SMART’s 1st batch of rail cars passes factory tests
The first Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit trains roll off the assembly line at the Nippon Sharyo factory in Toyokawa, Japan, in this undated handout photo from SMART. The trains passed their factory-based tests and are set to be delivered to the Sumitomo Corp. of America plant in Rochelle, Ill. where they will be mass produced.
By MATT BROWN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Thursday, April 17, 2014 at 9:11 a.m.##### Last Modified: Thursday, April 17, 2014 at 9:11 a.m.
The first train cars ordered up by the Sonoma-Marin Rail Transit agency have passed their factory tests in Japan and are ready to be shipped to the United States for on-track testing, SMART general manager Farhad Mansourian said Wednesday.
SMART released the first photos and video of the two grey and green Diesel Multiple Units rolling on tracks outside the Nippon Sharyo factory in Toyokawa, Japan.
The two individually powered cars, which will form one of SMART’s initial seven units, will be shipped by boat and rail within the next few weeks to the Sumitomo Corp. of America plant in Rochelle, Ill., where the rest of the units will be manufactured.
The state-side factory complies with the rail authority’s federal funding requirement to manufacture and assemble the cars in-country.
“I think this is an exciting day for us,” Mansourian said Wednesday at the agency’s regular