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Austin:
Rail transit project passes major milestone with completion of first railcar

Central Texas's first rail transit project – the 32-mile non-electrified light regional railway being installed by the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Capital Metro) based in Austin – passed a major milestone in March with the completed assembly of the system's first "urban commuter rail" car by the Stadler Rail Group at its manufacturing plant in Switzerland. The railcar vendor has begun static testing of the vehicle, and track testing will follow in the next few months.

The first of 6 light diesel-electric articulated cars for the service to be called Capital MetroRail, the first vehicle will arrive in Austin this fall for testing on Capital Metro's own tracks. Each car will have room for more than 200 passengers (with 108 seated) and will feature bicycle and luggage racks, high-back seats, and free WiFi. The cars, purchased for a total of about US$34 million, exceed both U.S. and European safety standards.

Although the cars are described as "low floor", they could more accurately be described as "medium-floor", since floor height is about about 2 feet, or more than 200 mm, higher than the standard 350 mm (about 14 inches) for lowfloor light rail cars, but lower than the high-platform systems used in heavier rapid transit systems. Each car will provide level boarding at medium-high platforms, similar to those used on New Jersey Transit's River Line between Camden and Trenton, and on Ottawa's O-Train. In effect, Capital MetroRail will quite resemble a Schnellbahn ("fast-train") service widespread in Europe, connecting exurbs and suburbs to central cities.

Serving approximately 10 stations, Capital MetroRail trains will begin service in late 2008 from the exurb of Leander into downtown Austin. Initially, trains will run every 30 minutes during morning and afternoon rush hours. The entire project has an investment cost of about $90 million, or approximately $3 million per mile.