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BART slows rollout of new trains as it contends with more repairs than expected

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Re: BART slows rollout of new trains as it contends with more repairs than expected

#21

Post by greeneggs »

tialaramex wrote: post #9

Change Control for trains is fun, because there's lots of safety testing it can take a lot of time for a change which is either purely cosmetic or fixes something that has a well-understood workaround to actually make it to production. Several years ago the main type of train I use, Class 444 Desiro got a firmware upgrade to teach it Selective Door Operation. Meaning now it knows this platform is 8 carriages long, th…

The Los Angeles Metro solved the clock problem by showing the day of the week (Monday, Tuesday, …) in a large font, with the time hidden away in a tiny font [1]. The time is usually wrong, but nobody can read it anyway. It's been like this for years; that photo is from 2016. Since the trains don't run on a schedule, I guess it doesn't matter.

[1] See the top photo here https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/design-and-architecture/e...

Re: BART slows rollout of new trains as it contends with more repairs than expected

#22

Post by zeristor »

I’ve noticed Siemens’ trains out of London have quiet electric motors, whereas even the other new electric trains have noisy humming motors.

I believe the AC motor wave forms maybe smoothed out, I was very impressed by it. To the UK train companies just not value it? To me it was an impressive quality improvement. It is a detriment to all the other trains I travel on.

Re: BART slows rollout of new trains as it contends with more repairs than expected

#23

Post by zeristor »

trebligdivad wrote: post #5

Manchester's Metrolink uses Bombardier M5000's ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardier_M5000 ) that seem to have worked OK. But I do wonder - is there anyone other than Bombardier who makes tram/underground vehicles these days?

Hitachi Italy make robot trains used in Rome and Copenhagen

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AnsaldoBreda_Driverless_Metro

Re: BART slows rollout of new trains as it contends with more repairs than expected

#24

Post by nkoren »

travisoneill1 wrote: post #20

Why are they buying new trains instead of fixing the tracks? There are many places on the BART system where the track have not been replaced in so long that trains have to slow to a crawl for safety reasons. New trains don't solve that.

The need to do all of the above. The old trains are in appalling condition, and desperately need to be replaced, no doubt about it!

Re: BART slows rollout of new trains as it contends with more repairs than expected

#25

Post by hyperbovine »

pmoriarty wrote: post #13

About 20 to 25 years ago, I took a trip from the US (where I'd lived most of my life) to travel around Europe by train, and I was immensely impressed by its far superior train system. The best trains of all the countries I visited were in Sweden, which had trains which were so modern that they seemed like something out of the future, even compared to the best trains I'd seen in the US by that time, Amtrak trains. The…

It’s not really a fair comparison. In terms of where people actually live (the upper two thirds of Sweden is almost empty) its roughly comparable to Ohio: about ten million people clustered in 4 or 5 major cities within a few hours drive distance from each other. Of course it will be easier to provide superior rail service there. This is not so say that Ohio has its act together as far as public transit is concerned (ha), but getting that level of service to the US as a whole would be a totally different beast.

Re: BART slows rollout of new trains as it contends with more repairs than expected

#26

Post by qaq »

moreira wrote: post #18

I think there’s a general feeling (propaganda?) that the US is a technological leader, but... there’s nothing to support that, especially when it comes to infrastructure. The US is really far behind other developed countries in a lot of ways but few people in the US notice because most Americans rarely ever look outside their culture bubble or see another country. There are big-ass tech companies, of course, but the…

I think you are oversimplifying the issue. There are cultural differences that influence things like that too. As priorities shift things can change. So in US you have people living in large houses driving large cars and on average having crappy public transport infra. In Europe you have people living in much more modest size houses mostly driving tiny cars and often having good public transport infra. For me European option is better cause I do not drive my wife much prefers the US option.

Re: BART slows rollout of new trains as it contends with more repairs than expected

#28

Post by mehrdadn »

moreira wrote: post #18

I think there’s a general feeling (propaganda?) that the US is a technological leader, but... there’s nothing to support that, especially when it comes to infrastructure. The US is really far behind other developed countries in a lot of ways but few people in the US notice because most Americans rarely ever look outside their culture bubble or see another country. There are big-ass tech companies, of course, but the…

> I think there’s a general feeling (propaganda?) that the US is a technological leader, but... there’s nothing to support that, especially when it comes to infrastructure.

I feel like it's worth making a distinction between having the relevant capabilities/resources for a technology vs. actually deploying it in its infrastructure?

Re: BART slows rollout of new trains as it contends with more repairs than expected

#29

Post by kspacewalk »

yardie wrote: post #17
trebligdivad wrote: post #5

Manchester's Metrolink uses Bombardier M5000's ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardier_M5000 ) that seem to have worked OK. But I do wonder - is there anyone other than Bombardier who makes tram/underground vehicles these days?

> is there anyone other than Bombardier who makes tram/underground vehicles these days? Siemens, Alstom, and Mitsubishi off the top of my head. There probably is some Chinese companies but I’m not familiar with them.

Pesa in Poland makes great LRT vehicles too, but they're mostly known in Poland and other Eastern European countries.

Re: BART slows rollout of new trains as it contends with more repairs than expected

#30

Post by malloryerik »

yardie wrote: post #17
trebligdivad wrote: post #5

Manchester's Metrolink uses Bombardier M5000's ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardier_M5000 ) that seem to have worked OK. But I do wonder - is there anyone other than Bombardier who makes tram/underground vehicles these days?

> is there anyone other than Bombardier who makes tram/underground vehicles these days? Siemens, Alstom, and Mitsubishi off the top of my head. There probably is some Chinese companies but I’m not familiar with them.

Also Hyundai Rotem https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyundai_Rotem
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