The LRVs will be manufactured at Siemens' plant in Sacramento, California, and will be delivered from August 2014 to enter service in the autumn of 2015. S70 LRVs, which are specially designed for the American market, have a maximum speed of 106km/h and are already in service on networks in Houston, San Diego, Charlotte and Salt Lake City.
The new order is part of a development project to expand the city's transport network to cope with an expected influx of a million people who will be living along the route by 2030. Portland is investing in a new 11.7km light rail line with 10 new stations that will connect Portland State University in the centre of Portland with southern neighbourhoods and the suburb of Milwaukie. Around 22,000 homes will be within walking distance of the new stations and the line is expected to transport up to 25,000 passengers everyday taking 9100 vehicles off Portland's roads.
