Mock-up of new trains for Green Line unveiled

City transit officials got an up-close look Tuesday at a mock-up of the light rail trains that will one day glide along Calgary's Green Line.

Unlike the CTrains currently running on the city's Blue and Red lines, the new trains sport a low-platform look, designed to help passengers get on and off easier, especially riders who use wheelchairs or push strollers. The trains will feature eight entrances that'll be flush with the station platform.

Darshpreet Bhatti, the CEO of the Green Line, said regular CTrain riders will immediately notice the difference in the low-platform design.

"We want a vehicle as part of our overall fleet that can integrate well with the future neighbourhoods that we're going to be serving," Bhatti said. "So, having something that's low provides infrastructure that's less intrusive, so you don't have to have massive ramps and big platforms."

The future Green Line trains will be the first of their kind in Canada. Dubbed the Urbos 100, the 40-metre-long cars seat up to 288 passengers. They are standard in Europe, Asia and Australia, city officials said in a news release.

Shakti Sarai, the senior manager of LRV (light rail vehicles), says the most impressive feature of the new trains is their operator protection system, which helps operators keep the appropriate speed and heed signals.

The largest infrastructure investment in Calgary's history, the Green Line boasts nearly $5 billion in commitments from the federal government, the province and the city.

The first stage of the project aims to add 13 light rail stations and lay nearly 20 kilometres of track, running from the city's downtown south to the edge of McKenzie Towne.