What has 50,000 spot welds and a mile’s worth of weld seams? The answer is an 85-foot-long train car coach that will soon begin service in Central and South Florida.

The car shells are made with 301LN stainless steel and a little ASTM A588 carbon steel. Each of the five colorful trains has two bright yellow locomotives that can reach speeds of 125 MPH.

The trains are owned and operated by Brightline, the only private passenger rail system in the US. Brightline contracted with Siemens to produce the coaches and locomotives. The company used automated resistance spot welding to complete the fabrication.

None of the coach cars are painted in order to ensure that any defects are immediately visible. Yet, as less heat input is used in spot welding, fewer defects are encountered.

New welding techniques, new facilities, and new welders, or at least welders not yet trained in the new techniques, were employed in the production of the train cars. The company trained and certified welders for one shift and then two. To help the welders navigate the learning curve, Siemens shared their welding procedures with community colleges.

Some of the more senior welders were sent to a Siemens Center for Competence in Vienna, Austria to learn more about the properties of stainless steels. Welder qualification and certification is the key to producing a flaw-free product.

Thorough inspections of the train played a critical part in maintaining excellence in regard to the train’s design. Quality assurance procedures included compression and tensile tests, dye penetrant and magnetic particle exams, and visual inspections.

The first service between Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach is expected to launch later this year. If you have ever experienced the traffic in that area, you will appreciate the new ride.