived from the original on 2014-09-08. Retrieved 2017-01-11.
- ^ Tri-Rail Commuter Train Archived March 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Train Facts Archived February 5, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "History of Regional Transit at Vancouver, British Columbia". umanitoba.ca. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
External links[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bombardier BiLevel Coach. |
- Rail passenger cars of the United States
- Bombardier Transportation rail vehicles
- GO Transit
- Exo (public transit)
- Metrolink (California)
- West Coast Express
- Tri-Rail
- Sounder commuter rail
- Caltrain
- Altamont Corridor Express
- Double-decker rail vehicles