The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) board of directors voted unanimously Thursday to approve the purchase of a new generation of battery-powered public transit trains – and they can’t arrive soon enough.
“(MBTA) has, obviously, an immediate need for locomotives,” explains William Wolfgang, the MBTA’s senior director of vehicle engineering. The new machines will replace the oldest locomotives in the MBTA fleet, GP40s built more than 50 years ago and F40s that are well over 30 years old. In a presentation to the MTBA board, MTBA said 13 of the GP40s have, “exceeded their useful life,” while the F40s will reach the end of their life between 2029 and 2035.
The MBTA will put in an order for 20 Siemens-built “Charger” locomotives; 10 Tier 4 diesel-powered hybrid electric units and 10 dual-mode battery/catenary electric units – and, beyond trackside power for charging the batteries, there are other challenges presented by going electric, most notably using existing cab cars to control the battery-electric units. “We’re going to have to work with railroad operations, engineering, and the Brotherhood of [Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen] to try and determine the best way to handle that,” adds Wolfgang. “That will be an upcoming change order once we get into the design review process.”
The total bill comes out to $310.4 million. A combination of state and federal funding will pay for the order, including a recent $200 million transfer from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.
The contract includes an option for additional locomotives, although details were not discussed during the meeting. Delivery of the new Siemens Charger trains is set to begin in 2029, with all 20 set to be in service by the end of 2030. Siemens has delivered 440 Charger model hybrid- and battery-electric locomotives globally at the time of this writing.
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