eBART groundbreaking

DMU operated extension planned for 16km.
http://www.railwaygazette.com/nc/news/s ... cisco.html

video simulation of transfer process:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaWpKw6H8cw

Does anyone know--
1) How many DMUs will be acquired?
2) Where maintenance will be performed?
3) Since possible future electrification is being considered, will the new trackage be standard gauge, or BART gauge? Which would be more expensive, building a small order of broad-gauge DMUs, or converting standard to 5'-6" at the time of electrification?
4) The news story sounds as though the funding is available--is that true?
5) Will a second generation of DMUs be required before the money is there for electrification?

ExCon90, I haven't been able to find much about those issues.

However, most of the funding seems to be in place. Railway Gazette: eBART funding approved: $479m out of $523m (13 Feb 2008).

I'm guessing that they'll use standard gauge, because that will make it simpler to extend eBART eastward, and because it will not require special-ordering the wheel assemblies.

As to how one will transfer between "classic BART" and eBART, the classic-BART train will stop on one side of a platform and an eBART train on the other. Beyond that, I don't know. They could either have dual-gauge tracks or else classic BART would use one side and eBART the other.

As to extending classic BART further, it ought to be feasible, though doing it without disrupting service will be tricky. My guess is that they'll first extend one BART track, then the other, and run classic BART single-tracked until the other track can be completed.

Thanks--it'll be something to keep an eye on.

The line will run in the median of California Hwy. 4, and it will have these stations:

• Pittsburg/BayPoint
• Railroad Ave., Pittsburg
• Hillcrest Ave., Antioch

Distances between stations:
2.9 mi
5.9 mi

To get an idea of how fast it might travel, I estimated speeds for existing US DMU services:

• NJT River LINE: Florence - Pennsauken: 7 stations, 13.5 mi, 26 min - 31 mph
• Austin Capital Metro: Leander - Crestview: 3 stations, 24.5 mi, 42 min - 35 mph
• Portland Tri-Met WES: Beaverton - Wilsonville: 3 stations, 15 mi, 27 min - 33 mph
• Oceanside Sprinter: Oceanside - Escondido: 13 stations, 21.5 mi, 53 min - 24 mph

So I estimate a travel time of about 15 minutes.

Now for classic BART.

The greatest station separation is between Castro Valley and (East) Dublin-Pleasanton, at about 10 mi. Trains travel 13 minutes, giving an average speed of about 46 mph.

Looking at other outlying lines, Lake Merritt - Fremont has 7 stations, 23.5 miles, and 36 min - 39 mph.
Rockridge - PBP has 6 stations, 25 mi, 33 min - 45 mph.

So classic BART would likely travel PBP - Antioch in about 12 minutes.

More on eBART:
A request for proposals (RFP) has been issued (?) for eBART rolling stock. There will be a "pre-Proposal meeting" (don' t you just love the bureaucracy-speak?) on Nov. 13:
http://www.bart.gov/about/projects/ecc/

eBART presentation, with pics of construction and artist rendering of rolling stock:
http://www.bart.gov/docs/ecc/2012.july1 ... eeting.pdf

Apparently the rolling stock should be "...Service proven, lightweight low floor DMU railcars or vehicles..." If the cars are low floor, that implies the transfer point with BART will require either stepped platforms or a slope, as BART rolling stock is high floor loading. In the artists conception, there is no such impression- it is level.

kaitoku wrote:More on eBART:
A request for proposals (RFP) has been issued (?) for eBART rolling stock.
Apparently the rolling stock should be "...Service proven, lightweight low floor DMU railcars or vehicles..." If the cars are low floor, that implies the transfer point with BART will require either stepped platforms or a slope, as BART rolling stock is high floor loading. In the artists conception, there is no such impression- it is level.

Or the platform can remain perfectly level with the top of rail height being different.
Using DMUs is 60% cheaper for two reasons, no cateneary or third rail and mostly single track operations.

Looks like they have used Siemens DMUs in the drawings of that pdf. Within the last two years, only Siemens and Stadler had entered bids for non FRA compliant DMUs for SMART. Siemens can build DMUs in California or Europe, Stadler can build DMUs in Switzerland. Does Buy America apply? I believe Siemens would have had the low bid at SMART for non FRA compliant DMUs, but it wasn't by much and I'm not sure if Buy America applied at that time. DCTA's Stadler GTW order had options available on their contract that eBART might use.

I checked to see what progress has been made in building that extension. No evidence of construction at the Pittsburg / Bay Point station. The track configuration, for reference, from west to east:

No crossover
Station
Bailey Road bridge
Scissors crossover
Bridge over a creek
Access area for road-rail vehicles
Ramp for road-rail vehicles, east end at ground level
South-side track splits, making center track
The north-side, center, and south-side tracks continue for a bit, then end at bumper posts

The construction:
Next stop: A wider Highway 4 - ContraCostaTimes.com
The highway widening should be done by 2015, and the eBART line by 2017.

Pittsburg puts more money toward future BART station - ContraCostaTimes.com
They are currently planning to build stations only at the ends of the line, but if Pittsburg officials put up enough money, they'll get a Pittsburg station in addition.

The $462 million eBART project is expected to be completed by the end of 2017. Work continues on a transfer platform east of the Pittsburg-Bay Point station and a parking lot and maintenance facility east of the Antioch site.

I've found it hard to find much on that, even at BART - East Contra Costa BART Extension (eBART)

BART - East Contra Costa BART Extension (eBART) Implementation

Contract 04SF-110-A - Transfer Platform and Guideway

This contract includes guideway preparation; modifications to the existing BART tail tracks at the Pittsburg Bay Point Station; construction of a Transfer Platform for passenger movement between the eBART and BART trains; and an Ancillary Building with train control equipment. This contract is currently under construction.

So there'll be a BART - eBART transfer platform at where the tail tracks are now.

http://www.bart.gov/docs/ecc/2012.july1 ... eeting.pdf - about Phase 2, likely extending in Hwy. 4 to from Antioch to Byron / Discovery Bay. The nearby Mococo Line is a less likely route.

The RFP document for the vehicles specified the purchase of 8 "new Service Proven, lightweight low-floor DMU railcars or vehicles" "ready for Revenue Service", with one option for 2 more, and one for 4 more, giving a grand total of 14.

What does the "e" in "eBART" stand for?
(The first thing that comes to mind is "electric", but BART is electric, whereas eBART runs on diesel..)

The e in eBART is short for "East Contra Costa County", where it will be.

Work on eBART extension into Antioch moving full-speed ahead - ContraCostaTimes.com

Over the past few months, a three-story-high train maintenance building, bus stop kiosks and parking lot surface have become visible, especially to Highway 4 drivers who pass it each day.

Before that, much of the work on the future Antioch station consisted mainly of grading hills and moving dirt.

A transfer station east of the Pittsburg-Bay Point BART station was also completed, but it's not distinguishable to those driving on Highway 4.

So it won't be a cross-platform transfer, with regular BART on one side and eBART on the other. I note that because that's what some of the project pages' illustrations show.

But it should open in late 2017.

eBART rolling stock contract awarded:

USA: San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit District has awarded sole bidder Stadler Rail a $58m contract to supply eight diesel multiple-units for the East Contra Costa BART extension commuter rail project.

Announcing the order on April 25, Stadler said the GTW 2/6 units would be manufactured at its Bussnang plant in Switzerland. These will be based on 37 DMUs it has previously supplied to the USA: 20 for NJ Transit; six for Capital Metro in Austin, Texas; and 11 for Denton County Transportation Authority in Texas. The DMUs will meet EPA Tier 4 emissions regulations.

http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/pass ... tract.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

lpetrich wrote:Work on eBART extension into Antioch moving full-speed ahead - ContraCostaTimes.com

Over the past few months, a three-story-high train maintenance building, bus stop kiosks and parking lot surface have become visible, especially to Highway 4 drivers who pass it each day.

Before that, much of the work on the future Antioch station consisted mainly of grading hills and moving dirt.

A transfer station east of the Pittsburg-Bay Point BART station was also completed, but it's not distinguishable to those driving on Highway 4.

So it won't be a cross-platform transfer, with regular BART on one side and eBART on the other. I note that because that's what some of the project pages' illustrations show.
But it should open in late 2017.

Wonder which will open first: the BART Antioch extension or the NYCT 7 Extension? The Antioch extension is some 8 miles, but the 7 extension is only less than a mile and has been delayed at least five times. But to get 8 miles done in about five years is great progress in today's (slower-paced construction) world.

Vote gives Pittsburg eBART station efforts a big boost - ContraCostaTimes.com That would be a station in downtown Pittsburg, likely at Railroad Ave.
BART awards contract for eBART tracks to Antioch - ContraCostaTimes.com

I used maps.google.com to try to get an idea of the construction progress. I switched to the old version, since it's more up-to-date, about February or March of this year.

Eastward from Pittsburg - BayPoint station, the tracks cross Bailey Road, go through a scissors crossover, then continue for about the length of a 10-car BART train before merging on the north side. The single track continues past an island platform before splitting again, making some tail track.

That platform is split in two by a fence running along its length. The north side looks high-platform, while the south side looks low-platform. There are no tracks on the south side, but then again, the contract for building them was awarded only recently. However, there is enough room for a single track. So it looks like regular BART and eBART will have a cross-platform transfer after all.

Looking eastward, the right of way is ready to go and wide enough for a double-track line, to between Somersville Rd. and Contra Loma Blvd. Though the line crosses under Railroad Ave. and some other streets, it crosses over Somersville Rd., and it has a bridge there. However, there was little or no evidence of right-of-way construction east of this point, and the surrounding highway's widening looked incomplete there. That's the California Delta Hwy., SR-4.

The line will end at around Hillcrest Ave., but there are already plans to extend it further, southeastward to Brentwood and beyond.

Pittsburg secures $2.5 million for eBART station - Inside Bay Area (Oct 9), also BART Board conditionally earmarks $2.5 million for additional station | Railway Track & Structures It still needs some funding from a few other places before it can continue, but those other places are likely to approve it.