5000-series (CTA)
The 5000 series is a series of Chicago "L" car built between 2009 and 2015 by Bombardier Transportation of Plattsburgh, New York. A $577 million order for 406 cars was placed in 2006. In July 2011, the CTA ordered 300 more cars for $331 million as an option on the first contract.
The 5000-series reuses a numbering set used on four experimental articulated train-sets that were in service from 1947 to 1985. These are the first CTA railcars to have interior LED signs that display information such as the date, time, and the next station on the train's route.
Specifications
The first 10 cars began testing in passenger service on April 19, 2010. Following completion of the testing phase and acceptance of the rail cars, a dozen cars are expected to be delivered every month until all cars are in service.Seating is longitudinal, with passengers facing a wider aisle. This has increased capacity by 20-30% to a total of 123. Vertical stanchions and horizontal overhead bars with straps have been added throughout much of the car to give standing passengers more to hold on to. New amenities include seven security cameras per car, new electronic signs making announcements visually, and "active" system maps showing the location of the train on the line.
Unlike the High-Performance family of railcars, including the 2600-series and 3200-series, the 5000-series is not electrically compatible with other series of railcar in the CTA fleet. Therefore, the 5000-series is not able to multiple-unit in mixed consists with other series of railcar in revenue service, including the new 7000-series cars. In practice, this is not a significant limitation, as lines that are assigned the 5000-series typically do not operate with any other series of railcar.
Features and usage
The 5000-series use technologies such as AC traction equipment that aim to enhance operations and maintenance and provide a smoother, more comfortable ride. Cars 5001–5114 originally came with orange LED destination signs; cars beginning with unit 5115–5116 came equipped with multi-colored LED destination signs that correspond to the line on which the car is operating. The amber-only signs in the existing cars were replaced with the multi-colored signs starting mid-August 2012, starting with units 5095–5096 and 5097–5098.The first cars were placed into regular service on November 8, 2011, on the Pink Line. The Pink Line was the first line to be fully equipped with the 5000-series cars in June 2012, followed by the Green Line in May 2013, the Yellow Line in March 2014, the Purple Line in March 2015, and the Red Line in November 2015. The CTA planned on assigning some 5000-series cars to the Orange Line, replacing its 2600-series cars, which were supposed to be an interim replacement for the line's 2400-series cars until the Red Line is fully equipped with the 5000-series cars. However, as of November 2015, the assignment of 5000-series cars to the Orange Line is now unlikely since delivery of all 5000-series cars is complete and all 5000-series cars are completely assigned to other lines, thus the assignment of 2600-series cars to the Orange Line is now a permanent assignment until the delivery of the new 7000-series cars. This was likely done to give the Brown line more 3200-series cars to run 8-car trains, which had become possible after the Brown Line Capacity Expansion Project was completed in 2009.