bdawe wrote: ↑Sat May 02, 2020 6:18 pm
eolesen wrote: ↑Sat May 02, 2020 5:47 pm
Agree. LD’s simply don’t see the loads to justify the extra weight and drag of bi-levels, and having one fleet for the system opens up new options for thru-fleeting that aren’t possible to NYC today.
I don't think the bilevels are extra weight and drag per passenger mile than the single levels?
Agree. Drag is only an issue where a face is presented to the wind, IE the first car.
As for weight, you have a slight disadvantage - The super coach is 150k and the A2 is about 110k, while passengers are 77 versus 59.
But here's the big equalizer - operating and maintenance costs. It costs big money to maintain a railcar, and inspect it regularly. If you get 30% more passengers aboard, but have the same costs to keep the HVAC running, wheels turning, lights on, couplers intact, etc... you have a huge financial win. Recently VIA awarded Siemens a $23m/year contract for their new cars to be maintained, and that's just spares and some technicians to be stationed at the shops. It's not full service. $23m/year. That means the real cost to keep a corridor fleet going is something like $30-50m/ year. Now if you can cut car count by 20-30% does that cut $10m-15m off the operating expenses? That's a big number!
There is just no way that a single-level car is more cost effective than a bilevel.
eolesen wrote: ↑Sun May 03, 2020 1:36 pm
The rest of the world seems to make do with single level cars for long distance.
Many countries are constrained by height limitations. Great Britain built many railways around the world to clearances smaller than the BMT, so for example the UK, Argentina, and Australia can't have very tall trains. It's a bit odd seeing broad gauge trains in former British Colonial areas running with shorty equipment.
Other countries are moving toward double deck, including China, Russia, Japan, France, and Finland. Due to clearances, the French, Japanese, and Finnish stock is "smooshed" but China and Russia have very tall double deck coaches now.
eolesen wrote: ↑Sun May 03, 2020 1:36 pm
Yes, some trains might need an extra car or two. Today, you have huge layovers for the bilevels by nature of scheduling. I think that balances out if a trainset arriving from New York can flow into an Empire Builder or Zephyr.
I'm not sure I like this. They tried having the Caplitol Limited and Chief being interlined like that, and it didn't work so well. It's hard to turn equipment and clean it properly when the equipment arrives so late.
Perhaps if the trackage rights payments were market rate that wouldn't be a problem.
The new Acela: It's not Aveliable.