edflyerssn007 wrote:Options include up to 313 additional cars. 2x2 seating arrangment. 125mph design.
For an organization jokingly known here as the “Dept. Of Tar” they sure are making quite a sell job with that 2-2 seating. Nicely done! (Though of course the fact that the leased MBB cars had 2-2 seating must have factored in).
Traingeek3629 wrote:Maybe I'm missing something. But I don't see any passenger display screens on the outside of the cars. Also, push-pull over DMU is extremely shortsighted, but we've beaten that topic to death already.
1. It’s not the final design just a rough schematic. Even the ACS64 looked a bit different by the time the final design was revealed.
2. No one is making DMUs compatible with high level platforms and even so they don’t allow for fleet flexibility vs engines and coaches.
scratchyX1 wrote:Unique == costs more, as it's not an off the shelf design.
Also, EMUs and trailers would have been a better idea, long term.
.I don’t see any overhead wires on the Danbury, Waterbury, and Hartford lines…
ST Saint wrote:I'm sure we'll know more later on, but they do look suspiciously close to Bombardier M7 shells, so I have to wonder if they are mostly based off that from the rendering.
They really do look like the fusion of an M7, M8, and MBB coach. Hopefully they won’t look so “boxy” looking in the end.
nomis wrote:60 cars is not that much when you consider the goals of a clock face schedule of 30 min peak, 60 min off peak.
If the Hartford Line gets them first that replaces all 16 MBBs and 33 Mafersa cars and adds 11 extras (or two whole 4 car consists). Plus not even half of those 49 coaches are in service at any one time since prior to the M8s on SLE the Mafersas were in service on both lines. Perhaps ConnDOT wants to wait and see what Metro North wants to do with their push pull replacement project before exercising any option cars (though the real reason could be that the MBB and Mafersa fleets are the oldest non-rebuilds and have manual doors vs the late 90s-built and 00s-rebuilt automatic door Shoreliners).
Train60 wrote:$315 million for 60 cars plus parts works out to $5.25 million per car. Seems like a big number.
Also, from the Alston press release,
"options to build an additional 313 cars, as part of CTDOT’s coach renewal program for its statewide rail system. "
What might CTDOT do with an extra 313 cars with 2-2 seating?
1. Inflation and supply chain issues likely culprits for that.
2. I guess they’ll replace all their Comet II and IV coaches if they don’t like the multilevels Metro-North has in mind for their diesel fleet replacement plans. There’s no major service expansion on the horizon. New Milford is dead in the water for now, Norwich ain’t happening for a long time if ever, Middletown is a pipe dream, Manchester is low hanging fruit the DOT won’t grab…, a WTBY extension to Berlin or Hartford is also dead for now so that leaves replacing the Comets with some extras on hand.
ConstanceR46 wrote:It's an interesting choice to get 313, but utterly strange as to why they're going with single-levels of a custom-"tailored" design. In general i kinda was on the team that single-levels were on the way out - perhaps these "custom" cars are an intent to launch a competitor on the regional market for the Siemens sets?
Well no one’s making single level commuter coaches en masse for the North American market so they have to start from scratch. I would be interested in knowing if Siemens placed a bid for a “commuter variant” of the Venture coaches. That would seem to be a slam dunk since ConnDOT has already signed a contract for 6 new Chargers with up to 14 option units on the table.
eolesen wrote:$5m per car sounds like a lot, but as a new design, there's some added cost and risk that CDOT may have agreed to front.
Maybe there's royalties in the deal so that if other agencies jump on this as an alternative CDOT gets some of that back?
If Metra is rethinking their bilevel order with Alstom, getting a few of these instead might be a way out of that deal.
1. With multilevels all the rage nowadays I don’t see anyone else picking these up. They’d be an ideal fit for the LIRR Montauk and Greenport trains, but no way would they want a small captive fleet of single level coaches for 1 or 2 lines (even if they offer better luggage storage for East End weekenders/vacationers than MLVs).
2. Since Metra’s got the 2x daily Chicago-Rockford express train coming in 2027 and these would be perfect for that service.