UK: Glasgow’s only metro line has received its first two four-car trainsets. This was three years later than the expected debut due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The custom-built trains feature a “walk-through design”, taking into account the dimensions of one of the world’s oldest metro lines with a 1,200 mm gauge. The cars have a rounded cross-section and are 2.3 m wide and 2.6 m high. The trains can accommodate 204 people and have 116 seats, 12 of which are folding. They can reach a maximum speed of 58 km/h with launch acceleration of 1.3 m/s2.
Inside the Stadler metro train in Glasgow. Source: SPT
However, the trains are designed for the highest level of GoA4, for now a driver in the cab operates them. The aluminium trains are manufactured at the plant in Swiss Altenrhein and are equipped with Selectron control systems and ABB traction converters.
Stadler signed the contract for the delivery of 17 trains and the refurbishment of the metro in 2016 in a consortium with Ansaldo STS, in which it has a €75 mln share. The launch dates of the other trains are not known.
