Following derailment, MARTA OKs $500M new train control system

Josh Green

Thu, 12/05/2024 – 16:48

MARTA leadership has green-lighted a new train control system worth half-a-billion dollars the agency says will boost safety and increase on-time performance as its updated rail fleet is rolled out soon.

MARTA’s Board of Directors today voted to award Stadler Rail—the veteran manufacturer building MARTA’s $646-million modernized new railcars—an additional $500 million contract to equip the agency’s rail network with a system for controlling trains described as state-of-the-art.

The contract approval comes the same week a westbound MARTA train derailed during morning commutes Wednesday near King Memorial station. One set of train wheels slipped off tracks, and no injuries were reported, according to MARTA.

The new train-control system, CBCT, uses wireless communications to more precisely keep track of trains with real-time information, allowing for the system to be operated with better efficiency, safety, and precision, minimizing downtime, according to MARTA.

Stadler’s system is designed to work seamlessly with MARTA’s fleet of 56 new Stadler CQ400 railcars, which are being manufactured with the updated technology in Salt Lake City.

The look of a railcar in MARTA’s new fleet arriving at a renovated Five Points station. Courtesy of MARTA

MARTA first new train is scheduled to go into revenue service in July next year, agency officials have told Urbanize Atlanta. Trains will be able to run on MARTA’s old and new control system during a transition phase in Atlanta.

MARTA ordered the fleet from Stadler in 2019.

Many of MARTA’s 300 current railcars date to the agency’s 1970s beginnings and are prone to breakdowns, agency leaders have said.

Confirmed: A CQ400 train in MARTA’s new fleet undergoing testing in Utah in summer 2024.Photo by Paniolo_Man/reddit

MARTA’s new trains come in four-car sets, designed with open gangways to allow for easier movement from one car to the next. Courtesy of MARTA

Collie Greenwood, MARTA general manager and CEO, said the system update will prepare MARTA for the future and allow the agency to operate with “the highest safety standards” as “one of the most advanced transportation systems in the country.”

“The system,” Greenwood noted in a prepared statement, “will allow us to increase capacity, improve on-time performance, and optimize efficiency.”

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• Spotted in the wild: MARTA’s sleek, more functional new railcars! (Urbanize Atlanta)