Florida Dept. of Transportation double decker coach

Taking shape on the assembly floor. Fall, 2004. Photo courtesy of Colorado Railcar.

Florida Dept. of Transportation's first set of DMU vehicles is bound to be historic. In addition to Colorado Railcar's prototype - the first DMU ever to meet the stringent FRA 49 CFR Part 238 compression load requirements, they have purchased the first double deck DMU to meet those same requirements, and an accompanying double Decker coach.

This unpowered coach contains several firsts for Colorado Railcar. In addition to being the first commuter coach, it is also the first car built with low floor entrances, and has the highest seating capacity of any car built thus far. It also differs from the DMU units in that it has a more traditional center sill rather than the bridge truss frame of the DMUs. This coach - along with its accompanying double Decker DMU - will be remembered as the cars that truly ushered in the commuter production era at CRM.

In terms of amenities, this coach seats 200 and features two low-floor entrances on either side of the car. The middle half of the bottom level is low floor, with a short step up at either end to allow clearance for the trucks. (Wheels are a good thing to have on a rail car....) The low floor section seats 18, with additional seating area for ADA passengers. Six of the seats can be folded up to provide storage for bicycles.

When completed, the three car DMU set will go into service on Florida Tri-Rail between Miami and Ft. Lauderdale and Palm Beach. If the illustrations are correct, we may be fortunate enough to avoid having this car decorated with big palm trees like Tri-Rail's other coaches... It will be interesting to see what the reaction to the new cars is.

Click here to take a photo tour of the new DMUs under construction at the Ft. Lupton plant in August, 2004.