MTA Purple Line Bethesda - New Carrollton Light Rail

STrRedWolf wrote: ↑Sun Sep 27, 2020 5:08 pm

farecard wrote: ↑Sat Sep 26, 2020 11:55 am What will the collapse of this PPP do to Hogan's favorite dream, the widened Beltway Toll Road?

On hold until things improve.

I've been wondering the same thing about that, and the private frederick to bethesda monorail

scratchyX1 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 11:17 am I've been wondering the same thing about that, and the private frederick to bethesda monorail

The latter has never been discussed among MTA's halls... and given how more expensive monorails are, probably never will be even broached.

STrRedWolf wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 6:11 pm

scratchyX1 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 11:17 am I've been wondering the same thing about that, and the private frederick to bethesda monorail

The latter has never been discussed among MTA's halls... and given how more expensive monorails are, probably never will be even broached.

It's something for a study that siphons off needed funds, like that maglev.

Maryland takes over management of Purple Line construction

https://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2 ... evacuation

The consortium building Maryland’s light rail Purple Line has officially quit, leaving the Maryland Transit Administration in charge of hundreds of subcontracts that are part of the construction project. The Washington Post reports Purple Line Transit Partners finished securing construction sites and began turning the project over to the state on Friday, and that the state officially took over management of the project on Sept. 28. Contracts now in the hands of the state include those for construction of the light rail vehicles, operation and maintenance of the system, and 233 other agreements, including design and construction. The state has said it will take four to six months to decide if it continues to manage the project, seeks a new contractor, or develops another public-private partnership. The Transit Partners consortium quit over about $800 million in unpaid cost overruns

Here is the article from the Washington Post going further in depth about this story.

MD has reached a deal to pay $250 million to the Purple Line construction management companies to compensate for cost overruns, but the actual construction contractor Fluor is leaving the project so a new construction contractor needs to be hired. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/tr ... story.html

MTA Maryland's Purple Line Twitter feed just posted up an interior and exterior shot of the LRV being used:

Drawbars instead of couplers? I presume there is no expectation of needing to run multiple car trains someday.

jwhite07 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 17, 2021 6:28 am Drawbars instead of couplers? I presume there is no expectation of needing to run multiple car trains someday.

Was that a photo of a completed light rail vehicle with all the trimmings attached?
CAF five section light rail vehicles elsewhere.
https://www.google.com/search?q=caf+lig ... 2KU5eNF8EM
Note the absence of couplers is a standard feature.
So how do the operators move a broken down vehicle to the depots or shops?
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=htt ... AdAAAAABAJ
The photo suggests using a tow bar similar to the CAF factory photo of a new built vehicle.
Ever wondered how they move 750 volt power vehicles without a 750 volt catenary above the track?
Answer is in the last photo I linked.

Therefore it is safe to assume they will never operate multiple light rail trams in a single longer train. The five section CAF light rail vehicles will be 137 feet in length, about the length of half a typical short city block. The tram's platforms will be a minimum of 140 feet in length, with a maximum of 200 feet. 200 feet will not accommodate 2 CAF 5 section trams at once anyways.

Multiple section trams are not necessarily advantageous in light rail operations. I can imagine all kinds of potential engineering issues including potential problems with grades and also a potential FRA/FTA requirement for the presence of an attendant in the rear section.

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NJ Transit's River LINE (Trenton-Camden) operates two coupled units in the peaks with no passage between units, and I don't think there is a crew member in the trailing unit (maybe someone who travels in the peaks can confirm?). Because of temporal separation for local freight service the FRA is very much involved in the operation.

From a safety/security standpoint, a longer multi-section LRV (versus 1-3 LRVs MUed) would actually be better - all passengers are in the same (albeit long) vehicle with the operator.

That said, there's numerous light rail operations which run multi-car trains without any operator/conductor/attendant on the trailing cars. In fact some western US systems regularly run 3 or 4 car trains with one operator.

jwhite07 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 17, 2021 6:28 am Drawbars instead of couplers? I presume there is no expectation of needing to run multiple car trains someday.

It appears the coupler is a variant of this type: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_c ... rt_coupler
I admit, it's an unusual choice, but it does seem to be an actual coupler and not a "drawbar."