#14 Orange Line Cars 1400-1551 (From Red/Orange Procurement discussion)

Well it isn't, moving right along...

I can't imagine GE has much interest in subway cars. They make locomotives, yes, but the last electric they made were the E60s in the late 70s and early 80s plus some custom electrics for Taiwan.

The MBTA has done this before - half of the 01400's and all of the 01500/01600's were rebuilt in South Boston, and one of more of the T's past railcar orders had some final work take place in Readville. Can't remember if it was the 01800's, commuter rail cars or what, but I distinctly recall Readville being used. Other agencies elsewhere in the country have done this as well.

There's an IKEA in Stoughton...

ns3010 wrote:

MBTA3247 wrote:The press release just says the cars *are* going to be built in MA, not that they *have* to be. That would seem to suggest they already have production contracts in place (or close to being finalized).

Except that the RFP has yet to be issued.

Pretending that the Buy Massachusetts clause isn't there/isn't an issue for any potential bidder, anyone have guesses as to who will bid on the contract (once the RFP is issued, that is)? My list would be (of the most likely, not guaranteed bidders, and in no particular order):
-Bombardier
-Kawasaki
-Alstom
-Siemens

Those are the most obvious choices to me, unless I'm forgetting any. Any other guesses?

CAF could lob something in, I suppose.

rethcir wrote:There's an IKEA in Stoughton...

So, the seats in the new cars will come from the factory flat-packed and ready for quick installation at Wellington and Cabot?

Finch wrote:It's the MBTA's own press release that says the new cars will be built in MA. Who knows who told them to publicize that, but this isn't a case of the Globe mixing something up. There's a message being put forward here.

If you read page 18 of this report putout by he Mass DOT, it details that they assume that the red/orange line cars and also new green line cars will be 100% state funded thus allowing them to be built in Massachusetts creating fabrication and assembly jobs for the local economy. So I am assuming that if Federal money was to be chipped in to help fund the order it would be safe to say they could be built anywhere in the US.

"Red & Orange Line Cars
$1.5 billion
Funds procurement of subway vehicles to replace the 43-year old Red Line vehicles and 31-year old Orange Line
vehicles, as well as improvements to tracks, signals, and systems. At the end of this project, the Red and Orange Lines
will have twenty-first century vehicles, fewer delays, and improved reliability. This assumes that the program is 100%
state funded to allow the fabrication and assembly of the cars in the Commonwealth, creating jobs."

"The Way Forward:
A 21st - Century
Transportation Plan"
http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/Portals/ ... _Jan13.pdf

I have to admit, I have not been on the Orange line for quite awhile...until yesterday. These cars are TIRED! On the one I was in, the door chimes did not go off until after the door was already open or had closed. Rust is really starting to show on the carbody also, and the floors are starting to resemble the 500/1500 commuter rail coaches.

Oh, and leaving Downtown Crossing, we had one door that refused to close. The operator had to keep opening and closing the doors 4 times before the stubborn door gave in.

Well if we are buying in state and Tim Murray's from Worcester, lets get the cars from Osgood Bradley. I'm sorry I couldn't resist.

Well if we are buying in state and Tim Murray's from Worcester, lets get the cars from Osgood Bradley. I'm sorry I couldn't resist.

Not a bad idea! Most of the buildings are still there, and I'm sure a deal could be made with Peterson Steel to relocate. There's still adjacent rail access. Shop workers have a short walk to grab a sandwich at Price Chopper...

Of course after I make my post Murray decides not to run for governor.

What would you figure the odds of MBTA being dumb enough to go with Hyundai-Rotem again instead of a good company like Kawasaki or Bombardier?

Head-end View wrote:What would you figure the odds of MBTA being dumb enough to go with Hyundai-Rotem again instead of a good company like Kawasaki or Bombardier?

Maybe they'll be too embarrassed with the current contract to even try submitting a bid. Not to mention that I don't think they have much, if any, experience with building subway cars (not that they're much different from EMU's). I would hope that, by this point, they've learned their lesson in over-confidently diving headfirst into contracts that they are only trying to get in desperation.

ns3010 wrote:

Head-end View wrote:What would you figure the odds of MBTA being dumb enough to go with Hyundai-Rotem again instead of a good company like Kawasaki or Bombardier?

Maybe they'll be too embarrassed with the current contract to even try submitting a bid. Not to mention that I don't think they have much, if any, experience with building subway cars (not that they're much different from EMU's). I would hope that, by this point, they've learned their lesson in over-confidently diving headfirst into contracts that they are only trying to get in desperation.

If they can offer a low bid, they might just get the contact anyway. You know the T and low bids.

Stick with Bombardier. The last order of 01800s went well, so why mess with an unproven company? Just build upon the 01800s' features and improve them for now, as a 01800 is a R110B, while the new cars would be R179s.