Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority officials said the agency is on track to receive its first CQ400 rail car in January.
During a MARTA Business Management Committee Meeting on Thursday, Chetan Agarwal, acting assistant general manager for MARTA’s central program management office, said that the first four-car train set is currently undergoing commissioning testing at a Stadler Rail facility.
MARTA’s board of directors signed off on the $646 million deal with Swiss-based Stadler Rail in November 2019. The deal for 56 four-car train sets — 224 total railcars — marked the largest procurement for either organization.
Agarwal said there was a change order in the amount of $57 million “due to externalities beyond our control” that was approved in fiscal 2024, and $25 million was paid because of these changes in fiscal 2024.
Officials previously said that Stadler constructed the series CQ400 railcar bodies in Hungary and will finish outfitting them in Salt Lake City. In December 2022, MARTA transported a few railcar bodies to its South Yard in College Park near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport for an unveiling ceremony.
