BROOKVILLE, Pa. – The first of five American designed and manufactured Liberty Streetcar vehicles arrived in Milwaukee for The Hop Streetcar the week of March 26, 2018, marking the fourth United States city to take delivery of Brookville Equipment Corporation’s (BROOKVILLE) signature modern streetcar vehicle platform.
The initiation of deliveries to Milwaukee also marks the third city to receive a streetcar vehicle shipment from BROOKVILLE in the first quarter of 2018. In January, BROOKVILLE shipped the first of seven Liberty Streetcars to Oklahoma City (two others have delivered since then) and earlier in March the first of six PCC streetcars to El Paso, following a restoration and modernization program.
The Hop Liberty Streetcars are being delivered as part of a November 2015 contract between BROOKVILLE and the City of Milwaukee for the design and build of four streetcar vehicles with options for an onboard energy storage system (OESS) to power the vehicle along off-wire segments and 20 additional vehicles to support further line expansion. Upon the addition of the Lakefront extension, which necessitates off-wire streetcar travel, to the initial line, the City of Milwaukee exercised one of the option vehicles and the OESS options for a total fleet of five off-wire capable Liberty Streetcars.
In addition to the innovative OESS, which utilizes lithium ion battery technology to power the vehicle without the presence of an overhead contact system (OCS), The Milwaukee Liberty Streetcars measure almost 67 feet long and 8-feet, 8-inches wide with the capacity to comfortably transport up to 120 passengers per vehicle, including up to 32 seated passengers. Two center-car passenger doors and an automatic hydraulic leveling system allow for easy, station-height passenger boarding. Additional passenger amenities include bicycle racks and an HVAC system adapted to meet the needs of Milwaukee’s seasonal climate.
BROOKVILLE will continue deliveries of the remaining four Liberty Streetcars to Milwaukee throughout 2018. Once on-site, the vehicles will undergo a testing program prior to entering revenue service, which is currently slated for late 2018.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett was on hand with a large crowd of onlookers and media to welcome the vehicle when it was delivered. “This is a significant step forward, and you can sense the excitement growing as we get closer and closer,” Barrett said. “People recognize the reality of this and how competitive this puts Milwaukee with other major metropolitan areas. This is about economic development as well as transportation.”
The Hop Streetcar is a new 2.5-mile line that will navigate key commercial and residential segments of Milwaukee’s urban core. Landmarks and attractions along the route will include Milwaukee Public Market, the historic Third Ward neighborhood, East Town, Lower East Side, and Cathedral Square Park, while also connecting riders to the City’s downtown intermodal station, which provides service to 1.4 million annual users.
The Liberty Streetcar made its debut in Dallas in 2015, where Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) is now operating a fleet of four streetcar vehicles. Six Liberty Streetcars are also currently operating for QLINE Detroit, while the City of Oklahoma City is currently receiving deliveries for a fleet of seven Liberty Streetcars.
In 2017, BROOKVILLE secured additional Liberty Streetcar orders for Valley Metro’s Tempe Streetcar (six vehicles) and Sound Transit’s Tacoma Link LRV system (five vehicles). The Sound Transit contract includes an option for up to ten additional vehicles, including five for Sound Transit and five for Oregon’s Portland Streetcar.
ABOUT BROOKVILLE EQUIPMENT CORPORATION – STREETCAR DIVISION
Headquartered in Brookville, Pa., in the scenic foothills of the Allegheny forests, Brookville Equipment Corporation is a world class American manufacturer of innovative powered transportation solutions for the mining/tunneling, rail freight and passenger transportation industries. BROOKVILLE contributed to the first American manufactured streetcars since the 1950s in 2001 and has modernized, manufactured and remanufactured PCC and heritage streetcars and trolleys for the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (NORTA), the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority (SFMTA) and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA). Building upon the company’s 95 years of rail-mounted vehicle manufacturing experience and over a decade of streetcar manufacturing, BROOKVILLE introduced the innovative Liberty Streetcar design in 2012, with the pilot order delivered to Dallas, Texas in 2015. Later in 2015, the Liberty Streetcar onboard energy storage system (OESS) was honored with the LRTA’s Global Light Rail Award for ‘Technical Innovation of the Year.’ Additional Liberty Streetcars have been ordered by or delivered to M-1 RAIL in Detroit, the City of Oklahoma City, the City of Milwaukee, Valley Metro (Tempe Streetcar), and Sound Transit (Tacoma Link).