CRRC Tangshan exo bilevel railcar

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CRRC Tangshan is supplying exo with 44 bilevel commuter railcars. There will be eight cab cars and 36 intermediate cars. The eight cab cars will feature accessible restrooms and flip up seats on the lower level. The exterior of the front cab will be similar to the newer Bombardier bilevel cars used by GO Transit, with a higher cab. [1]

History

At the end of 2015, exo's predecessor, the Agence métropolitaine de transport (AMT), issued a tender for new bilevel cars. Bombardier was the only manufacturer to submit a bid. They requested a number of exceptions including a 36-month delivery period rather than the 24-month period specified.[2] The AMT decided to retender the contract, this time reducing Canadian content to 15 from 25 percent. Bombardier and CRRC each submitted bids valued at $103 million and $69 million, respectively. CRRC was selected to supply the cars because of the lower price.[3] The first car was expected to be delivered in early 2019 with the remaining cars delivered by the end of 2020.[4]

In 2017, the AMT (now the exo - Réseau de transport métropolitain) requested that the CRRC cars be more similar to their own Bombardier cars. In particular, the cars should have a distance of 64 feet between the bogies. The changes mean that deliveries of the first car will not commence until December 2019.[3]

Exo took an option for a further 20 bilevel cars in early 2019.[5] The newly-elected Coalition Avenir Québec government demanded that Canadian content be increased from 15 percent back to the initially desired 25 percent for the additional 20 cars. To reach the new minimum, exo and CRRC selected seats that would be manufactured in Canada. Because all 44 cars will use the same seats, delivery of the first cars will not happen until August 2020.[6]

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the first batch of 24 cars could be further delayed.[1] This was confirmed by an exo spokesperson in November 2020. The agency expected deliveries of the new cars in May 2021.[7]

The first two CRRC bilevel cars were delivered to exo’s Pointe-Saint-Charles maintenance center in February 2022. They underwent minor finishing work followed by extensive testing. Through 2022, exo would receive 32 more cars. The new bilevel cars were expected to enter service in early 2023. The final 10 cars will undergo work to be made accessible to passengers with reduced mobility. These are expected to enter service in 2024.[8]

Exo announced that dynamic testing of the CRRC cars had begun in May 2023. They expected them to enter service in the coming months. By the summer of 2023, more cars were delivered.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Bisson, Bruno. "Des trains à moitié pleins pour la rentrée, prévoit exo" La Presse, 04 June 2020. Web.
  2. AMT quietly cancels $103-million bid from Bombardier for double-decker train cars
  3. 3.0 3.1 RTM demands changes in 24-car train contract, delaying deliveries by six months
  4. Rappot Annuel 2017
  5. "Montréal increases CRRC coach order". Railway Gazette, 19 April 2019. Web.
  6. Dubuc, André. "Trains de banlieue: les wagons chinois livrés avec plus d'un an de retard". La Presse, 06 March 2019. Web.
  7. McEvoy, Julien. "Autre retard de livraison des trains chinois d’exo." Le Journal de Montreal, 28 November 2020.
  8. Luczak, Marybeth. "First Look: Montreal’s CRRC Multilevels." Railway Age, 03 February 2022.