9000-series Cars

  

Specifications:

Built by: ?
Year: ?
Length: 48'-0"
Width at Floor: 8'-8"
Width at Windows: 9'-4"
Height over Roof: 12'-0"
Trucks: ?
Truck centers: ?
Truck wheelbase: ?
Coupler: ?
Wheel diameter: ?
Seats: ?
Weight (w/o passengers): ?
Motors per car: ?
Balancing speed: 70 mph
Governed speed: 55 mph +

+ The propulsion package, while capable of higher speeds, is limited by the logic of the car controls and the external signal system.

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History:

In 2023, the CTA made know it was planning for a new generation of railcars, dubbed the 9000-series. The 9000-series would follow the 7000-series, which had begun delivery of production cars in late 2022 following testing of prototypes and "pre-production" cars.1

On May 5, 2023, U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (D-IL-05) announced $200,000,000 in federal funding for the CTA's railcar replacement efforts. This funding comes through the Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) Fiscal Year 2022 and 2023 Rail Vehicle Replacement (RVR) Program, which helps transit systems with much-needed capital improvements to replace rail rolling stock.2 The CTA planned to use this RVR grant to begin planning and designing for the future procurement of the 9000-series.3

CTA anticipates the 9000-series contract will consist of a base order to purchase 300 cars and option(s) for an additional 246 cars. In CTA's 2024-2028 Five-Year Capital Improvement Program, published in October 2023, this future railcar procurement was planned to fund the base order, which is planned to replace the remaining 2600-series cars left after the 7000-series order is complete (approximately 300 2600-series cars), with the option(s) intended to replace the 3200-series cars.4

 

Notes:

1. Chicago Transit Authority, Building a Stronger Chicago Through Investments in Transit: President's 2024 Budget Recommendations, October 2023, p. 3.
2. "Duckworth, Durbin and Quigley Announce $200 Million for CTA Railcar Replacement." CTA press release, May 5, 2023.
3. Ibid.
4. CTA Proposed 2024 Budget , p. 67.