New Red and Orange Line Cars

KCasiglio said:
Serious question then, should we expect 4 car trains to be a mainstay for the next couple of years? Or is it entirely dependent on an unkown of whether some of the older cars can hold on as new ones are phased in?
Click to expand...
NETransit has 8 of the 01600-series cars yanked out of the retirement line and "held for repair" now. Those band-aids are probably designed to address the 4-car situation, as they're slowing the rate of retirements. Before that move they weren't repairing anything that was out-of-service, and just expediting the greater-than-day-to-day breakdowns straight to the dead line.
 
I think it mostly depends on how well the legacy fleet holds up. It seems that the T wants the oldest cars (01500/01600 series from 1969) gone ASAP which has spurred the introduction of four-car trains. The 01700 series (from the late 1980s) was refurbished between 2011 and 2016 so those cars are in relatively decent shape and the 01800 series (from the 1990s) has been undergoing some selective systems upgrades/refurbishments to keep them going for a few more years. But things could get ugly pretty quickly if the reliability of the legacy fleet declines and CRRC isn't able to keep up with deliveries.
 
There's something off with those to date numbers, unless those are active cars not-in-testing. The T has had 16 MPs of CRRC Red Line cars on property since November 24. Even by NE transits lagging count, 19 MPs were delivered through February.

Edit to add: and 20 MPs in 2025 is still a slippage. The previously published schedule shows 22.
 
Last edited:
Five new Red Line trains are now in service, according to the New Train Tracker.
5.JPG
 
I glanced at Transit Natters new train tracker shortly before 9 pm tonight (Monday, May 5) and it showed 15 active sets operating on the OL. Correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s an exceptional level of service for the OL, right?
 
This was the first day that the new Orange Line trains went into service. August 19, 2021. It was pulled by lead car 1402.
New Orange Line train smiling for the cameras during inaugaration run!!!.jpg
 
Thic pic is actually my avatar!! I cropped it to take the people out that were all standing on the platform waiting for the train to arrive & stop. :)
 
Last edited:
What’s the plan with OL 1400/1401? Are they going to fix them when the rest of the CRRC’s arrive (which will at best be 2027), or are they likely out for a while after that? I personally don’t see why the T can’t fix them (unless CRRC has to fix them), unless they are focusing on new deliverys or keeping the 1500/1600s in service. I also don’t know what exactly is the issue with them, so that’s why I think that.
 
CheapLeak said:
What’s the plan with OL 1400/1401? Are they going to fix them when the rest of the CRRC’s arrive (which will at best be 2027), or are they likely out for a while after that? I personally don’t see why the T can’t fix them (unless CRRC has to fix them), unless they are focusing on new deliverys or keeping the 1500/1600s in service. I also don’t know what exactly is the issue with them, so that’s why I think that.
Click to expand...
They were involved in a fairly severe derailment on the Wellington yard switches in 2021 shortly before the big line-wide shutdown for track repair. The damaged pair pulverized a signal box as they left the tracks, so there was some amount of carbody damage. They're under warranty, so CRRC will eventually fix them with some spare carbody panels, but it hasn't been anyone's priority so they wait out-of-service for attention. It's presumed that they'll be repaired once the Orange order is done later this year.
 
Now they all seem ok after all that derailing & breaking down. It was also said that CRRC was neglecting service checks & not making sure that the work was ok before signing it off, leaving the work undone & crappy :(
 
NETransit was updated last week, so here's a status update on the Orange and Red fleets:

CRRC has been keeping up its current delivery rate of 4 cars per month (2 per line) that they've been doing for a while, but that's still half the production rate set under the original contract of 8 cars per month and the ramp-up contemplated under last year's contract "reset." The Orange Line order is nearing completion, but the Red Line still has a long way to go.

Orange Line
New cars in service: 134/152 (88%) [1402/1403 through 1532/1533, 1536/1537]
New cars awaiting repair: 2 [1400/1401]
New cars in testing: 8 [1534/1535, 1538/1539, 1540/1541, 1542/1543]

Total new car deliveries: 144/152 (95%)
At the current delivery rate of 1 pair per month, delivery will be completed in August!

Red Line
New cars (#4) in service: 36/252 (14%) [1900/1901 through 1934/1935]
New cars (#4) in testing: 6 [1936/1937, 1938/1939, 1942/1943]

Total new car deliveries: 42/252 (17%)
At the current delivery rate, delivery will be completed in November 2029.

New cars currently make up 17% of the active Red Line fleet (36/206).

Legacy fleet
#1 cars in service: 34
#2 cars in service: 54
#3 cars in service: 82
Total legacy fleet cars in service: 170

#1 cars retired: 40/74* (54%)
#2 cars retired: 4/58 (7%)
#3 cars retired: 2/84** (2%)

Total legacy fleet cars retired: 46/216 (21%)

*A total of 76 #1 cars were built (24 01500s and 52 01600s), but two cars were wrecked in the 1970s, so I'm not including them in the "base" fleet before retirements started.
**A total of 86 #3 cars were built, but 2 cars had been out-of-service for years before CRRC deliveries started, so I'm also not including those in the "base" fleet
 
alewife said:
NETransit was updated last week, so here's a status update on the Orange and Red fleets:

CRRC has been keeping up its current delivery rate of 4 cars per month (2 per line) that they've been doing for a while, but that's still half the production rate set under the original contract of 8 cars per month and the ramp-up contemplated under last year's contract "reset." The Orange Line order is nearing completion, but the Red Line still has a long way to go.

Orange Line
New cars in service: 134/152 (88%) [1402/1403 through 1532/1533, 1536/1537]
New cars awaiting repair: 2 [1400/1401]
New cars in testing: 8 [1534/1535, 1538/1539, 1540/1541, 1542/1543]

Total new car deliveries: 144/152 (95%)
At the current delivery rate of 1 pair per month, delivery will be completed in August!

Red Line
New cars (#4) in service: 36/252 (14%) [1900/1901 through 1934/1935]
New cars (#4) in testing: 6 [1936/1937, 1938/1939, 1942/1943]

Total new car deliveries: 42/252 (17%)
At the current delivery rate, delivery will be completed in November 2029.

New cars currently make up 17% of the active Red Line fleet (36/206).

Legacy fleet
#1 cars in service: 34
#2 cars in service: 54
#3 cars in service: 82
Total legacy fleet cars in service: 170

#1 cars retired: 40/74* (54%)
#2 cars retired: 4/58 (7%)
#3 cars retired: 2/84** (2%)

Total legacy fleet cars retired: 46/216 (21%)

*A total of 76 #1 cars were built (24 01500s and 52 01600s), but two cars were wrecked in the 1970s, so I'm not including them in the "base" fleet before retirements started.
**A total of 86 #3 cars were built, but 2 cars had been out-of-service for years before CRRC deliveries started, so I'm also not including those in the "base" fleet
Click to expand...
Does the 11/2029 date for the Red Line derive from the current rate of Red Line deliveries, or overall deliveries? Once the OL is done, all deliveries would be for RL.
 
Has anyone seen the damage of the two OL cars that were involved in the derailment? I wonder how they look., compaired to how they'll look when they are fixed. :eek: :eek: :eek:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top