The Siemens SD660, originally known as the Siemens SD600, is a double-articulated, 70%-low-floor light rail vehicle (LRV) manufactured by

Siemens Transportation Systems Siemens Mobility GmbH is a separately-managed company of Siemens, arising from a corporate restructuring effective 1 August 2018. With its global headquarters in Munich, Siemens Mobility has four core business units: Mobility Management, dedi ...

. It was the first

low-floor Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i.e ...

light rail vehicle to be used in the United States. It first entered service in 1997 with its only operator,

TriMet TriMet, formally known as the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon, is a public agency that operates mass transit in a region that spans most of the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Created in 1969 ...

, on the MAX light rail system in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, United States.

History

The initial order placed by TriMet in May 1993 was for 39 cars. It was the first order for low-floor light rail vehicles (LRVs) in North America. The order was subsequently expanded to 46 cars and ultimately to 52. TriMet received the first car, which it numbered 201, in July 1996, and the first nine cars entered service on August 31, 1997. Siemens retroactively changed the car's model designation from SD600 to SD660, a change relating to its use of

AC motor An AC motor is an electric motor driven by an alternating current (AC). The AC motor commonly consists of two basic parts, an outside stator having coils supplied with alternating current to produce a rotating magnetic field, and an inside rotor ...

s running on 60 Hz instead of DC ones, in 1998. The 52nd car was received by TriMet in April 2000. TriMet later purchased 27 more SD660s (initially 17 cars, with another 10 added to the order in 2002), which were built between 2003 and 2005. TriMet designated these "Type 3" in its fleet and numbered them 301–327. The last car was delivered in March 2005. All 79 SD660 cars were originally equipped with rollsign-type

destination sign 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. TriMet replaced the original signs with LED-type signs in a two-year conversion program that lasted from fall 2014"Worldwide Review". ''

Tramways & Urban Transit ''Tramways & Urban Transit'' ''(TAUT'' or ''T&UT)'', also known as ''Modern Tramway'', is a British monthly magazine about tramways and light rail transport, published continuously since 1938. Its content is orientated both to tramway enthusi ...

'', March 2015, p. 121. UK: LRTA Publishing. to August 2016."Worldwide Review". ''

'', November 2016, p. 440. UK: LRTA Publishing.

Features

* Bridgeplate wheelchair ramps. These are located at two of the four doorways on each side of an LRV, the two closest to the car's center. * Bi-directional (or "double-ended"), with operating cabs at both ends

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline, Siemens SD660 (Portland), Siemens SD660 Light rail vehicles Siemens tram vehicles Electric multiple units of the United States MAX Light Rail Train-related introductions in 1996 750 V DC multiple units