MARTA gives customers glimpse of future railcars
New MARTA rail car. (FOX 5 Atlanta)
ATLANTA - In just a few short years, the MARTA trains you have grown accustomed to will become a relic of the past. The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority announced the entity is in the process of replacing their entire fleet of rail cars.
This week, MARTA marked a milestone when the first new railcar bodies arrived in Atlanta after being built in Europe.
The trains will now be sent to Salt Lake City in Utah to be outfitted before returning to Atlanta.
New MARTA rail car mock-up renderings. (Supplied)
MARTA says they are replacing 224 railcars, which equals 56 four-car trains. Some of the bodies have been transporting passengers for 40 years.
It all comes at a price tag of $646,000,000.
MARTA's CEO says the people who will benefit the most from these new trains are the customers.
New MARTA rail car mock-up renderings. (Supplied)
Inside, there is expected to be a new seating design, a luggage and bike storage area, charging stations and more. However, the company says the biggest improvement customers can expect to see is in reliability, because the old trains have a lot of maintenance issues.
"They're 40-years-old, many of them," Collie Greenwood, the CEO of MARTA said. "They're approaching that age at 112,000 miles a year. You get to 40, you've done like four-and-a-half million miles. Just think about your car. Got a car with 112,000 miles a year, you better have a good mechanic."
It won't be until 2025 before these new trains will roll out.