Hello everyone!
The PDF materials for the Monday, October 22, 2018 MTA Board Metro-North and LIRR Committee meeting contain some interesting facts and updates concerning the M9 and especially M9A procurement.
Link:
http://web.mta.info/mta/news/books/pdf/ ... _MNRLI.pdf
1. The LIRR expects to 'conditionally accept'
92 M9 base order cars from May '19 to Jan '20 - and put them
into service subsequently, hopefully. 110 option order cars will then be accepted throughout 2020.
2.
The LIRR will only receive these 202 M9 cars, 180 for M3 replacement and 22 for 'ridership growth'. It looks as if there will be no more option cars beyond this, neither for LIRR nor for MNR, most probably considering the whole procurement process must have been a disaster with the M9 years behind schedule. With new FRA regulations in place, they are probably hoping for a clean new shot with the M9A where options have been added.
3. The M9A procurement contract is planned to be awarded in the 2nd quarter of 2019 and will be segmented as followed:
- 100 (up to) LIRR Base Cars
114 LIRR Option Cars (60 planned M9A + 54 previously M9 Cars)
214 Total regular LIRR Cars -- totalling to up to 416 with the M9, 180 for M3 replacement and up to 236 for ESA service and other service expansions
30 LIRR Option Coaches -- more on that topic below
244 Total Cars LIRR
200 MNR Option Cars
444 Total M9A Cars
Besides the expected regular 416 LIRR M9/M9A, there is a strange mention of
30 'LIRR Option Coaches'. I could not find out anything further about these mysterious coaches from older or more recent board meetings so far. For my understanding, a coach is a non-powered passenger car, a trailer. I have learned on Wiki the M9/M9A specification indeed seems to include something like a 'C' or single car with 114 seats compared to 111 and 101 in the A and B car.
It seems LIRR is considering buying a couple of single, unmotorized M9A cars. What are your thoughts on that? May the LIRR
- * lengthen 30 M9A married pairs to triplets and perhaps make more use of the installed traction the motor cars have, considering they are conceivably derated due to insufficient power supply?
* buy some compatible diesel engines on top and solve the diesel fleet shortage? (This would most probably mean some of the coaches would have to be cab cars, but if you operate a consist of these coaches you would have to have an ADA compliant restroom every now and then anyways, for which some unpowered B cars would also be helpful)
After all, it might just be a wording thing that in order to not have "LIRR option cars" on the Board Meeting slide twice beneath each other they chose to name the second option 'coaches'. I hope to find out more about that...