In late April, the Orange County Transportation Agency took delivery of the first railcar that will operate on the OC Streetcar line. The new rail line, extending from Santa Ana to Garden Grove, is now anticipated to open in spring of 2026.
The $649 million 4.1-mile light rail line will run mainly on-street on Santa Ana Boulevard. Though, for a little over a mile on the western end, the line will operate in a former Pacific Electric rail right-of-way. The east terminus of the OC Streetcar is the Santa Ana train station, which serves Amtrak, Metrolink, and numerous public and private bus services.
OC Streetcar construction got underway in 2018. As many large-scale transportation projects do, it hit a few snags resulting in cost increase and schedule delay. Construction is now 92 percent complete.
See plenty of construction photos at earlier Streetsblog CA coverage from last June and December.
Last week's delivery is the first of eight railcars. The vehicles are manufactured by Siemens Mobility in Sacramento. Some specifics on the Siemens S700 vehicle per OCTA:
- It is 90 feet long and weighs just over 100,000 pounds
- It is designed to carry up to 211 passengers, including 62 seated and 149 standing
- It meets ADA requirements, including featuring 70 percent wheelchair-accessible low-floor area
- Its maximum operating speed is 44 mph, which it will do in the PE rail right-of-way at the east end of its route
OCTA is doing some final modification of the railcars before beginning testing. Testing will start in the PE right-of-way in a few weeks.
Find more photos/videos/details of the new railcar at OC Streetcar Facebook, OCTA, OC Register, Mass Transit, Spectrum1, and LAist.
