David O. Nelson, Chairman | Secretary, Vacant
1.
Minutes from Annual Meeting January 15,
2013
a. None available. The subcommittee
desperately needs a secretary. About 8
hours of work per year.
2.
Discussion Topics
a. Recent Developments involving Compliant Cars
i. Trinity Railway Express: Opened December 1996 with a fleet of 13 refurbished Budd
RDCs. These vehicles were “mothballed”
in favor of push-pull consists. Leased
to Denton for the early opening of A Train service but are now reported all out
of service
ii. South Florida Tri-Rail:
Opened 1989 with
push pull equipment. Added four DMUs and
2 trailers to fleet in 2007. Three of the DMUs and two trailers are in regular
service. Fourth DMU, poised was
delivered inoperable in 2007 is now reportedly being readied for service
iii. Portland West Side Express: Opened February 2009.
Set ridership record of 1,750 average daily boardings in May 2012 with a
fleet of 3 DMUs and one trailer. Two Budd RDCs have been acquired as backup
rollingstock.
iv. Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit:. Slated to open in late 2016. First vehicles will arrive in 2014. Geographic scope scaled back due to fiscal
constraints. Initial system will be 36
miles with 9 stations and six 2-car trains.
v. GO Transit: Union Pearson Express slated for 2015 opening making 14.5 mile
journey between Union Station and Pearson Airport in 25 minutes with two
intermediate stops with a fleet of 18 DMUs
b. Recent Developments involving European Design Cars
i.
Ottawa O-Train: Opened October 2001. Ten years later it carries 13,400 weekday
riders with a fleet of nine cars. OC Transpo had 18-week shutdown May through
August for a $59-million service expansion with new rolling stock and shorter
peak headways.
ii.
New Jersey Transit RiverLINE Opened March 2004. Now serving 9,750 weekday boardings in 2013
with a fleet of 21 vehicles.
iii.
Oceanside Escondido Sprinter Opened March 2008. 70 day shut down in spring of 2013 for
vehicle braking problems. Service now fully restored. Weekday ridership climbed to 8.500 in Nov
2013 with a fleet of 12 vehicles
iv.
Austin’s Capital MetroRail: Launched March 22,
2010. Now serving 2,800 boardings per
day with a fleet of six vehicles.
v.
Denton TX A-Train: New
Stadler Cars in service starting in 2012.
A-train carries 2,000 passengers on typical weekday with a fleet of 11
new Stadler cars.
vi.
SF eBART:
10 mile end-to-end DMU extension of BART rapid transit service in the
median of limited access highway.
Construction underway. Two stations. Bid received for 8 vehicles with options for
up to 14 total DMUs. Revenue service in
2016.
vii.
Plans for other systems?
a.
ACE Considering conversion to DMU for reasons of economics
and performance. “ACE hopes to
eventually extend services to Sacramento and Merced while replacing the
existing diesel locomotive – one locomotive per eight coaches, traveling top speed
of 79 mph – to that of the Diesel Multiple Unit. Each DMU train is self
propelled with top speeds between 110 to 125 mph and performance not affected
by train length.”
b. Boston Considering
reintroduction of DMUs on up to six commuter rail corridors
c.
Possible change in Subcommittee Name
a. Return to Diesel Multiple Units
Subcommittee?
3.
Research Plan and Agenda
i. Empirical analysis of DMU Economics
ii. How Alternative Compliance has affected fleet decisions of
North American transit providers?
iii. Other suggestions
ng Island Rail Road has long hoped to provide diesel multiple-unit (DMU) service to its riders on both the Montauk and Green Branches on the railway's east end. Those hopes now have capital funding identified.