BandA wrote:Gives one pause...Silverliner V's are EMU...do they share truck castings/parts with the Rottem coaches?
Doubt it, since a single-level EMU and a bi-level coach are such very structurally different beasts. This was a truck assembly that Rotem sourced from a third party, and since it's unlikely that any of their push-pull bi-levels use either the same truck design or the same truck subcontractor...odds are very slim that that the T, Tri-Rail, or Metrolink fleets are in any way impacted. Just Denver's SLV's; they're going to have to scramble the same inspections this weekend. If there's anything even incidentally related to this that the T would need to inspect, we'd already have a press statement from them on this because the spreading news reports from Philly beckon the question. No news is therefore good news if the T isn't making a preemptive statement about due-diligence inspections.
Bigger consequence is that H-R is now so thoroughly radioactive it would be insane for any public authority in the U.S. to do business with them, and that includes the FCMB exercising this contract option. In-house legal counsel will strongly advise them "DO NOT WANT!" as long as there's threat of a potential SEPTA v. H-R lawsuit. And since the Silverliner fix is looking complicated and potentially very drawn-out since the parts supply to repair all 120 units requires an emergency component manufacturing run, it'll take many months of digging to sort out whether SEPTA has any legal grounds to seek damages from Rotem. A longer period of uncertainty than the FCMB has for making an up/down decision on exercising this +75 option. Window of opportunity likely just closed on that.
If the Silverliner fiasco heads to court it's tantamount to removing Rotem entirely from the domestic market for a period of many years, because if they weren't toxic enough already the drawn-out litigation pretty much imposes a no-touch order for every transit agency coast-to-coast. Basically in that worst-case it's in corporate's best interests to take a knee, withdraw with a self-imposed moratorium on bidding, nuke the U.S. division in entirety, build a new business unit from scratch, and quietly reintroduce themselves to the U.S. in 10 years with "a whole new Rotem" emphasizing zero resemblance to the previous incarnation. Sort of like Breda did after the T and MUNI debacles when it laid low from North American bidding for many years before returning to competition. Only Breda did have well-established U.S. rep in other market segments such as heavy rail before it stubbed its toe on those brutal light rail orders. Rotem's a first-time entrant on this continent and has yet to produce any orders (outside of Skytrain Canada Line's full-automated HRT cars, which I haven't heard anything pro or con about) free of rampant complaints about poor build quality. There's really nothing left for them to fight for in their current domestic incarnation if this Silverliner situation goes into full meltdown.