New Red and Orange Line Cars

F-Line to Dudley said:
The switch it derailed on was 46-year-old original OL Haymarket-north extension hardware egregiously overdue for replacement. And they don't have any leads???

Uhh...this is where you ask a specific follow-up question, Globe beat stenographer person.
Click to expand...

I've never seen the press ask questions at an FMCB meeting in the public portion, although I think they may get an availability beforehand.

That's not how I read Gonneville's comment, though. I think he meant "not even as a contributing element have we identified a problem with the cars, much less as a primary cause". The implication is that they have identified a problem with the track and switch.
 
bigeman312 said:
What is the expected useful lifespan of an HRT switch in this context?
Click to expand...
Quite a bit less than 46 years in most cases. They knew this was some of the oldest remaining track structures on the entire line.

Because of the single-tracking ops, the derailment occurred on a switch that's very rarely used in regular service. But at the time of the derailment, was being flipped every alternating-direction trip...hundreds of reps per day. Usually that particular crossover is only used for getting trains from the yard to the test track (as one of a couple of options for staging those moves)...and very rarely for yanking a dead train out-of-service (i.e. emergencies, not shift-change short-turning). It would've seen multiple-times-daily use these last couple years because of all the CRRC testing...maybe a flip every couple hours at most. But prior to that was a switch that would probably only be flipped a few times per week. Which is the only reason its replacement was deferred for so long.

A ticking time bomb in any case, since the hardware is definitely not designed for that degree of longevity. They thought it would stand up to the rigors of 3 weeks of single-tracking revenue ops, but guessed wrong.
 
Equilibria said:
I've never seen the press ask questions at an FMCB meeting in the public portion, although I think they may get an availability beforehand.

That's not how I read Gonneville's comment, though. I think he meant "not even as a contributing element have we identified a problem with the cars, much less as a primary cause". The implication is that they have identified a problem with the track and switch.
Click to expand...

So why won't they say that, instead of trying to find another poor excuse to just yank the new trains off the line every damn 2 months or so?!!
:(
 
Last edited:
No exact word yet on when the new trains will return to revenue service. It just gives those old rust buckets more time to aggravate us by continuing to break down & causing delays. :(
 
Has anyone heard anything about when the new trains will return? :unsure:
 
Jahvon09 said:
Has anyone heard anything about when the new trains will return? :unsure:
Click to expand...
They said at the last FMCB that tests were going to take at least the next two weeks. That was just under two weeks ago, so if there's good news I'd expect to hear about it at Monday's FMCB meeting. If it's bad news or the tests are delayed then I would expect them to completely skip over it. So potentially Monday at noon, during the General Manager report we'll hear more.
 
I certainly hope that it's good new! It's so ridiculous, the way that this has been going with the new trains! One was even on the Red Line, that one was yanked off also. It is like they are pissing on us & telling us that it's raining. These games they're playing have to stop! :(
 
Chicago (CTA), puts a new train made by CRRC into revenue service.

 
Last edited:
Each city that orders new rail cars from CRRC, they are, or will be made in or close to that city. Quite similar to the one in Springfield for the rail cars made for the MBTA in Boston.
 
I'm going to Chicago this summer. Hopefully, I'll get the chance to ride one of those new trains!! :)
 
Jahvon09 said:
Each city that orders new rail cars from CRRC, they are, or will be made in or close to that city. Quite similar to the one in Springfield for the rail cars made for the MBTA in Boston.
Click to expand...
True for Boston and Chicago, but L.A. and Philadelphia's orders are to be built at the Springfield plant, from what I've read.
 
HenryAlan said:
True for Boston and Chicago, but L.A. and Philadelphia's orders are to be built at the Springfield plant, from what I've read.
Click to expand...
Philly's order is small...only 45 cars total vs. several hundred for the others.

L.A.'s Springfield contingent is only a pilot set, because CRRC's SoCal plant won't open till next year. Only like 6 cars. The rest of the L.A. order will be built local to them.
 
Given the Buy American and skepticism towards Chinese companies requirements with federal funding, I’m not surprised that states are going self-funded and demanding a local assembly plant.
 
Transit companies usually take the lowest priced offers from bus & rail car cos'. They always do, whether it's from overseas or whatever. I think that they've been doing it that way for years!! Nothing that we can do about it, except to just live with it!! :(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top