Houston transit authority readies new CAF light-rail cars for service

The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) will launch six new CAF USA light-rail cars into revenue service on Wednesday, marking the entry of Houston's third generation (H3) of rail cars.

Other new CAF vehicles will enter service over the next several weeks leading up to the opening of two new rail lines. The East/Green Line and Southeast/Purple Line are scheduled to open in April, METRO officials said in a press release.

The H3 CAF cars will join 19 H2 and 18 H1 (Siemens S70) cars now providing service on the North and Main Street (Red) lines, bringing the total to 76 METRORail cars once the CAF car delivery of 39 H3 vehicles is completed, they said.

The units are powered by an overhead catenary system and can carry up to 200 riders per car.

CAF USA, a subsidiary of Spain's Construcciones y Auxilliar de Ferrocarriles, is contracted to provide the new cars for METRO's light-rail expansion. The units will be used throughout the agency's system.