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  • DMU a no show at its own roll out

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Discussion about RDC's, "doodlebugs," gas-electrics, etc.
 #242606  by DutchRailnut
 
Wed, May. 03, 2006
New cars to ply Tri-Rail tracks - Miami Herald

Tri-Rail riders can soon ride on sleek new cars that could
become the wave of the future, although a glitch held up their
debut at a ceremony Tuesday.

A snazzy new fuel-efficient vehicle destined for Tri-Rail tracks
missed its own unveiling Tuesday afternoon, but transportation
officials say they are still on course to start using the modern
trains in June or July.

The main purpose of the ceremony Tuesday at the Tri-Rail station
off Broward Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale was to celebrate the
completion of a $334 million, double-tracking project that
allows Tri-Rail trains to run more frequently. Some routes that
ran hourly in the past now run every 20 minutes during rush hours.

On Monday officials decided to also use the Tuesday event to
show off the two new ''Diesel Multiple Units'' that are expected
to be in service in about a month.

But the futuristic-looking vehicles did not make it from a
Hialeah rail yard to Fort Lauderdale due to a mechanical
problem, said Tri-Rail spokeswoman Bonnie Arnold. The problem
wasn't resolved in time for the ceremony.

The show went on Tuesday -- minus the no-show cars. About 70
transportation officials gathered to watch cheerleaders wave
silver pom poms, hear a gospel choir and listen to speeches by
government officials who celebrated the end of the construction
which disrupted service.

By late April, Tri-Rail carried the equivalent of about 5,500
round-trip passengers per day for a total of 11,000 boardings --
recouping the 12 percent drop during the construction and adding
3 percent on top of the pre-construction ridership.

The commuter railroad runs mainly along Interstate 95, from
Mangonia Park, in Palm Beach County, to a station near Miami
International Airport. Tri-Rail will next add six double-decker
DMUs, starting this summer.

The DMU is more fuel efficient, officials say, but they aren't
certain how much money it will save in fuel costs.

It also has a benefit difficult to quantify: it's cooler.

''It's sleek looking,'' said Joseph Giulietti, executive
director of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority,
the agency that runs Tri-Rail. ``It has curved windows on the
upper deck.''

Transportation officials don't know if DMUs will replace
traditional cars. They want to study how the DMUs perform -- how
often they need repairs, for example.

Owned by the Florida Department of Transportation, the units are
on loan to Tri-Rail. Officials expect that the vehicles will
eventually go to a commuter rail in Orlando around 2009.

''We're experimenting on somebody else's nickel,'' Giulietti said.

Transportation officials don't anticipate a surge of riders when
the DMUs hit the tracks. On-time trains and other service
factors play more into a commuter's decision to ride the trains.
 #626921  by hemihead
 
The incident you're referring to was the direct result of the the COM recepatcle on a GP49 the two DMU vehicles (703+7001) were coupled to that was wired incorrectly from the factory after having been rebuilt. It had NOTHING to do at all whatsoever with CR DMU vehicles failing at all whatsoever. Recall SFRTA took delivery of five rebuilt GP49's around that time which subsequently later found to have some of the wiring in going to the COM receptacles wired incorrectly. The SFRTA CRM DMU's have only one operating cab, hence the need to have a locomotive on the opposite end of the consist to run in the opposite direction after reaching teh end of teh line (Miami Airport or Mangonia Stations)