Happy 10th birthday to the CAF 5000 series cars

10 years ago as of August 23, 2011, the first two pairs of the CAF 5000 series took their first revenue trip on the Green Line starting at Greenbelt.
Link: http://www.progressiverailroading.com/p ... ice--10634

Now that these cars have been in the system this long, it's interesting to see the lessons learned from this contract. First things first, this was the first ever contract for CAF in the United States. There were a lot of technical problems from the start on these cars as we all remember. Partly because Metro couldn't project ridership that well, and partly because CAF had never established a plant here prior. Then we add in AAI, which did the assembly here in Hunt Valley, MD. That may have been part of the issue as well (their transit division has since been bought by Alstom.) Also, these are rated as the most unreliable cars in the system, besides the soon to be rehabbed Breda 4000 series.

However in that time, both Metro and CAF have made many changes. Metro finally got rid of the "lowest price bid" and went to "best value" which accounts for the technical side as well. This has helped with the rehab/6k contracts going to Alstom. Yes, there were problems with those contracts, but the 2/3/6k cars are the most reliable in the system. Then, Metro chose Kawasaki for the soon to be 7k series coming online. That was a great statement. With the 7k cars, I expect that it will even top the Alstom cars/rehabs in reliability. At least it prevented Hyundai Rotem from getting the contract as they were rated near the very bottom in that proposal. They actually didn't even make the cut to the final 3 at that time. That nod went to Bombardier, Alstom and Kawasaki.

CAF has now opened dedicated facilities in Elmira Heights, NY and has produced better trains since WMATA. Examples are the Sacramento and Pittsburgh LRV trains that were built afterwards in Elmira. Quality control in-house compared to a 3rd party company seems to have helped them out a ton. Also, they have won the AMTRAK contracts recently to build new heavy rail vehicles, and have become a bigger global transportation company. With CAF, it was probably growing pains of having the 1st contract fast-tracked to get relief in an overcrowded system.

In either case, it has been an interesting ride for both organizations over the past 10 years.

CAF has now opened dedicated facilities in Elmira Heights, NY and has produced better trains since WMATA. Examples are the Sacramento and Pittsburgh LRV trains that were built afterwards in Elmira.

And not to mention my current area Boston's Blue Line MBTA 0700s as well, although they were fabricated initially in Germany/France, they were also assembled at CAF in Elmira Heights before hitting Boston's MBTA Blue Line ROW

I hear the 0700 cars are actually doing really well.

Yeah they are, they are running very good on the MBTA Blue line. Now the 5000s should be doing better also if they got fixed up as well

That's good to hear about the Siemens 0700's. I know there were some initial quality issues but it seems that the T learned from that whole Breda fiasco and produced a quality fleet.

As for the 5k rehab, that will still be several years off though (2017 at the earliest). However, the thing that is interesting is that the 2/3/6k cars use most of the same electronic components that the 5k does and yet the Alstom/rehab cars perform much better. I do know the door controls on the Alstom/rehabs are definitely different than what CAF uses on the 5k (and that apparently is still 1 of the issues affecting their reliability.) Part of it seems that the Alstom products were not rushed whereas the CAF cars were needed the day before yesterday. Also AAI in my opinion was probably not the best partner for CAF to work with. Then again, we all know Metro management and their capabilities...

The thing that I like about the upcoming 7k is that Kawasaki is using proven systems that have gone through the test of time on the NTT cars used in NYC. For example, the nearly flawless door systems from Fuji on the 7k will be identical to those used on the R142A/143/160B cars. They're also going with Toshiba, which produces most of the electronic components for those same cars down there as well. As for propulsion, we all know that Toshiba was selected and those systems are used in heavy duty subway/commuter trains in Tokyo and throughout Asia. It's unknown who will supply the brake systems, but my guess is that Kawasaki will stick with WABCO (used on the 2/3/4/6k cars) as they typically spec those on their other projects here in the US. Overall, I like that Kawasaki is using service-proven components that literally get the daylights beaten out of them only to come back and perform just as good the next day.

The Rohrs are my favorite cars, but I also like the CAF's. Many passengers prefer the interior upholstery of the CAF's over the Rohrs since they think that the Rohr interior is too drab and dark. I disagree. In any case, I like the Rohrs, Breda, Breda rehabs, and CAF's. I'm also looking forward to the 7000 Series debut in 2013.

I do like the CAF trains as well. Back in 2009, it was nice to finally ride them for the first time. The only thing I didn't exactly care for was the stopping since it seemed like the brakes didn't want to stop in some cases. That may have been due to the anti-slip/side systems used on those cars and it was wet track from Fort Totten to Union Station. Then again, those cars use a different brake package from NY Air Brake/Knorr than the 2/3/4/6k cars which are WABCO RT-4 packages.

"tommyboy6181"
I do like the CAF trains as well. Back in 2009, it was nice to finally ride them for the first time. The only thing I didn't exactly care for was the stopping since it seemed like the brakes didn't want to stop in some cases. That may have been due to the anti-slip/side systems used on those cars and it was wet track from Fort Totten to Union Station. Then again, those cars use a different brake package from NY Air Brake/Knorr than the 2/3/4/6k cars which are WABCO RT-4 packages.

The jerkyness of the ride has more to do with the slight incompatibility between the various series of cars then any thing else. My first experience riding aboard the 4k cars was the first weekend after they went into service. The ride was very smooth from the suspension standpoint. The mixed consist they were being run in resulted in rough acceleration and braking. When I got off a Branch Avenue I comment to the operator how smooth the ride was, She responded by saying, "Their even smoother when run in consists by themselves". All of the various series will produce a smother ride when run in a consists of the same type.

Indeed, I miss the days when Metro would try to run like cars together. These days, it's a really rare sight to see a solid consist of *anything*, and that leads to jerky rides, indeed.

I think the last time I rode on a solid consist was back in January 2009- a 6 car Rohr train from Grosvenor to Cleveland Park. Before that, I rode a solid Rohr from Tenleytown to Metro Center in May 2008 and saw a solid 4k on the opposite platform at Cleveland Park. Before that, I can't even remember.

I do know I have never been on a solid rehab 2/3k train or a solid 5k or 6k train.

I saw a solid 5k train in Ballston station during the morning rush last week - quite a sight!