kaitoku wrote:Why can't they have an old fashioned window out the front? It won't break down like a camera, likely cheaper too.Americans have an issue with security, and thus most companies don't deem it safe to have people looking through a window that gives a view of the operator and the cab. It's a 9/11 thing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzKIVQj_vUc
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Actually the tendency to design trains with no public front-window viewing began back in the 1970's well before 9/11. The original BART cars never had a view and New York City subways were buying full-width cabs with little or no "see-through" back then too. The events of 9/11 only reinforced what was already being done anyway.
The only trains I know of in America where you can see out the front from a normal seated position are the Washington D.C. Metro (WMATA) and in Philadelphia, SEPTA's new Silverliner V, 120 car fleet. The original light-rail cars in San Jose, Calif. had it too, but their replacement fleet has a cab-door with no window, so no view at all.
Maybe I should move to Japan..............
The only trains I know of in America where you can see out the front from a normal seated position are the Washington D.C. Metro (WMATA) and in Philadelphia, SEPTA's new Silverliner V, 120 car fleet. The original light-rail cars in San Jose, Calif. had it too, but their replacement fleet has a cab-door with no window, so no view at all.
Maybe I should move to Japan..............
Bombardier lands multimillion-dollar San Francisco rail car order - The Globe and Mail
The Berlin-based subsidiary of Montreal’s Bombardier Inc. says it has signed an initial deal with San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District for 260 new rail cars worth $647-million.Bombardier has gotten some other transit-system orders recently: NYC: 300, Chicago: 706, Montreal: 468, Toronto: 420.
The agreement includes a first option order for 150 cars, which the public transit provider plans to place on June 25.
The deal also includes additional order options that could bring the total number of cars ordered to as much as 775 and the total value of the order to as much as $1.6-billion.
The new cars will be used to replace San Francisco’s entire existing fleet of rail cars as well as for expansion.
The company said in its announcement late Thursday that delivery of 10 pilot cars is slated for the spring of 2015 and delivery of the remaining 250 cars is expected between early 2017 and spring of 2019.
