Vendor Chosen To Build, Design Detroit M-1 Streetcars

DETROIT (AP) — A company from the Czech Republic will design and build coaches for Detroit's streetcar project, M-1 Rail officials announced Monday.

The contract with the Inekon Group is expected to be about $30 million for six custom rail cars.

The rail line is scheduled for completion in late 2016 and will have 16 curbside and four median passenger stations. It will run in a 6.6-mile loop from Detroit's riverfront along Woodward Avenue to the New Center area and is expected to spur economic and job growth along the corridor.

"Inekon has a strong track record with other streetcar projects in Portland, Seattle, and Washington, D.C., and owns a 40 percent share of U.S.-installed projects," said Paul Childs, M-1 Rail's chief operating officer.

Several locations in southeastern Michigan are being considered for final assembly of the streetcars, which will be 73 feet long, 13 feet high and 8½ feet wide.

The federal government has committed more than $37 million this year to the $140 million project. The government requires that U.S.-based transportation infrastructure projects be built with American-made products, according to Childs.

"We want to assure that materials, parts, labor, manufacturing processes, and final assembly will meet the Buy America requirements," he said.

 

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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