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Yesterday, Virginia Railway Express (VRE) announced it awarded a contract to Sumitomo Corp. of America in conjunction with its car builder partner Nippon Sharyo to provide 50 gallery-type bi-level passenger cars.

The base order calls for eight cars, valued at a contract price of $21 million, to be delivered in 2014, according to a joint press release from the two companies. The contract includes an option for VRE to purchase up to an additional 42 cars, which would bring the total contract amount to $119 million.

VRE plans to update its fleet by replacing older cars with the new cars and adding cars to accommodate a ridership increase.

The gallery-type bi-level cars feature an open space between the two sides of the upper deck to enable ticket collectors to check tickets on both levels. Sumitomo and Nippon Sharyo already have delivered 71 passenger cars to VRE.