The LRTA 13000 class is a class of fourth-generation high-floor light rail vehicles (LRV) ordered by the Philippine Department of Transportation in 2017. The trains were constructed in 2019 and are now undergoing the testing trials along the LRT Line 1. The first trainset is targeted to enter service by May 2022, while the overall deliveries of the trains are set to be completed in June 2022. It is the first LRV in the system with 5 digits in the body number due to the class fleet exceeding 99 units, in comparison to the older fleet.

Purchase

To prepare for the construction of the LRT Line 1 Cavite extension, new trains were needed to meet the growing demand. A bidding for the purchase of 120 light rail vehicles (30 four-car train sets) was conducted from October 2015 to February 2016, with

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

companies only allowed to participate in the auction.

Marubeni Corporation (, OSE: 8002, NSE: 8002) is a '' sōgō shōsha'' (general trading company) headquartered in Nihonbashi, Chuo, Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the largest ''sogo shosha'' and has leading market shares in cereal and paper pulp trading as well as a ...

and

Sumitomo Corporation is one of the largest worldwide '' sogo shosha'' general trading companies, and is a diversified corporation. The company was incorporated in 1919 and is a member company of the Sumitomo Group. It is listed on three Japanese stock exchanges ...

expressed interest to participate in the auction. However, the first bidding failed due to no bids. The second bidding was conducted in 2017. The bidders included

with

Hyundai Rotem Hyundai Rotem (founded in 1977) is a South Korean company that manufactures rolling stock, defense products and plant equipment. It is a part of the Hyundai Motor Group. Its name was changed from Rotem to Hyundai Rotem in December 2007 to ref ...

, and

Mitsubishi Corporation is Japan's largest trading company ( sogo shosha) and a member of the Mitsubishi keiretsu. As of 2022, Mitsubishi Corporation employs over 80,000 people and has ten business segments, including finance, banking, energy, machinery, chemicals, a ...

with

Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (Grupo CAF, literally "Construction and Other Railway Services") is a Spanish publicly listed company which manufactures railway vehicles and equipment and buses through its Solaris Bus & Coach subsidi ...

(CAF). Mitsubishi and CAF was awarded the JPY 30 billion (

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14.1 billion) contract in November 2017, and the contract was signed by the Department of Transportation and Mitsubishi Corporation on December 1.

is the implementing contractor of the procurement project while

is the train manufacturer. These trains are expected to gradually replace the aging 1000 class which has been in use since the opening of the line in 1984 and has undergone four refurbishments. The purchase of 120 light rail vehicles (30 four-car train sets) is funded by Japan's

official development assistance Official development assistance (ODA) is a category used by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to measure foreign aid. The DAC first adopted the concept in 1969. It i ...

Design

The LRV design is a 6-axle rigid body consisting of two

articulated car Articulated cars are rail vehicles which consist of a number of cars which are semi-permanently attached to each other and share common Jacobs bogies or axles and/or have car elements without axles suspended by the neighbouring car elements. ...

s, like those of the

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and 1200 class trains.

Car body

The train car body is made of stainless steel. Each LRV has four sliding pocket-type doors per side. The trains will also feature

air-conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...

LED A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (cor ...

destination panels and LED lighting in the trains' interiors and exteriors. The trains also sport a livery of

crimson Crimson is a rich, deep red color, inclining to purple. It originally meant the color of the kermes dye produced from a scale insect, '' Kermes vermilio'', but the name is now sometimes also used as a generic term for slightly bluish-red c ...

and

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

Interior

As opposed to the older rolling stock, the 13000 class includes hand straps aside from safety handrails installed above the train floor. The trains are also the first in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

to feature a specially-made wheelchair-compatible space or passenger with restricted mobility (PRM) areas, located closer to the driver's cab as compared to the 1100 class and 1200 class where it is located near the articulation. Unlike the 1200 class, there are also fewer side handrails in the middle sections of each vehicle. Longitudinal seating will be featured in the 13000 class. Like the 1100 class and 1200 class, there are four pocket-type doors per side per car. For the driving cars, one door will be installed on the side of the driving cab.

Mechanical

The bogies are of inside-frame type, similar to the 1000 class. Like all LRT Line 1 rolling stock, the wheel diameter is . Each LRV has three bogies consisting of two motorized bogies at the ends of the LRV and one trailer bogie under the articulation. Semi-permanent couplers are present in the ends of each light rail vehicle except the driving cab section of the head car.

Traction and auxiliaries

Like the second and third-generation trains, the

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–

VVVF A variable-frequency drive (VFD) is a type of motor drive used in electro-mechanical drive systems to control AC motor speed and torque by varying motor input frequency and, depending on topology, to control associated voltage or current variat ...

traction control system will be used. The traction motors consist of four

3-phase AC Three-phase electric power (abbreviated 3φ) is a common type of alternating current used in electricity generation, transmission, and distribution. It is a type of polyphase system employing three wires (or four including an optional neutral r ...

induction motor An induction motor or asynchronous motor is an AC electric motor in which the electric current in the rotor needed to produce torque is obtained by electromagnetic induction from the magnetic field of the stator winding. An induction motor ...

s. The auxiliaries consists of a static inverter, a low-power DC voltage supply, and batteries.

Signalling and control systems

The trains are equipped with the

automatic train protection Automatic train protection (ATP) is a type of train protection system which continually checks that the speed of a train is compatible with the permitted speed allowed by signalling, including automatic stop at certain signal aspects. If it is ...

(ATP) system.

Alstom Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Av ...

was awarded the signalling and communications contract for the south extension of the LRT Line 1 in 2016. The contractual scope included the upgrading of the signalling system and the installation of the Atlas 100 on-board signalling solution for 60 train sets across the existing three generations of trains and the 13000 class trains. The trains are also equipped with a Train Control and Monitoring System (TCMS).

Formation

Details of the car designations are listed below: *Mc - head car *M - intermediate car

Operations

The first two sets (8 cars) were initially planned to be delivered in July 2020, however the delivery was delayed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. On January 18, 2021, the first batch of deliveries, consisting of the first trainset (4 cars consisting of two

s each) arrived at the

Port of Manila The Port of Manila ( fil, Pantalan ng Maynila) refers to the collective facilities and terminals that process maritime trade function in harbors in Metro Manila. Located in the Port Area and Tondo districts of Manila, Philippines facing the M ...

. The new trains were unveiled to the public on January 26, 2021. The delivery of the trains are expected to be completed in June 2022, with at least one trainset arriving every month until the deliveries are completed. As of February 28, 2022, 28 trainsets have been assembled, of which two are undergoing factory acceptance testing. Another two trainsets are undergoing final assembly in CAF's factory in Mexico. The trains are currently undergoing test runs along the LRT Line 1 since May 22, 2022, while the first in-service operations for the new trains is slated by the end of May 2022. The introduction of these trains set in motion upgrades for the entire railway's signalling system to enable the new trainsets to function along the line.