DutchRailnut wrote:SLE may not run M-8's , the traffic growth west of New Haven will require all to be used in MN pool, you probably won't see bar cars either.
Don't forget when all current options were exercised, they were not including the amount of cars needed to replace M-4 and M-6.
The SLE plans are on such a low burner that M-8's have still not been tested on shoreline's 25 Kv and Acces systems.
The thing is though when NHHS starts up in 2016-17 the current SLE fleet will be relocated so something will have to cover *current or expanded* SLE operations and then some. NHV-HFD-SPG is also longer in length than even NHV-NLC so a larger number of trainsets will be needed to be in rotation to cover schedules than the current 4(?) that SLE requires, especially since I believe the preliminary timetable calls for 17 or so round trips on weekdays.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the original 380-car order (210 base cars + 170 option cars) meant to completely replace the entire M-2/M-4/M-6 fleet from the beginning with 24 or so cars earmarked for SLE (presumably the last ones of the order) and any remaining extras compensating for the loss of a few seats in each new pair? And IIRC when the 25 singlets were announced MNR specifically said that their purpose was to "easily add capacity on select trains".
I do think it's fair to assume that bar cars are very unlikely. There's a reason 10 of the original 20 were converted into coaches and, furthermore, that none others (aside from the 1 M-4 car) were acquired in the M-4 and M-6 orders (the fact that they were much smaller in size notwithstanding).
If MNR/ConnDOT do indeed see future traffic growth requiring all 405 cars to be in service between GCT and NHV with nothing else to cover SLE service before 2018 (not to mention the M-8s from the Bridgeport derailment being held up in storage for who knows how long) then that last 58-68 car option sounds like a very sure thing.