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Yesterday, four new passenger cars entered service on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s (MBTA) Blue Line. The cars are the first of 94 vehicles that will be delivered during the next 18 months under MBTA’s $172 million contract with Siemens Transportation Systems Inc.

The stainless-steel cars feature wider passenger seating, hand straps and automated audio/visual displays of station announcements. The vehicles also include emergency intercoms, smoke detectors and wheel-mounted noise absorbers to reduce screeching on curves.

The new fleet is part of MBTA’s program to upgrade Blue Line service. The agency has lengthened many of the line’s platforms to accommodate six-car trains, and as new cars arrive, MBTA will increase train length from four to six cars.