Ansaldobreda A650
Encyclopedia
The Ansaldobreda A650 is a type of multiple unit
subway car built by Ansaldobreda in Italy
and used on the Los Angeles
Metro Red and Metro Purple Lines.
The fleet of 104 vehicles was supplied in two orders. The first vehicles - fleet numbers 501 - 530 were built between 1988 and 1993 and are propelled by a DC traction system supplied by Westinghouse. The remaining vehicles (fleet numbers 531 - 604), were built between 1995 and 1997 and include AC propulsion and intercar safety barriers. The acceleration for this last group of cars is almost identical to that of the 1000 Series Cars used by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority because they both use the same General Electric traction motors.
Costing $1.5 million each, the trains usually run in six car consist
s, and feature automatic train control
, air conditioning, emergency intercoms, wheelchair spaces and emergency braking.
The fleet is maintained in a yard south of Union Station
on Santa Fe Drive near 4th Street on the west bank of the Los Angeles River
in downtown Los Angeles.
.
and Metro Center
in the movie Volcano when a flow of lava flowed down the tunnel and nearly killed everyone on board. The A650 was also featured in Speed when Jack Travis (Keanu Reeves
) finds that the Emergency stop malfunctions and it jumps the track. It is featured yet again in the movie SWAT as well as "The Italian Job". The Breda A650 is also seen taking a nosedive plummet from a mountain as the cataclysmic events of December 21, 2012, unfold in 2012
. It is also featured in countless commercials and TV shows.
]]
Multiple unit
The term multiple unit or MU is used to describe a self-propelled carriages capable of coupling with other units of the same or similar type and still being controlled from one driving cab. The term is commonly used to denote passenger trainsets consisting of more than one carriage...
subway car built by Ansaldobreda in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and used on the Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
Metro Red and Metro Purple Lines.
The fleet of 104 vehicles was supplied in two orders. The first vehicles - fleet numbers 501 - 530 were built between 1988 and 1993 and are propelled by a DC traction system supplied by Westinghouse. The remaining vehicles (fleet numbers 531 - 604), were built between 1995 and 1997 and include AC propulsion and intercar safety barriers. The acceleration for this last group of cars is almost identical to that of the 1000 Series Cars used by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority because they both use the same General Electric traction motors.
Costing $1.5 million each, the trains usually run in six car consist
Consist
A consist , in North American railway terminology, is used as a noun to describe the group of rail vehicles that make up a train. A near-equivalent UK term is rake but this excludes the locomotive....
s, and feature automatic train control
Automatic Train Control
Automatic Train Control is a train protection system for railways, ensuring the safe and smooth operation of trains on ATC-enabled lines. Its main advantages include making possible the use of cab signalling instead of track-side signals and the use of smooth deceleration patterns in lieu of the...
, air conditioning, emergency intercoms, wheelchair spaces and emergency braking.
The fleet is maintained in a yard south of Union Station
Union Station (Los Angeles)
Los Angeles Union Station is the main railway station in Los Angeles, California. The station has rail services by Amtrak and Amtrak California and Metrolink; light rail/subways are the Metro Rail Red Line, Purple Line, Gold Line. Bus rapid transport runs on the Silver Line...
on Santa Fe Drive near 4th Street on the west bank of the Los Angeles River
Los Angeles River
The Los Angeles River is a river that starts in the San Fernando Valley, in the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains, and flows through Los Angeles County, California, from Canoga Park in the western end of the San Fernando Valley, nearly southeast to its mouth in Long Beach...
in downtown Los Angeles.
Amenities
Each A650 is equipped with 4 abreast style (club) seating with maps of the line, bike spaces, P.A. and climate control. In the operators panel, there is a combined power handle for throttle and dynamic braking. The door thresholds also bear the pre-merger Breda logo, similar to that of FerrariFerrari
Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...
.
Fiction and movies
The Breda A650 was burned in the tunnel between MacArthur ParkWestlake/MacArthur Park (LACMTA station)
Westlake/MacArthur Park Station is a heavy-rail subway station in the Los Angeles County Metro Rail system. It is located at Wilshire Boulevard and Alvarado Street, across from the park of the same name in Los Angeles' Westlake District...
and Metro Center
7th St/Metro Center (LACMTA Station)
7th Street/Metro Center Station is a subway station in the Los Angeles County Metro Rail system located in the Financial District of Downtown Los Angeles at the intersection of Seventh Street and Flower Street...
in the movie Volcano when a flow of lava flowed down the tunnel and nearly killed everyone on board. The A650 was also featured in Speed when Jack Travis (Keanu Reeves
Keanu Reeves
Keanu Charles Reeves is a Canadian actor. Reeves is perhaps best known for his roles in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Speed, Point Break and the science fiction-action trilogy The Matrix...
) finds that the Emergency stop malfunctions and it jumps the track. It is featured yet again in the movie SWAT as well as "The Italian Job". The Breda A650 is also seen taking a nosedive plummet from a mountain as the cataclysmic events of December 21, 2012, unfold in 2012
2012 (film)
2012 is a 2009 American disaster film directed by Roland Emmerich. It stars John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Thandie Newton, Danny Glover, and Woody Harrelson. It was produced by Emmerich's production company, Centropolis Entertainment and was distributed by Columbia Pictures...
. It is also featured in countless commercials and TV shows.
External links
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