Green Line receives mock-up of new Light Rail Vehicle

This November, Green Line received a mock-up of its new low-floor Light Rail Vehicle (LRV). The mock-up was built by CAF, who was awarded the contract to supply Green Line with our new fleet of 28 Urbos 100 LRVs.

The mock-up will be used to validate Green Line’s technical requirements and ensure that Calgarians of all abilities can make use of this modern, safe and accessible transit option. The operator’s cab was also designed to be split apart from the remainder of the mock-up to serve as a training simulator for future operators of the Green Line LRV.

The mock-up is approximately 12 meters long, which represents just over a quarter of the actual LRV’s length and weighs approximately 12,000 kg, which represents 20% of the estimated weight of the actual vehicle. It’s constructed primarily of steel, wood and plastic and includes a combination of real and simulated components representative of the actual LRV. 

The Urbos 100 uses modern, low-floor technology which offers numerous accessibility improvements over previous generations of LRVs. Lowered floors remove the need for steps during boarding and allow for easier integration with existing city infrastructure and better integration with communities along the alignment. As well, the LRV’s eight entrances will dock level with station platforms to provide a safer and more convenient boarding experience for riders.

“From a technical perspective, the Urbos 100 LRV has met all of our requirements in a service proven platform,” notes Green Line’s LRV Systems and Systems Integration Manager, Shakti Sarai. “It represents a combination of the best lessons learned from 41 years of Calgary Transit LRV operation and 20 years of CAF refining the Urbos LRV.”

Low-floor LRV technology has been the standard in Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand for decades and is now becoming the choice for many new LRT systems across North America. The LRV mock-up brings Green Line one step closer to delivering this exciting technology to Calgarians.