The Budd Universal Transit Vehicle is an

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a numbe ...

heavy rail Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas: Rapid transit A rapid transit system is an electric railway characterized by high speed (~) and rapid accelerati ...

car built for use on the

Baltimore Metro SubwayLink The Metro SubwayLink is a rapid transit line serving the greater area of Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States, and is operated by the Maryland Transit Administration. The segment in Downtown Baltimore is underground, and most of the line outs ...

and

Miami-Dade Metrorail Metrorail is the heavy rail rapid transit system of Miami and Miami-Dade County in the U.S. state of Florida. Metrorail is operated by Miami-Dade Transit (MDT), a departmental agency of Miami-Dade County. Opened in 1984, it is Florida's only ra ...

systems. They were built by the

Budd Company The Budd Company was a 20th-century metal fabricator, a major supplier of body components to the automobile industry, and a manufacturer of stainless steel passenger rail cars, airframes, missile and space vehicles, and various defense products ...

(under the name Transit America) from 1983 to 1986, and were the last cars ever built by Budd before the company shuttered its railcar manufacturing business.

Description

The Universal Transit Vehicle was manufactured by the Budd Company at their Red Lion plant in

Northeast Philadelphia Northeast Philadelphia, nicknamed Northeast Philly, the Northeast and the Great Northeast, is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to the 2000 census, Northeast Philadelphia has a population of between 300,000 and 450,000, depending ...

. The appearance of cars on the SubwayLink are identical to those on the Metrorail (and vice versa), as the two agencies built their systems at the same time and saved money by sharing a single order. Trains draw power from the electric

third rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway t ...

. The cars are long, wide, and have a top speed of . Each car can hold up to 166 passengers (76 seated, 90 standing). Cars are semi-permanently attached in married pairs, and are arranged as 4-car trains on the Metrorail. The trains on the SubwayLink are arranged as 2-, 4- and 6-car consists. The SubwayLink fleet had a significant overhaul between 2002 and 2005. Seats were reupholstered, and the floors were replaced. External destination

rollsign A destination sign (North American English) or destination indicator/destination blind (British English) is a sign mounted on the front, side or rear of a public transport vehicle, such as a bus, tram/streetcar or light rail vehicle, that dis ...

s were replaced with LED displays; internal systems that display train destinations and upcoming stop announcements were also installed. There was a planned refurbishment for the cars on the Metrorail, but it was later to decided to purchase new cars after it was found that the fleet was never maintained properly.

Replacement

Because of the improper maintenance of the Metrorail cars, Miami-Dade announced a $313 million purchase of 136 new Metrorail cars from

Hitachi Rail Italy Hitachi Rail Italy S.p.A. is a multinational rolling stock manufacturer company based in Pistoia, Italy. Formerly AnsaldoBreda S.p.A., a subsidiary of state-owned Finmeccanica, the company was sold in 2015 to Hitachi#Hitachi Rail, Hitachi Rail o ...

(formerly

AnsaldoBreda Hitachi Rail Italy S.p.A. is a multinational rolling stock manufacturer company based in Pistoia, Italy. Formerly AnsaldoBreda S.p.A., a subsidiary of state-owned Finmeccanica, the company was sold in 2015 to Hitachi Rail of Japan. After the dea ...

) in November 2012. The first new trainset entered service in early December 2017. In July 2017, the

Maryland Transit Administration The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) is a state-operated mass transit administration in Maryland, and is part of the Maryland Department of Transportation. The MTA operates a comprehensive transit system throughout the Baltimore-Washingt ...

announced the purchase of 78 new railcars from Hitachi Rail Italy to replace the entire SubwayLink fleet. The cars will be similar in appearance to those purchased for the Miami Metrorail.

References

{{Budd Company Budd multiple units Train-related introductions in 1983 Baltimore Metro SubwayLink Electric multiple units of the United States 750 V DC multiple units

Description

Replacement

See also

References