by realtype
Sand Box John wrote: WMATA has broken tradition again by going with a cab trailer configuration on this car procurement. They first broke with tradition by going with stainless steel. WMATA will however stay with married pairs the only difference will be the B car in the pair will be cabless. (See page 10 in the above linked PDF file) If compatibility is maintained these cars will still be able to be run in 6 car consists with a pair from other car series. (A-B+B-A+pair from another series) It is also likely that these cars will be run in 6 car consists. (A-B+B-A+B-A)Honestly, it makes no sense to eliminate the cab from the B-car. What's wrong with the current setup that allows passengers to use half the cab when its not in use? The space where the cab would be would only provide additional space for two seats at most. That's only 8 additional seats for an 8-car train. Is it really worth the frustration in having to turn pairs to make sure the cab end is up front when putting consists together? It would especially be a major pain trying to put together a 6-car train from a 4- or 8- car set.
Though not stated in this document, other documents published by WMATA indicate the total procurement will be 500 cars.
Out of all the prospective manufacturers, only the following should be considered:
-Alstom
-Bombardier
-Kawasaki
-and maybe Breda since they previously built succesful Metro vehicles
Why the rest shouldn't be considered:
Nippon Sharyo- Virtually no heavy rail experience, just the "bullet trains" in Japan, and commuter rail coaches for MARC and gallery cars for Metra, Caltrain, and VRE. The MARC-coach based EMUs used on Indiana's South Shore Line (NICTD) and LRVs for Los Angeles are the closest thing to rapid transit they've produced.
Kinki Sharyo=LRV
CAF- unlilkely the WMATA will ever award a contract to CAF again.
Rotem- hahaha Doesn't the page title say "Unit Train Experience" The WMATA isn't as dumb as SEPTA or MBTA. Or maybe they are...