The State of California and Stadler have signed an agreement for six additional Flirt hydrogen trains, as part of contract options that the state is exercising under a contract signed in October 2023.
After announcing the order of four four-car hydrogen-powered rail vehicles for the state of California last autumn, Stadler will now deliver the additional Flirt hydrogen trains to the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) and Caltrans. The original contract includes an option to purchase up to 25 trains.
The California Transportation Commission has approved in august 2023 a USD 80 million financing from CalSTA to allow Caltrain the procurement of four-car battery-electric train to operate on the San Francisco – San José rail electrified corridor as well as on the non-electrified section between San Jose and Gilroy.
In the summer of 2023, Caltrain has put into trials the electric trains conducted between Santa Clara and College Park stations.
In January 2024, Caltrain has announced the suspension of the train services between San Jose Diridon and Tamien stations to accommodate Caltrain electrification construction.
Caltrain’s electrification project is the first undertaking in North America in a generation in which diesel trains and their infrastructure components are transitioned to an electrified system. Electrification means faster and more frequent service, including doubling the frequency on weekends. The passenger experience will be greatly improved as well with the new high-performance electric trains featuring wi-fi, power outlets at every seat, onboard displays with digital trip information, increased storage capacities.
These additional vehicles will expand the fleet to ten hydrogen trains. With this contract award and the other successes in the US, Germany, Italy, Austria and Lithuania, Stadler once again confirms its leading position in alternative and ecological drive systems with batteries and hydrogen as over 150 trains with battery or hydrogen drives have been sold to date.
Stadler’s hydrogen train has been extensively tested in both Switzerland and the USA, proving its exceptional performance and reliability. The SBCTA Flirt H2 is performing well in pre-revenue testing, showing that Stadler has designed a quality product that is fulfilling the needs of our clients.
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