MARTA gives virtual reality preview of new rail cars being put into production

COLLEGE PARK, Ga. — It will be a couple of years before Atlantans get to ride them, but MARTA trains are getting a major upgrade.

Channel 2′s Steve Gehlbach was at MARTA’s South Yard in College Park for a virtual reality unveiling of what the new rail cars will look like.

Shells of all three trains were on display on flatbeds after arriving from Europe and making a pit stop on their way to Salt Lake City.

The entire fleet is set to be replaced and upgraded over the next several years.

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Gehlbach and others a the event got to participate in a VR experience to “see” what the inside design will look like.

Operator George Harrow got to check out his new “office” virtually.

“It’s very spacious, you can see everything, everything right there,” Harrow said.

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The trains will include new seating, charging stations, digital signs, digital maps and open gangways between cars so riders can walk between them.

“You can actually stand on one end of the train and look all the way to the other end,” MARTA CEO Collie Greenwood said.

Greenwood says the new rail cars will be more convenient and more accessible for everyone.

“The information systems, the safety systems, the ergonomics are all designed for people, for bicycles, for wheelchairs. It’s just fantastic,” he explained.

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MARTA has ordered 56 new four-car train sets for a total of 224 rail cars. The price tag is nearly $650 million.

It will take until 2024 to get the rail cars back to metro Atlanta where they will undergo almost a year of extensive testing to get them on the tracks in 2025.

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