BOZANKAYA LLC will take over as North American supplier of steel bodyshells for Siemens’ SD series of light rail vehicles from this summer. A newly-formed US subsidiary of a German firm, Bozankaya has leased a building in Sacramento near Siemens’ LRV assembly plant.
Shells were formerly made by SuperSteel Schenectady in New York state, which was given the work when Siemens closed its own car shell plant in Carson, California, in January 2004 (RG 03.04 p169). SuperSteel completed 34 SD160 shells for Denver RTD and 22 SD460 bodies for cars to work the MetroLink Cross County extension in St Louis, but a Siemens spokesman said transporting the shells from New York to California proved cumbersome and costly.
Bozankaya has previously fabricated steel frames for S70 LRVs delivered to Houston and San Diego. The firm, which has extensive experience building bus frames, will recruit about 125 employees in Sacramento and intends to hand over its first shell by the end of the year. Siemens has recently confirmed an order from Denver for a further 34 SD160s, while Calgary has ordered another 33 vehicles.
