New CTA Cars To Run On Yellow, Purple Lines
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The newest CTA 'L' cars are on the move again.
As WBBM Newsradio 780's Bob Roberts reports, the Purple and Yellow lines are the last stops for the prototype cars, which have been most recently on the Pink Line, and were tested in revenue service before that on the rest of the CTA rapid transit system.
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The 5000-series cars will run in Evanston and on the Skokie Swift until early spring, concluding a year of tests to determine how they stand up to everyday service.
The new train cars have fewer total seats than the current ones, some of which have been in use since 1969. But most of the seats are center-facing like the train cars on the New York subway system, providing more standing space to pack in rush-hour commuters.
The new cars also have networked security cameras, an event recorder system and door sensors.
In another feature that takes a page from the New York subway system, the CTA system maps inside the trains have electronic displays showing the location of the train relative to the rest of the system.
The new cars are capable of going 70 mph, although for testing, they have been limited to the current 55 mph limit.
They were manufactured in Plattsburgh, N.Y., by Bombardier Transportation, which also makes cars for the New York, Boston and Toronto subways, among others.
A number of changes have been made since the cars debuted last year. A total of 396 more cars are on order, and the CTA is negotiating to buy an additional 300.
