First Siemens LRV arrives in Cleveland, Ohio

The US city of Ohio received its first Siemens S200 LRV on 31 August, starting a USD 435M project to replace its existing fleet. 54 S200 for Cleveland are being built by Siemens at its Sacramento, California, factory. The vehicles are specially designed to handle the city’s winter weather, with ice-cutting technology, a heated windscreen and dedicated heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system. Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) expects the new LRVs to start Red Line service in summer 2027, followed by the Blue and Green Lines in summer 2028. The Red Line is the traditional 18-mile (29km) light rail Shaker Heights network doing from 1913 while the Blue and Green lines are 19-mile (31km) heavy rapid transit dating from 1955 and 1980 that will in future use common rolling stock. GCRTA’s S200 cars include steps at the front and back doors for boarding and alighting and street-level stops. Funding of USD 422M has come from GCRTA, Northeast Ohio Areawide Co-ordinating Agency, the Ohio Department of Transportation and the federal government. The initial order for 24 S200 cars was placed in 2023, with further options being exercised in 2024 and 2025.