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  • MTA Purple Line Bethesda - New Carrollton Light Rail

  • Discussion related to DC area passenger rail services from Northern Virginia to Baltimore, MD. Includes Light Rail and Baltimore Subway.
Discussion related to DC area passenger rail services from Northern Virginia to Baltimore, MD. Includes Light Rail and Baltimore Subway.

Moderators: mtuandrew, therock, Robert Paniagua

 #1379875  by Sand Box John
 
"farecard"
The cat standoff distance really becomes an issue only when in tunnels. Higher ceilings co$t more there.


The Purple line has no tunnels, so standoff will not be that big of an issue. The existing vertical clearance under the Air Rights Building and Wisconsin Avenue is greater then the minumn. The documents do note an issue with the Paint Branch Parkway underpass in Collage Park. Page 373 of MTA - Purple Line - P3 Agreement with Exhibits - Execution Version (37.9 MB PDF file).
  • "Concessionaire shall design and construct portions of the Paint Branch Parkway below WMATA and CSXT Bridges to meet applicable clearance requirements relating to the Purple Line System operating a 1,500 VDC. In addition, Concessionaire Shell Construct, or otherwise provide a new lift station with capacity equal to, or greater then the existing lift station and remove the existing lift station in accordance with SHA standard Specification for Construction and Materials, Section 207."
 #1379882  by farecard
 
gokeefe wrote:Just be happy its getting built. As long as it actually runs it will be unstoppable. There's plenty of money in the coffers for future upgrades should they be necessary. The only thing I would be watching for is if the system specs (transmission voltages in particular) would really hold back expansion. I haven't gotten that impression at all.
Not disagreeing. The cat voltage is fine; when they run out of capacity it is fixable with added power stations or upgrades to the existing ones. I'm not aware of anything less than the PRR/Amtrak NEC that runs at higher voltages.

The parts that infuriate me are those where the skimping damage is irreparable; the biggest of all is the Silver Spring No-Transit Center.
 #1379889  by gokeefe
 
I would posit in that case that the damage isn't so much irreparable as it is exceptionally expensive to fix in the future.
 #1379891  by Sand Box John
 
"farecard"
I'm not aware of anything less than the PRR/Amtrak NEC that runs at higher voltages.


The Black Mesa and Lake Powell uses a 50 KV contact wire voltage. The railroad uses the freight version of the General Electric E60 that Amtrak retired long ago. The Amtrak E60 were capable of running on 11, 25 and 50 KV.
 #1379892  by farecard
 
gokeefe wrote:I would posit in that case that the damage isn't so much irreparable as it is exceptionally expensive to fix in the future.
You could say the same thing about the Silver Line Tyson's tunnel, and its service to IAD parking vs. IAD.
Or the decision to be a 2-track system.....
 #1379895  by gokeefe
 
I don't think the two are comparable because of the cost scales involved. Tysons is orders of magnitude more expensive to fix than the Purple Line in Silver Spring (my impression).
 #1379911  by farecard
 
If you think the county-club crowd hates the Purple line crossing their golf course land, just wait until you start running a few E60's back & forth....
 #1393458  by Jeff Smith
 
Construction Dive

Although nominally an article on the proposed Miami Beach LRT, there's a side comment on the Purple Line:
Expediency is also a concern for officials who are trying to get the $5.6 billion, 16-mile Purple Line light rail system in Maryland underway. Some Chevy Chase, MD, residents, who reportedly have been against construction of the new rail line since its inception, requested another six-month ridership survey that rail officials said could put the entire project in jeopardy. Unlike the Miami Beach project, however, the Purple Line is receiving a considerable amount of federal funding – $900 million.
 #1393463  by realtype
 
The Purple Line Light Rail project is being administered by the MTA, but will be constructed and operated by a private concessionaire--a consortium of companies including Meridiam Infrastructure, Fluor Enterprises Inc.,Star America, and CAF USA.

The 16.2 mile line is entirely located within Montgomery and Prince George's counties in Maryland and will travel through the dense inner-Beltway suburbs and urban centers between Bethesda, MD and New Carrollton, MD. It will connect 4 branches of WMATA Metro, three MARC (MTA) lines, and Amtrak's Northeast Regional and Vermonter.
 #1393495  by STrRedWolf
 
It's MTA Maryland, not WMATA. It's a Public/Private Partnership, and I forget who will run the line (probably the private company).

http://www.purplelinemd.com/en/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; for more info.
 #1393540  by Sand Box John
 
"STrRedWolf"
It's MTA Maryland, . . .


MTA Maryland is redundant as MTA under the Maryland Department of Transportation in long form is the Maryland Transit Administration.

In Maryland the MTA is not to be confused with the MDTA, MDTA is the Maryland Transportation Authority. The MDTA is the agency under the Maryland Department of Transportation that operates and maintains the states toll facilities.
 #1393563  by STrRedWolf
 
MTA Maryland is what MDOT designated as the shortened name for Maryland Transit Administration. For the Maryland Transportation Administration (yes, that's the official designation) the shortened name is MdTA (lower case "d"). You will not be surprised how many news agents confuse the two.

I worked there when they switched names, and went from mta.state.md.us to mtamaryland.com to mta.maryland.gov. There are still programs that say "MASS TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION" on the reports they print out (especially payroll!).
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