New Money Train Cars

Just spotted a pair of Rohrs numbered 8004 and 8005 at L'Enfant lower level. Does this mean 8000-8003 are being scrapped?

Last I heard the old trains aren't going anywhere yet. The new cars are to add capacity to the revenue collection operations. They run two trains a day and only had two trainsets. Now they can take a train out for maintenance if needed.

"RedLineRider"
Just spotted a pair of Rohrs numbered 8004 and 8005 at L'Enfant lower level. Does this mean 8000-8003 are being scrapped?

No it means WMATA has added a third pair to the revenue collection fleet. The set was refitted back in April.

Why is revenue collection expanding? I would have thought that with smart cards, employer-funded travel, etc. that cash usage was far less than in decades past.

"farecard"
Why is revenue collection expanding? I would have thought that with smart cards, employer-funded travel, etc. that cash usage was far less than in decades past.

The volume of cash transaction doesn't change how often the fare collection equipment needs to be serviced. Also the railroad will have 25 percent more mile in 5 years then it had 5 years ago.

Sand Box John wrote:
The volume of cash transaction doesn't change how often the fare collection equipment needs to be serviced. Also the railroad will have 25 percent more mile in 5 years then it had 5 years ago.

I would think that the less cash you have to pick up, the less frequently you have to empty the un-farecard vendors. I can see not wanting to leave cash overnight in outlying stations, but in the underground core? Are the venders emptied nightly before lockdown?

There are also limited windows of opportunity to run the money trains. Sure, maybe the machines could go a few extra hours now a days. But if that few extra hours puts the collection in the middle of the afternoon rush, that's not going to work.

There are also limited windows of opportunity to run the money trains.

Good point, and likely the real issue. With management getting serious about track maintenance periods, the money train can no longer travel with impunity after closing....

Aren't they going to need to scrap the 1K-based money trains?

They don't carry passengers,just $$$$ ,Security,and the machine techs.

"JackRussell"
Aren't they going to need to scrap the 1K-based money trains?

In the sort term, probably no. in the long term yes. The cars are modified to carry the greater loads per square foot of floor space. They however do not get the same level of daily mileage put on them compared to their passenger carrying counterparts.

farecard wrote:

There are also limited windows of opportunity to run the money trains.

Good point, and likely the real issue. With management getting serious about track maintenance periods, the money train can no longer travel with impunity after closing....

The trains are currently run during the midday off-peak hours and typically run through the early afternoon rush. They just run in between in-service trains. Their dwell time is not too much longer than a typical rush our stop, so they don't impact service too much.

Sand Box John wrote:"JackRussell"
Aren't they going to need to scrap the 1K-based money trains?

In the sort term, probably no. in the long term yes. The cars are modified to carry the greater loads per square foot of floor space. They however do not get the same level of daily mileage put on them compared to their passenger carrying counterparts.

At some point there will be no spares/tooling/etc. to repair them..