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  • 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

 #1482141  by JackRussell
 
Sand Box John wrote:I don't recall if it was mentioned here but WMATA stopped taking delivery of the 7k cars back in May because of this issue.

The issue has to do with continuity at wiring connections that could result in premature failure causing a great deal of time to be spent troubleshooting to find the broken connection.

It should be noted that this more of a performance and reliability problem then a safety problem.
These kinds of problems can be a bear to diagnose. Although I suspect it might get a little easier if they are aware that there might be wiring harness issues.

Are they going to install the chains at the same time they have the cars in to fix the wiring?
 #1482296  by daybeers
 
JackRussell wrote:snip Are they going to install the chains at the same time they have the cars in to fix the wiring?
Knowing WMATA, probably not. :(
 #1485286  by davinp
 
FTA gives thumbs-up to Metro’s expedited timeline for protecting blind passengers

Two months ago, Kawasaki said it found a way to retrofit trains by May. The FTA says that timeline is acceptable, as long as no more new trains go into service without the extra barriers.

"Although WMATA’s May 2019 commitment is later than the deadline stated in FTA’s June 2018 letter, given the additions to WMATA’s ongoing mitigation efforts, the nature of the supply and manufacturing constraints, and WMATA’s commitment that no new 7000-series cars will enter revenue service without the new chain [between-car barriers] installed, FTA accepts this updated work plan," wrote Henrika Buchanan, an acting associate administrator at the FTA.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/transpor ... fcedd54459" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 #1490183  by dcmike
 
YOLO wrote:Metro is now programming in announcements for which side the doors open.
Minor pedantic clarification, but these are not "programmed" in the sense that they're hard coded, the trains are actually reading the platform ID code from the TWC as they enter the platform limits and generating the announcement based on that input. This helps to ensure the correct message is played at terminal stations where either track may be used, or even when trains are single tracking for example. Cool stuff.
JDC wrote:WaPo has a story that Kawasaki is considering exiting the business of manufacturing railcars after a poor earnings report.
Typical lazy Wapo article, they completely left out the fact that Kawasaki made a strategic decision to exit the European market in 2014 to focus on the US. Seems they weren't able to compete here either, but the question is why. In Europe it's obvious: domestic industry titans like Siemens and Alstom have a major advantage.
 #1490233  by JDC
 
Rode on car 7555. It has the chain barrier between cars, but not the original setup used to replace the rubber barrier. It's noticable different setup where bracket attaches to the car body.
 #1490261  by Head-end View
 
I'm very surprised that Kawasaki fell down in quality when building the 7000 series cars. I only hope the same is not true of LIRR's new M-9 cars. Kawasaki first sold railcars in the U.S. in the early 1980's with an order of subway cars for Philadelphia and quickly got a reputation as a quality builder. If they were to exit the railcar market, it would be an almost earth shattering event, kind of like when the Mack Truck Corp. stopped building fire engines in 1984. :(
 #1490310  by JDC
 
JDC wrote:Rode on car 7555. It has the chain barrier between cars, but not the original setup used to replace the rubber barrier. It's noticable different setup where bracket attaches to the car body.
Just saw car 7565. I think. Went by fast. Besides the bracket being different, the metal barriers also appear taut with less sag.
 #1490396  by davinp
 
Head-end View wrote:I'm very surprised that Kawasaki fell down in quality when building the 7000 series cars. I only hope the same is not true of LIRR's new M-9 cars. Kawasaki first sold railcars in the U.S. in the early 1980's with an order of subway cars for Philadelphia and quickly got a reputation as a quality builder. If they were to exit the railcar market, it would be an almost earth-shattering event, kind of like when the Mack Truck Corp. stopped building fire engines in 1984. :(
I am surprised Kawasaki would consider exiting the railcar business. They made railcars for several subways in North America. They also made railcars for MARC. VRE had some too but sold them back to MARC. They were good quality, reliable railcars.
 #1491056  by YOLO
 
I'm not, the Nikkei is in a bear market and the Japanese economy is not doing well. The WMATA repairs is what broke the camel's back
 #1494927  by JDC
 
I rode on car 7595 recently, so we're closing in - if not already at - car 7600. Getting closer and closer to full delivery.
 #1495307  by YOLO
 
With Japan headed for a full blown recession I'm not sure if Kawasaki will be around much longer.

Could you imagine the poopshow if CRRC or Rotem tried to buy them out ... lmao
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