Upper Midwest Passenger Rail Caucus: October 21-22 2011

You are cordially invited to attend the 2011 Upper Midwest Rail Passenger Caucus, on October 21-22. The Caucus provides an opportunity to get a good survey of passenger rail transit in the region bounded by Chicago and Milwaukee. If you have never been to this part of the country before, this is your chance to see the service and facilities offered by the major transit agencies in the region. If you are familiar with the area, this is a good time to see what has changed since your last visit. Due to the short time frame, the schedule is intense, but well within the capabilities of most able bodied individuals. In the sixteen year history of the Rail Passenger Caucus, no one has been left behind yet. Please see the attached file for more details (Please note that the first day’s opening session will be at the office of the Regional Transportation Authority, 175 W. Jackson Boulevard, corner of Wells Street; not at Union Station.).

For those of you traveling to Chicago, there is a full array of transportation choices. Chicago is one of Amtrak’s busiest terminals, so there is at least one daily train from most points that Amtrak serves. Chicago is also a major airline hub, with most airlines serving O’Hare (ORD) airport. If you are flying Southwest Airlines, you will be flying to Midway (MDW) airport. Convenient transit service via the Chicago Transit Authority rail system is available to downtown from both airports. Other transportation options are also available.

To place your name on the Caucus list, please reply via e-mail to Tom Hickey at Hickey@pbworld.com by October 1. Information regarding lodging in Chicago will be sent soon. I’m looking forward to seeing you in Chicago in October.

Sincerely,

David Nelson

Chair: Subcommittee on Self Powered Rail Car Technologies {AP070(1)}

Commuter Rail: Balancing Freight Clearance with Level Boarding and ADA Accessibility Requirements

Federal regulators and passenger railways are both concerned about passengers with mobility impairments that limit their abilities to use stairways. Toward that end, federal policy and railway practice strongly encourages developing services that allow for level boarding and alighting from commuter rail trains without using stairways. Beyond benefiting individuals that have trouble using stairs, level boarding can also lead to significant improvements in service delivery for the rest of the public by reducing unproductive station dwell times, improving safety and creating opportunities improve crew efficiency.

One principal obstacle to level boarding has been the concerns of freight railroads that operate over (and often own) trackage shared with the passenger trains. The freight operators wish to maintain a full horizontal clearance envelope allowing unrestricted operations. These concerns often limit the close door/platform interface necessary for level boarding.

This paper summarizes current FTA policy on level boarding, discusses the benefits of level boarding, reviews the tension between freight clearance concerns and level boarding and reviews the state of the practice in serving passengers with mobility impairments. Based on the industry review, it highlights three innovations that have been implemented or considered to expand the scope of level boarding among North American commuter railroads. Finally it provides recommendations for further research.

Click here for November 2011 revisions

Click here to see original submission

Your comments would be very much appreciated

Cuban Rail Caucus In Planning

Mark Walbrun Reports

Following our discussions at the TRB meetings in Boston, AREMA has agreed to sponsor the railroad technology tour of Cuba. The time period selected is Dec 8 – 14 (it will not be quite that long but we are blocking out time to allow for minor adjustments in the itinerary). Some of the committee chairs had asked to have plans finalized within two weeks of our meeting to allow for coordinating committee meeting plans with the time period of the trip to avoid conflicts.

Further details will be available shortly.

SPRC Fact Sheet Update

The Subcommittee's basic fact sheet on SPRC's in North American Urban Transit Applications was last updated in 2006.

An update is long overdue.

If you would like assist with this project please download and update copy of the current fact sheet by clicking here.

Please send you updates and suggestions to david.nelson@jacobs.com

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