Metro unveils new Alstom 6000-Series cars

Railway Age, Nov, 2006

The first three pairs of Washington Metro's new Alstom 6000-Series cars debuted last month along the Green Line. The agency expects to begin operating 50 of the 184 cars on order by year-end. The remainder will come online by the end of 2008.

The cars will not only alleviate rider overcrowding, they will allow eight-car train service. As the first 50 are brought into the fleet, longer trains will run on the Red and Green Lines; six-car trains will operate on the Yellow Line; and two four-car trains will be converted to six-car trains on the Blue Line.

Under the $378 million contract, Alstom is building the cars in Barcelona, Spain, with final assembly taking place in Hornell, N.Y.