Siemens S700 and S70

The Siemens S700 and its similar predecessor the S70, also known as the Avanto, is a low-floor light-rail vehicle (LRV) or streetcar manufactured by Siemens Mobility, a division of Siemens AG. The S70 was manufactured from 2002 to 2017 and the S700 from 2014 to present, but the model designation S700 was only introduced in 2019 and then subsequently, retroactively, applied to certain versions of the S70 built in earlier years.[1]

"Avanto" redirects here. For the form of ice swimming, see Avantouinti.
Siemens S700
S70
Avanto
Siemens S70 car for the Lynx Blue Line in Charlotte, North Carolina
ManufacturerSiemens Mobility
ReplacedSiemens SD660
Constructed2002–present
Entered service2004–present
Specifications
Low-floorYes
Articulated sections3–5
Electric system(s)750 V DC overhead lines
25 kV AC overhead lines
Current collection methodPantograph
Coupling systemScharfenberg
Multiple workingYes
Track gauge4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
The design of the car ends of the S70 has been modified over time. The original, more steeply sloped end is shown at left and the later style at right.

The S70 or S700 is in use, or on order, by several light rail systems in the United States, where Siemens refers to this model only as the S70 or S700 and not as the Avanto.[2] In this field, it competes mainly with Bombardier and Kinki Sharyo low-floor LRVs and modern streetcars manufactured by Inekon and Brookville Equipment Corporation.

In Europe, Siemens's Combino and Avenio models are the preferred offerings for purely light rail or tramway systems; and a similar S70 model, under the name Avanto, has principally been sold to tram-train systems which, in whole or part, share their tracks with heavy rail trains. In the tram-train market, its principal competitors are Bombardier’s Flexity Link tram-train and Alstom’s Regio-Citadis and Citadis-Dualis tram-train variants. To date, the Avanto has been sold to two tram-train operations in France.[3]

History

The first order for S70 vehicles in the U.S. – where the three-section model was originally known as S70 Avanto but soon became known only as the S70 – was placed in 2001 for the MetroRail system in Houston, Texas,[4][5] and the first car was received by Houston in April 2003.[6] This first series of S70 cars entered service on January 1, 2004, the opening day of Houston's light rail system.[7]

The first purchase of the European version, a five-section tram-train design sold under the Avanto brand name, was a 15-car order placed in July 2002 by SNCF, for its line between Aulnay-sous-Bois and Bondy,[4][8] which is now known as Île-de-France tramway Line 4.

Redesign and model number change

At Siemens's U.S. manufacturing facilities (in Sacramento, California), only model S700 remains in production, the last S70s having been built in 2017, for Minneapolis–Saint Paul's Metro Transit light rail system. The model number S700 was adopted by Siemens Mobility in 2019 as a rebranding of a version of the S70 that had been in production since 2014.[9][1] That newer version resulted from a redesign in which Siemens adapted the center-section truck that it had previously used in its SD660 model (built 1996–2005) to the S70, for the purpose of allowing longitudinal (sideways-facing) seating to be used there, in place of transverse seating, for better passenger comfort and movement.[1] The first LRVs built to the newer design were the "Type 5" cars of Portland, Oregon's MAX Light Rail system, in 2014, but initially Siemens continued to sell LRVs with either center-section configuration and used the designation S70 for both.[9] In 2019, the company began using the designation S700 for new orders, and in 2020 it retroactively applied the S700 designation to all LRVs and streetcars that had been built to the newer design since its creation in 2013 or 2014.[1] Since late 2017, only the newer design remains in production, and the last S70 cars built that are still considered to be model S70 were delivered in that year, comprising the last of a 22-car order for the Charlotte Area Transit System[10] and a five-car order for Metro Transit of Minneapolis–Saint Paul.[11]

Size and configuration
Diagram of the Siemens S70 (LRV version). The S700 has a different seating layout in the center section.

The S70/S700/Avanto has a modular design and can be built in a number of different sizes and configurations, including both light-rail vehicle (LRV) and streetcar versions. The streetcar version is 9 feet (2,743 mm) shorter than the standard LRV version. There are some interior differences as well: the LRV version has the upper seats facing the cab, while the streetcar version has the upper seats facing the doors of the train. The S700's center-section seating is positioned sideways rather than the original aisle seating. This 2013 change, which was made to eliminate a seating layout that had been criticized as cramped[12] and ease the movement of passengers within that section,[13] was the primary design change that led Siemens eventually to adopt (in 2019) the new model number for the modified S70 design.[1] In addition, the horn on the LRV version is located on the bottom of the cab while the streetcar version is located on the top of the train.

Earlier S70s delivered in North America had a length between 91 feet (27.74 m)[14] and 96 feet (29.26 m),[15] but the 77 cars used by Utah Transit Authority for the Salt Lake City TRAX system and the 65 4000-series S70 and 45 5000-series S700 cars on the San Diego Trolley are only 81 feet (24.69 m) long.[14][16] The San Diego vehicles are also designed to operate in tandem with older Siemens SD-100 vehicles, with an SD-100 sandwiched between two S70 vehicles. The Avantos built for France have a length of 36.68 m (120 ft 4 1⁄8 in).[3][17]

Portland, Oregon's first two orders of S70/S700 LRVs are single-ended cars, with one non-driving end (shown).

Most S70 and S700 vehicles are double-ended, with operating controls at both ends and doors on both sides. An exception is the 40 cars in service on TriMet's (Portland, Oregon) MAX system, which are single-ended and have cabs at only one end of each car. However, in service they always operate in pairs, coupled back-to-back, so that each consist has operating cabs at both ends,[18] and TriMet reverted to a double-ended design for its latest order of S700s (placed in 2019).[9] The S700 is a slight upgrade from the S70 model, with seat reconfiguration and technology upgrades.

The S70/S700 and Avanto can be configured to operate on various overhead power supply systems. The Avantos ordered for France are dual voltage, capable of operating on 750 V DC when running on tram or light rail tracks and on 25 kV AC when running on main line tracks. The vehicles operating in Paris currently operate on AC only; its DC capabilities will not be used until an extension of the current line to Montfermeil is completed.[3]

Usage and current orders

United States
Streetcar version of the S70 on the Atlanta Streetcar
  • METRORail, Houston, Texas: 18 S70 units purchased, the first of which was delivered in April 2003;[6] delivery was completed in late 2004. Nineteen additional units were purchased later, procured using Utah Transit Authority (Salt Lake City) options, delivered starting in late 2012. The original cars are the long variant; the 2012–13 cars are the shorter variant as used by UTA.[19] 14 more S700[lower-alpha 1] units were ordered in early 2019.[21]
San Diego Trolley Siemens S70
  • San Diego Trolley, San Diego, California: 11 'full size' 92-foot (28.04 m) units purchased in first order in October 2004, with delivery complete in July 2005. A second order, for 57 81-foot (24.69 m) cars, was placed in October 2009;[22] the order was later increased to 65 'streetcar length' S70s in 2012.[16] All of the S70 vehicles are in service.[23] 45 additional cars, now of the rebranded model S700,[24] entered service in April 2019[25] and the last cars in the order were received in October 2020.[26] Meanwhile, an additional 25 S700s were ordered in mid-2019.[27]
  • Charlotte Area Transit System, Charlotte, North Carolina:
    • Lynx Blue Line: 42 S70 units purchased and now operating.[10] First 16 cars, purchased for $50 million, have been in service since the opening of the Charlotte light rail system in November 2007.[28] Four additional units purchased in 2008 to keep up with higher-than-expected ridership[29] were received in early 2010.[30] In 2012, after 4 years of operation, the original 16 cars had to be repaired at the Siemens facility in California for an estimated cost of $400,000 each.[28] A third order, for 22 LRVs, was delivered in stages between fall 2014 and spring 2017, and CATS now operates 42 S70 vehicles.
    • CityLynx Gold Line: 6 S700[lower-alpha 1] units were ordered in 2016, and were delivered in 2019–2020.[10] These six cars were specified to have internal batteries to allow off-wire operations in some areas.[31] The S700 streetcars are a compact version of the S70 light rail vehicles[32] that currently operate on the LYNX Blue Line. The cost to purchase these six vehicles and spare parts is $40.4 million.[33]
  • MAX Light Rail, Portland, Oregon: 22 S70 and 18 S700[lower-alpha 1] units purchased and now in operation. Order for initial 21 S70 cars announced on May 11, 2006;[34] later expanded by one car. Entered service starting in August 2009.[35] Order placed 2012 for another 18 cars;[12][36] delivered in 2014–2015 and subsequently rebranded as S700 by Siemens.[lower-alpha 1] An order for 26 S700 units was placed in July 2019,[37] with delivery scheduled to run from mid-2021 to fall 2022.[9] Unlike Portland's previous S70 and S700 LRVs, these will be double-ended.[9]
  • Tide Light Rail, Norfolk, Virginia: 9 S70 cars, ordered in 2007. First cars delivered October 2009.[38] Entered service with the opening of the Norfolk system, in 2011.
  • TRAX, Salt Lake City, Utah: 77 S70 units ordered; in service since August 7, 2011.[17][29]
  • Metro Transit, Twin Cities (Minneapolis–Saint Paul), Minnesota: 64 S70 units purchased. Delivery of initial order of 59 began in 2012, with the first unit entering service in February 2013.[39] In October 2015, an option was exercised for five additional vehicles at a cost of $20 million,[40] and these were received in fall 2017.[11][41] In October 2016, an order was placed for 27 more S70s,[42] to a modified design that has since been rebranded S700 by Siemens.[1][20] Delivery began in May 2020.[43]
  • Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, Atlanta, Georgia: 4 S70 cars, ordered in 2011.[44] for the Atlanta Streetcar system. In May 2011, Siemens announced that it had won the $17.2 million contract to build the four streetcars that run on the Atlanta Streetcar (Downtown Loop). The vehicles were built at Siemens’ plant in Florin, California, but with major components, including the propulsion system, assembled at Siemens' plant in Alpharetta, Georgia.[45] The first of the streetcars was delivered on February 17, 2014,[46] and began passenger service on December 30, 2014.[47][48]
Sound Transit Siemens S700[lower-alpha 1]
  • Sound Transit Link Light Rail, Seattle, Washington: 152 S700[lower-alpha 1] units on order.[49] Of these, an order for 122 was placed in September 2016[50] and delivery began in 2019.[51] This $554 million contract was the largest contract in Sound Transit's history. The order was expanded by 30 cars in spring 2017.[49] The LRVs will be used for expansion of the Central Link system.
  • Valley Metro Rail, Phoenix, Arizona: 11 S700[lower-alpha 1] vehicles ordered, in June 2017, with options for up to 67 more.[52] Fourteen options exercised in October 2020.[53]
  • Orange County Transportation Authority, Orange County, California: 8 S700[lower-alpha 1] units ordered in March 2018 for the under construction OC Streetcar light rail line.[54]
  • Sacramento Regional Transit, Sacramento, California: 20 S700 units ordered in 2020 for the Sacramento RT Light Rail system, with options for a total of 76 cars. Shortly after the initial 20-unit order, Sacramento was awarded by the California State Transportation Agency another $23.6 million dollars to purchase an additional 8 units, thus bringing the total number of S700 units on order for delivery beginning in 2022 to 28.[55][56]

France
An Avanto tram-train car on Île-de-France tramway Line 4

Cancelled orders
  • An order for 22 S70 cars, placed in 2006 by Ottawa, Ontario for a planned expansion of its O-Train system, was later cancelled. Political problems had resulted in cancellation of the entire expansion project, which in turn led to lawsuits by Siemens and other contractors against the City of Ottawa.[59] A Trillium Line upgrade and expansion currently under construction will instead use Stadler Flirt vehicles for the main line and Alstom Coradia Lint vehicles for the Airport LINK.

See also

Notes
  1. The cars in this order were considered to be model S70 at the time the order was placed, but in 2020 were retroactively rebranded as model S700 by Siemens.[1][20]

References
  1. "Siemens rebadges North American low-floor cars". Tramways & Urban Transit (993). UK: Mainspring Enterprises Ltd. September 2020. p. 336. ISSN 1460-8324.
  2. "Light rail vehicles and streetcars". Siemens Industry, Inc. Retrieved 2013-11-26.
  3. Haydock, David (April 2011). "France's first real tram train". Today's Railways Europe. Platform 5 Publishing Ltd. pp. 37–40.
  4. Webb, Mary, ed. (2004). Jane's Urban Transport Systems 2004–2005. Coulsdon, Surrey, UK: Jane's Information Group. pp. 499, 502. ISBN 978-0-7106-2641-7.
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  8. Wansbeek, C.J. (January 2003). "Avanto: French 'tram-train' breakthrough". Tramways & Urban Transit. UK: Ian Allan Publishing. pp. 10–13. ISSN 1460-8324.
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