New BART car plans finally out (for 2 months)

BART plans to start purchasing new cars in 2010, when it will have paid off other capital debt for track and car work, with the first 10 pilot cars arriving for testing in 2014. The order will consist of 200 base cars with two additional option orders of 250 cars each for a total of 700 cars to completely replace the original fleet. All 700 cars are to arrive by 2024. There are also an additional two options, one for general fleet expansion, and the other for the San Jose extension, with 150 cars each. If all options are excersized, the total number of new BART cars will be 1000 cars.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... trains.jpg
http://bart.gov/about/projects/cars/index.aspx

The plan calls for the cars to be delivered by the early 2020s, by when the original 1972 cars would be 50+ years old. WMATA's 1000-series cars (also by Rohr) date from 1974-76 and have not due for replacement yet.

R36 Combine Coach wrote:The plan calls for the cars to be delivered by the early 2020s, by when the original 1972 cars would be 50+ years old. WMATA's 1000-series cars (also by Rohr) date from 1974-76 and have not due for replacement yet.

BART is an example for the rest of the world on how NOT to build/run a transit system. First they build it to a non-standard wide gauge so proven, affordable "off the shelf" rolling stock cannot be purchased, and by all accounts the system is run by politicians rather than transit specialists. And here we see the enormous expenses and time required just to acquire new equipment. It seems that each new car will cost somewhere around 2-3 million each- by comparison state of the art Shinakansen trains cost around 2.5 million USD per car, and utilize more advanced technology. I hope California's HSR system doesn't share the same fate (if it actually gets built), but this native Californian isn't crossing his fingers.

It looks like BART is aiming at accommodating commute-time crush loads in the fashion of some northeastern-city subway-train systems, by getting rid of seats and opening up floor space. Going from 2 doors on each side to 3 doors also fits in with this approach.

I found that and some other interesting stuff at BART's Projects page.

They are starting some earthquake-safety efforts, the first of which is to disassemble their old headquarters building at Lake Merritt= as seismically risky. From the looks of it, they will try to salvage some of the building's heavy machinery, such as the ventilation and elevator systems.

West Dublin-Pleasanton construction continues, the Wikipedia article on the station (yes, Wikipedia has an article on every BART station) has a nice picture of the under-construction station. Its concourse is a big box above the station platform and the tracks, and in the picture, its framework is likely done while its walls are only partially done.

BART's Walnut-Creek / Pleasant-Hill crossover is still in the planning stage; it will make it easier for trains to run only part of the way into Contra Costa County. That and similar projects have been for correcting some deficiencies in the original design. BART's original designers had supposedly expected their system to be so reliable that they decided against putting sidings into it, which was an awful blunder.

BART still seems committed to its eBART extension from Pittsburg / BayPoint to Antioch. It will involve a DMU vehicles and a cross-platform transfer at PBP, and it may eventually be extended further to Oakley or Brentwood.

However, BART has backed away from similar DMU plans to Livermore, instead opting for full-scale BART to there. BART"s planners have been examining some 14 alignment alternatives, as shown in this map (1-MB PDF). These include:

• 5 alignments through the quarry area or around it to Stanley Blvd. and Isabel Ave., on the west edge of Livermore
• 2 alignments into central Livermore, ending at the Livermore Transit Center, following either the UP line or Portola Ave.
• Las Positas Ave., then the UP line, ending at Vasco Rd.
• Vasco Rd. itself, ending at the UP line
• 4 alignments stopping at Greenville Rd. or a little before it.

All but the first 5 alignments will likely include a station at I-580 and Isabel Ave. in northwestern Livermore.

BART has restarted planning of its Oakland Airport Connector, an elevated light-rail line from the Oakland Coliseum station to that airport. BART must invite bids by June this year and award a contract by the end of this year to qualify for economic-stimulus funds. These deadlines are presumably for selecting out what's shovel-ready or some reasonable approximation of that state.

The Warm Springs and San Jose BART-extension projects are still in planning.