Bombardier BiLevel Coach
| Bi-Level Coach and Cab Car | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Manufacturer | Hawker Siddeley Canada-SNC Lavalin (Canadian Car and Foundry or Can Car) and UTDC-SNC Lavalin (Can Car), Bombardier Transportation |
| Built at | Fort William (Thunder Bay), Ontario |
| Constructed | 1976–Present |
| Entered service | 1976 |
| Capacity | 136 to 162 (seated); 142 in IV series, 276 standees |
| Operator(s) | see article |
| Specifications | |
| Car body construction | Riveted or welded aluminum body on a steel frame |
| Car length | 85 ft (25.91 m) |
| Width | 9 ft 10 in (3.00 m) |
| Height | 15 ft 11 in (4.85 m) |
| Doors | Pneumatically-operated doors |
| Weight | 50,000 kg (110,000 lb) |
| Power supply | 480 or 575 V HEP |
| Braking system(s) | Pneumatic tread brakes and disc brakes |
Bombardier BiLevel coaches are bilevel passenger cars designed to carry up to 360 passengers for commuter railways. These carriages are easily identifiable; they are double-decked and are shaped like elongated octagons.
The BiLevel coaches were designed by Toronto's regional commuter rail service, GO Transit and Hawker Siddeley Canada in the mid-1970s as a more efficient replacement for GO's original single-deck coaches and cab cars. Later coaches were manufactured by Urban Transportation Development Corporation/Can-Car and finally Bombardier, who now owns the designs and manufacturing facility. There are more than seven hundred such coaches in service today and almost all have been built at the company's Thunder Bay, Ontario, and Plattsburgh, New York plants.
The coaches feature a riveted aluminum body on a steel frame. They are 15 ft 11 in (4.85 m) high and 9 ft 10 in (3.00 m) wide, and weigh about 61,000 kg (134,000 lb). Depending on car design and seating configuration, seats are available for between 136 and 162 passengers, along with standing room. All newly built coaches now feature a washroom on the lower level; the original coaches for GO Transit have the washroom on the intermediate level in the same location where the cab is located in cab cars (see below). The coaches have two pairs of doors on each side which allow the entire coach to be emptied in 90 seconds. Some of the newer coaches have electrical outlets for laptop computers and other devices along with small tables.
One major variant is the cab car. The cab car is placed at the end of the train and features a full cab built into the end of the coach, from which the train's locomotive can be remotely controlled. This allows for push–pull operation with a faster turnaround time for trains, by avoiding having to physically turn around the train or locomotive. Unlike the similar Driving Van Trailer used by Britain's InterCity 225, the cab cars are otherwise identical to the regular coaches rather than imitating the design of the locomotive, leading to the appearance that the train is travelling 'backwards'. In 2014 Metrolinx (the provincial agency operating GO Transit) and Bombardier announced a new design for the cab car, which included a larger cab end and crash-energy management crumple zones.
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