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A lot of things get better with age - wine, cheese and people come to mind.
But no one has ever said of a rail car - "You're not getting older, you're getting better."
With nearly thirty percent of CTA rail cars well past their prime
it's time to retire the older cars and replace them with new ones.
That's what the CTA is doing
with the introduction of the 5000-series rail cars.
They're here.
Prototypes of the long-awaited, highly-anticipated,
5000-series rail cars are on the tracks.
"So we're pleased today to be here to introduce to you
the next generation of rail cars for the CTA.
Until now, the CTA's most recent purchase of new rail cars was in the 1990s
when the 3200 series cars were purchased for the opening of the Orange Line,
and to replace older cars on the Brown and Yellow lines."
The CTA has 1,190 rail cars.
Nearly thirty percent of those are between 32 and 41 years old.
The new cars will replace the oldest cars in the fleet
to ensure reliable service and reduce maintenance costs.
"While the economy forced the CTA to make some difficult choices this year,
whether or not to make improvements to the service we provide
was not one of them.
Putting off critical investments such as this would place the agency so far behind,
that it would be nearly impossible to make up ground in the future."
There are 10 prototype cars.
The cars will be tested on all 8 lines.
The cars don't look much different on the outside
but on the inside there's a sleek new look
and a variety of special features and technologies.
Most obvious is the aisle-facing seating.
You'll recognize the configuration
if you've ever taken public transit in New York or Boston.
The seats are the same size as those in older cars,
but the new arrangement allows for better customer flow and more customers per car.
"With our old seating arrangement, there's a bottleneck with the seats.
It’s kind of a narrow space between the seats
it's hard for customers to pass through."
There are handstraps to help customers keep their balance.
LED indicator maps and destination signs help customers
keep track of station stops, the date and time.
And all the cars are equipped with security cameras.
"One camera is actually facing out the front of the train,
the other six basically cover pretty much every square inch of the train
so if something happens, we have a record of incidents."
There are several safety features not on the prototype cars
that will be included in the final order...
"...Including the ability of the rail operator to view the interior of each train car
and speak to the people
in that rail car via active passenger intercom.
The Chicago Police Department will have remote
video surveillance access
and CTA's control center will be able to make emergency audio announcements
and send emergency text messages to LED signs inside the trains."
"Our emergency decals and signs
are also photoluminescent."
Other safety features include glow-in-the-dark floor strips
to guide people to the exits in the event a car loses power.
The doors have added safety features, too.
"The method of sensing an obstruction in the door is kind of done in a high-tech way.
It’s being done from sensing in the motor
versus using actual switches in the rubber edge.
And as you can see, I can put a finger in and doors will bounce back
allowing me to free my hand."
Not as obvious to the customers, but equally as important
are the efficiency features of the new rail cars.
The older cars used DC or for direct current to drive trains.
alternating current or a AC propulsion drives the new cars.
"A big feature of AC propulsion is what we call re-generative braking.
It's similar to what a hybrid car does.
When a hybrid car brakes,
the motors will turn into generators and generate electricity.
And in this case, instead of storing it into a battery, we put it back into the third rail.
So if there's another car on the same power section
it uses that power."
AC propulsion is the standard today and is used on other large systems such as
New York, Washington DC and Atlanta.
it is more cost-efficient as parts for maintenance are easier to get.
A new computerized diagnostics system
provides a digital performance record for individual cars.
Inside the cab, any problem with equipment pops up on the digital display
to let the driver know what and where the problem is.
"The operator is able to troubleshoot
a little bit quicker and get the train quickly."
The 5000-series train cars
will be tested throughout at least the end of the year
so the CTA can monitor how the cars perform in all weather conditions.
CTA plans to order an additional 396 cars when testing is completed.
Before the train cars entered passenger service for testing,
they went through several months of testing out of service
to make sure the cars were safe and passenger-worthy.