The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) in Houston, Texas, has added the first of 14 new fourth generation (H4) light rail vehicles (LRVs) to its current fleet, which will service the METRORail Red Line.
METRORail ranks second in passengers numbers for any light rail system in the Southern United States and 12th for the whole of the US, according to a report from the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) published in 2017.
METRO has said that the H4’s open seating plan provides almost four feet (1.2m) of aisle space to allow easier flow through carriages and improved accessibility for wheelchair users, strollers and passengers with bicycles.
This is the body’s fourth procurement of LRVs since METRO opened the Red Line to the public in 2004.
The vehicles reportedly went through an extensive qualification and safety process before entering service, which included 1,000 miles (1,609km) of driving tests.
