Mid Year Meeting: SATURDAY JUNE 11, 2011

All members and friends of TRB Subcommittee AP070(1) are cordially invited and encouraged to attend the mid-year meeting to be held in conjunction with our parent committee AP070 at APTA’s Annual Rail Conference in Boston Massachusetts. The joint meeting will be convened Saturday June 11th from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM at the Marriott Copley Place Hotel.

Please click here for the planned agenda.

Click here for minutes from January's Annual Meeting in Washington DC.

For complete information on the APTA Rail Conference that is being held from June 11 – 15. please visit the APTA conference website: http://www.apta.com/mc/rail/Pages/default.aspx

If you have any questions, suggestions or concerns contact David Nelson (617 532 4286) or david.nelson@jacobs.com

I look forward to seeing you in Boston

David Nelson

Chair Subcommittee on Self Powered Rail Car Technologies

Ottawa O-Train Extension Approved!

June 23, 2011: Ottawa city council has approved a $59-million plan to speed up O-Train service in the city. The city agreed on Wednesday to buy six new diesel trains and build a new track along the north-south line. The city says the change will lower wait times on train platforms from 15 minutes between trains to eight minutes. Council said it would also investigate the feasibility of extending the line southward, as far as Riverside South.

Click here for more info

Click here for business case report

May 24, 2011: Alain Mercier, General Manager of Ottawa's OC Transpo, recently outlined a C$59m expansion plan for the diesel O-Train service which includes the purchase of six new DMUs. The current fleet of three Bombardier Talent vehicles have been serving the 8 km, five-station line from Bayview Transitway to Greenboro since October 2001.

Mercier said new sidings would be built to cut the current headway from 15 min to 8 min. In addition, the three existing DMUs would be refurbished.

Current ridership is around 12 000 trips/day, nearly double the target when O-Train service started as a four-year demonstration project. Mercier gave no details on how the expansion, which could be completed in three years, would be financed but he said fewer new buses would be needed.

The full report will be released on June 14.

Click here for more information

Click here for CBC report

Stadler Rail Group opens U.S. subsidiary

Bussnang, Switzerland - Stadler Rail AG, passenger rail vehicle supplier of customer-specific

solutions, recently announced the opening of Stadler US Inc, to service customers in the

United States and support sales of all the Stadler products in North America. Stadler’s previous

success of selling 37 rail vehicles in New Jersey Transit, and Texas has led the

company to expand its presence in North America.

Click here for more information

RiverLINE Employees: Injury-free for seven years

Monday, April 25, 2011

The staff of NJ Transit’s RiverLINE diesel light rail system, which runs between Trenton and Camden, N.J., over a right-of-way shared with Conrail freight trains, recently celebrated seven continuous years of operation without a Federal Railroad Administration reportable employee injury.

NS Meets Florida Transportation Officials

March 25, 2011

South Florida Regional Transportation Authority

Local and state officials and other interested parties were briefed by a delegation from Sumitomo Corporation of America and Nippon Sharyo team concerning their new FRA-compliant DMU vehicle.

For more details click here

Toronto Metrolinx purchases 12 DMUs for Air Rail Link

Metrolinx recently agreed to enter into a contract with Sumitomo Corp. of America for the purchase of 12 diesel multiple units (DMUs) for $55.7 million. The DMUs will be used for the Air Rail Link (ARL) between downtown Toronto's Union Station and Pearson International Airport.

The ARL contract also includes an option to purchase six additional vehicles, which would bring the contract's value to $76 million. The DMUs are new to North America and will be built in the United States, but where possible, Metrolinx will work with Sumitomo to "optimize Canadian content," Metrolinx officials said in a prepared statement.

The DMUs will be Tier 4-compliant clean-diesel vehicles and will be designed to convert to electric propulsion. Metrolinx has received approval from the province of Ontario to begin the environmental assessment on converting ARL to an electric service.

The ARL service is slated to begin by 2015.

Click here for more information

Portland's WES Commuter Rail marks 2nd anniversary

February 2, 2011 marked the second anniversary of the WES Commuter Rail line that provides weekday rush hour service between Beaverton and Wilsonville. Over the past year, annual ridership increased 15 percent, totaling more than 340,000 trips. WES is the state's first commuter rail line, and also the nation's first suburb-to-suburb commuter rail service.

Highlights of the year:

• Weekday trips increased 14 percent to 1,325 compared to 2009
• Weekly trips increased 14 percent to 6,625 compared to 2009
• On-time performance is 99 percent

While the ongoing recession and significant job loss in the region has impacted ridership, we are encouraged that WES ridership has been increasing throughout the year, with most months seeing double digit increases," said TriMet General Manager Neil McFarlane. "It shows that once riders try WES, they find it saves them time, money and the stress of commuting."

Spare trains added to fleet

TriMet purchased two Rail Diesel Cars (RDCs) from Alaska Railroad in 2009 to serve as replacement trains when a WES train is out of service. The RDCs will replace shuttle buses when there is a service disruption, providing nearly seamless service to riders. Shuttle buses double the length of the travel time over a train.

Over the past year, TriMet WES maintenance crews have been upgrading the RDCs, including air brake system overhaul, cab signal system installation, event recorder modification, door thresholds for level boarding and cosmetic improvements on interior and exterior.

Quiet zone & quieter operations

A new quiet zone and wayside horns along a 3.5-mile stretch in Tualatin became operational in January. No train horns will sound in the new quiet zone at four crossings, and wayside horns have been installed at four other crossings. Wayside horns locate the horn at the crossing rather than having the train sound its horn about ¼ mile from the intersection. Additionally, the WES alignment in Beaverton between SW Lombard Avenue and Farmington Road has reduced train horn decibels, down from the 96 decibel horn to 78-80 decibel range at each crossing. This change went into effect in April 2010. However, a train horn will sound at any time there is a safety concern.

Washington County Commissioner Roy Rogers added "Washington County's investment in Tualatin's Quiet Zone has made a difference in the quality of life for the neighborhoods along the alignment. It's gratifying that WES continues to attract more riders, helping to reduce both congestion and pollution."

About WES

• WES runs every 30 minutes from about 5:30 to 10 a.m. and 3:30 to 8 p.m.
• Travel time along the 14.7-mile alignment between Beaverton, Tigard, Tualatin and Wilsonville takes 27 minutes.
• WES operates on active freight tracks owned by Portland & Western Railroad (P&W). P&W operates the WES trains.
• Project partners include TriMet, Washington County and the communities of Beaverton, Tigard, Tualatin and Wilsonville.

Plan a trip or check arrival times for WES online at trimet.org, m.trimet.org or by calling 503-238-RIDE (7433) weekdays between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Originally posted @ http://trimet.org/news/releases/feb3-wes.htm