Minutes of the Subcommittee Meeting
AP070(1) SELF POWERED RAIL CAR TECHNOLOGIES SUBCOMMITTEE
TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2011
L’ENFANT ROOM,
Click here to view meeting minutes, attendance sheet and handouts.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Minutes from 90th Annual Meeting
VIA Rebuilds Six Vintage RDCs for Remote Services
In Moncton New Brunswick, Industrial Rail Services Incorporated is rebuilding six 1950s-era Rail Diesel Cars for VIA’s remote services in Ontario and British Columbia, retrofitting 59 of VIA’s Renaissance cars for improved handicap accessibility, and rebuilding VIA’s 98 LRC cars to extend the fleet’s life 20 years.
The firm is interested in offering more rebuilt RDC's to other customers.
Friday, January 28, 2011
SMART Orders 18 FRA Compliant Self-Powered Rail Cars
In mid-December 2010, the Board of Directors of Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART)unanimously approved a contract with Sumitomo Corporation to build SMART’s passenger rail vehicles at a new Nippon Sharyo plant in Illinois. The contract covers the manufacture and delivery of up to 18 self-powered rail cars (nine two-car trains) and cost $56,853,739 – more than $23 million below the original engineer’s estimate for vehicles.
These fully FRA-Compliant DMUs will be the signature feature of the SMART project, a 70-mile passenger train and parallel bicycle-pedestrian pathway from Cloverdale to Larkspur. The vehicle selection process has been a major focus of the district since nearly 70 percent of the voters in Marin and Sonoma approved funding for the project November 2008.
Sumitoma and Nippon Sharyo presented information concerning their team and their proposed cars at the annual meeting of the Self-Powered Rail Car Technologies Subcomittee on Tuesday January 25, 2011.
Click here for more information concerning the SMART project
Click here to see Nippon Sharyo's DMU Presentation
These fully FRA-Compliant DMUs will be the signature feature of the SMART project, a 70-mile passenger train and parallel bicycle-pedestrian pathway from Cloverdale to Larkspur. The vehicle selection process has been a major focus of the district since nearly 70 percent of the voters in Marin and Sonoma approved funding for the project November 2008.
Sumitoma and Nippon Sharyo presented information concerning their team and their proposed cars at the annual meeting of the Self-Powered Rail Car Technologies Subcomittee on Tuesday January 25, 2011.
Click here for more information concerning the SMART project
Click here to see Nippon Sharyo's DMU Presentation
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Rail Transit Safety: Is There a Real Difference Between Cities?
In December 2009, the US DOT proposed to establish and enforce minimum Federal safety standards for rail transit systems to correct the status quo condition where 27 separate state programs are responsible for rail safety “resulting in a situation in which there are inconsistent practices and effectiveness”. This short paper conducts a statistical analysis of publicly available safety data to empirically address two questions:
- Is there a statistically significant record of inconsistent safety among rail transit agencies?
Monday, January 24, 2011
Hybrid DMU tests in Japan
Fuel savings of up to 20% are anticipated during tests of a power car and three DMUs fitted with a prototype hybrid battery-diesel system which reuses braking energy for acceleration.
Contributed by Colin R. Leech, P.Eng. Senior Engineer, Transit Priority City of Ottawa
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Agenda for 2011 Annual Meeting
2010 Annual Meeting
AP070(1) Self-Powered Rail Car Technologies Subcommittee
Tuesday January 25, 2011 7:30 – 9:30 PM
L’Enfant Room (Lobby Level)
David Nelson, Chairman | Secretary (Vacant)
Call to order.
Approval of Minutes from Midyear Meeting June 5, 2010
Presentations
New FRA Compliant DMU for Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit: Ken Kuriyama, Nippon Sharyo
“Alternative Compliance” Technical Criteria and Procedures for Evaluating the Crashworthiness and Occupant Protection Performance of Alternatively-Designed Passenger Rail Equipment: Karina Jacobsen, Volpe
Discussion Topics
Recent Developments involving Non-Compliant Cars
Plans for other systems?
Recent Developments involving Compliant Cars
Trinity Railway Express
GO Transit
Other systems?
Developments in Positive Train Control, Fail Safe Separation and Track Sharing
Planning for the MidYear Meeting
Research Plan and Agenda
Minutes of Mid-Year Meeting June 5 2010
AP070(1) SELF POWERED RAIL CAR TECHNOLOGIES SUBCOMMITTEE
SATURDAY JUNE 5, 2010 at 4:00 PM
KENSINGTON ROOM, HYATT REGENCY
David Nelson , Chairman and David Wilcock, Acting Secretary
CALL TO ORDER
The Subcommittee Chair, David Nelson (Jacobs Engineering Group), called the meeting to order at 4:05 PM.
ATTENDANCE
Members and friends of the subcommittee introduced themselves. A total of 23 people were in attendance. One (1) person was on the teleconference line. Please see the attached sign-in sheet.
AGENDA
See attached meeting agenda.
COMMITTEE BUSINESS
Review of Annual Meeting Notes (01/13/2010)
The Minutes of the Annual Subcommittee meeting held on January 13, 2010 at the Washington Hilton Hotel were reviewed.
The Minutes were accepted as presented.
Committee Secretary Position
Chairman Nelson reported that the position of Committee Secretary remains vacant. Anyone interested in filling the position should contact the Chair. David Wilcock agreed to act as the Secretary for today’s meeting.
Review of the 2011 Research Plan and Potential Session Topics
· Hybrid SPRC Technologies – There are several potential hybrid technologies that may be applicable to SPRCs. This may be an area of research that the committee wishes to further explore.
· Positive Train Control – This is a major issue across the industry impacting all vehicle types. There may be an opportunity for a session focused on track sharing and non-compliant SPRC technologies implications of PTC.
Bob Doty (Peninsula Rail Program (CalTrain)) reported on the recent waiver granted for the
o GPS will be used to keep the trains apart
o All types of mixed traffic operations are permitted except with freight trains
o All types of mixed traffic operations are permitted north of Diridon Station
o PTC must be in place prior to commencement of new equipment operations
o Grade crossing protection systems must be upgraded
CalTrain was able to successful demonstrate the effectiveness of the crash energy management (CEM) system employed in the non-compliant vehicles
A separate discussion ensued on the continued evolution of the River Line service in
It was agreed that there is a potential for a session based on these two services. The stories and potential presenters are:
o CalTrain Story – Bob Dody
o River Line (NJ) – Al Fazio
o Austin (TX) – Doug Allen
o
· New Compliant DMU Market – There have been some recent developments in the market for orders of fully compliant DMUs. SMART is out with an RFP for compliant cars that is due this month. Portland TriMet, Houston Metro, and Denver RTD are all contemplating orders.
· Level Boarding Strategies – This is a universal issue that cuts across all modes. On the commuter rail side, the issues associated with the Plate C freight clearance envelope must be addressed. Sound Transit has elected to go with lifts built into each car.
·
· Crash Energy Management Versus PTC – Which is the right approach for your service? Bob Highfill and Tom Furmaniak agreed to investigate the possibility of a session built around this topic.
New Business
There was no new business reported.
COMMITTEE PROGRAM
There were no presentations made to the sub-committee.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 5:00 PM.
Distribution: Subcommittee members
Section Chair
Group Council Chair
TRB Staff Representative
2010 Mid Year Meeting
Agenda
AP070(1) Self-Powered Rail Car Technologies Subcommittee
Saturday June 5, 2010 4:00-5:00 PM
Kensington Room | Fourth Floor
HYATT REGENCY
At APTA’s Rail Conference
1. Call to order.
2. Approval of Minutes from Meeting January 13, 2010.
3. Discussion of 2011 Research Agenda and Session Plans
- Level Boarding: Strategies for “bridging the gap” to permit true level boarding.
- Positive Train Control: Impacts on Track Sharing and Non-Compliant DMU Regulation
- Documentation of best practices developed in existing services
- New Compliant DMU Markets
- SMART (18/72)
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