|
Posted by
Dutchrailnut
on Sun Apr 27 22:28:03 2008
edf40wrjww2msgDetail:detailStr fiogf49gjkf0d The bi-level breakthrough - passenger cars
Douglas John Bowen
The bi-level breakthrough
Gallery cars or double-deckers? That's the question commuter agencies across North America are asking themselves today. But make no mistake: In one form or another, bi-level commuter railcars, two stories high, may become the standard of the 1990s.
Orders for such cars are coming from authorities across the United States which previously operated only more traditional, single-level trains. Even two agencies in "single-level" Northeast Corridor territory - the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and the Long Island Rail Road - have ordered double-deck cars. In Canada, both Toronto and Montreal use two-level trains with great success.
But which design is appropriate? Observers differ over the design advantages of double-deck equipment versus gallery cars, with each type having its backers. GO Transit, MBTA, LIRR, and Florida's Tri-Rail have chosen true double-deck design, while Chicago's Metra and California's CalTrain indicate they plan to stick with gallery car operations.
Car manufacturers, however, are ready to supply either design to eager commuter operators. "Our efforts are aimed to what the customer's needs are," says George Johnson, vice president, new car business, Morrison-Knudsen Company's Rail Systems Group. "We're happy to respond to any client's requirements, be it gallery or double-decker construction." * More riders, less cost. In simple terms, bi-level trains can carry more passengers per car, improving revenue-to-cost ratios for operating authorities. "Railroads are focusing on rolling stock as an alternative to adjusting their infrastructure," says Tom Owen, vice president, sales and marketing, Bombardier Corp. Rather than add trackage, new signaling, or longer station platforms, railroads instead can provide cars with 50% additional passenger capacity and comparable incremental revenues.
GO transit was sold on bi-levels early on, renting some gallery trainsets from Chicago in 1978, and subsequently acquiring bi-level cars, according to Peter Luk, manager, rail equipment. GO Transit currently has 60 new cars "coming in now," manufactured by UTDC. "By June 1991, we'll have 334 bi-levels on the property," says Luk. "We still have 99 single-level cars, but they're now for sale. We're not using them."
Montreal's Urban Community Transportation Commission is not quite ready to go that far; 64 cars of its 73-car fleet are of single-level design, according to Marcel Gregoire, director, commuter trains. But MUCTC's nine stainless steel gallery cars, used on CP's Montreal-to-Rigaud line in Quebec, are solid performers, Gregoire says. Acquired from Canadian Vickers in 1970, the fleet shows few signs of advancing age.
"If we had to do it all over again, we'd go with more shorter trains carrying more passengers - in other words, bi-level cars," Gregoire says. "There's less wear, less equipment on the railroad, lower maintenance costs per passenger."
In seeking that kind of financial performance, commuter authorities are talking to suppliers, to each other, and to Amtrak to determine which two-story design, if any, fits their needs best. Some industry observers point out differences in both gallery cars and double-deckers which, depending on a commuter railroad's corporate philosophy, can be considered advantageous or can be deemed detrimental.
"True double-deckers have two full floors, can be heavier and more maintenance-intensive," observes Bombardier's Tom Owens. "On the other hand, their seating capacity can be greater than a gallery car." Gallery cars allow conductors to collect tickets from all riders from the lower level, Owens says, but double-deck rail systems can look to off-vehicle collections to compensate. "You can approach it either way," he says. * Double-deck believers. At present, double-deck railcar operators in North America include the MBTA, GO Transit, and Florida's Tri-Rail. MBTA's Peter Dimond, manager of public information, makes it plain he believes double-deck cars are the way to go.
"Our southern MBTA lines are all running nine-car trains," Dimond says. "To run more coaches, we'd have to add to platform lengths. So we'd rather run bi-levels."
MBTA has begun doing just that; on August 22, it received its first four double-deck cars from Kawasaki Rail Car Co., part of a 75-car order; the remaining 71 cars will be assembled in Pittsfield, Mass., as part of the MBTA contract's call for local manufacturing input.
Though MBTA plans to use the bi-levels throughout its system, Boston's South Station will benefit from the new cars first. Double-deckers help deliver more people to South Station while using the same or smaller number of trainsets, allowing MBTA to retain extra track and platform capacity needed for future rail line additions.
Dimond says passenger traffic flow at stations isn't hampered by bi-levels. "In fact, for off-loading, it's more convenient for passengers," he claims. "They don't have to walk as far. And we don't have to extend platforms at great cost. It's very economical for us."
SEPTA's Eugene Skoropowski concurs. "If you can capture high-volume traffic, and use off-vehicle collection methods, then bi-levels are real `crowd eaters,'" says Skoropowski, assistant general manager, planning development, real estate. A former MBTA official, Skoropowski is familiar with Massachusetts' rail operations. "Using 11 or 12 single cars per train would be pushing the limit; for Boston, double-deckers make sense," he says.
Can gallery cars meet the same kind of demand? "Not if you're going for sheer numbers," one industry observer says. "If you need to pack in large numbers of people, and especially if you have standees, then the openness of gallery cars can be considered wasted space."
The Long Island Rail Road can't afford that luxury. Already moving one out of every four U.S. commuter passengers each weekday, the LIRR is seeking to boost seating and standing capacity without costly station and platform modifications, according to a spokeswoman.
The LIRR first tried the double-decker concept just after World War II, when engineers from its parent, the Pennsylvania Railroad, designed and built 88 aluminum-alloy double-deck cars. Four decades later, the LIRR has ordered 10 double-deck cars to see if such cars may help it overcome such constraints. If the prototype cars work, the LIRR may order 110 additional double-deck cars.
The new double-deckers, manufactured by Tokyu Car Co., will be employed on the LIRR's non-electrified Port Jefferson branch; combined with three rebuilt FL9 dual-mode locomotives, the double-deckers will provide direct service to Penn Station in Manhattan. "This will eliminate transfers at either Huntington or Jamaica, making mobility for the disabled that much easier," the spokeswoman says. * A proven track record. Gallery cars have given four decades or superlative service, other industry spokesmen point out. Representatives from Caltrans and its subsidiary, CalTrain, and operators in Montreal and Chicago say gallery cars are proven workhorses.
Moreover, double-deckers' capacity advantage comes at considerable construction cost. Metra expects to pay $1.5 million per new gallery car, with 150 seats per car. The LIRR's 10 double-deck cars will seat 180, or 20% more, but cost $3.3 million per car.
CalTrain's San Jose-San Francisco operation uses gallery cars to gain adequate additional seating. "We prefer them because they carry more people while utilizing a given length of platform," says Roger Hooson, rail consultant, CalTrain. At present, 69 gallery cars, manufactured by Nippon-Sharyo and assembled by General Electric in San Francisco, move commuters between San Francisco and San Jose. Another four cars are on loan to Orange County, which began commuter service this summer under contract to Amtrak.
Chicago's Metra utilizes 686 gallery cars for its diesel operations at present, and expects to order 173 more shortly, according to Chris Knapton, director of public information; Metra also will rebuild 120 of its existing gallery cars. Metra's active fleet includes cars ordered in 1950 by Burlington Northern.
Metra's large fleet needs have prompted it to seek a manufacturer through negotiated bidding, with a twist: Metra will ask any builder to locate part of its manufacturing operations "within the six counties served by Metra," Knapton says. New York's MTA and CalTrain already have convinced car manufacturers to use a "location of convenience" near their respective operations, Knapton asserts.
"An estimated $1.5 billion of railcar building is to be done over the next 10 years just for Metra and the Chicago Transit Authority," Knapton notes. "A bidder opening a manufacturing shop here would have roughly one-third of his suppliers a phone call away in the Chicago area." For suppliers of gallery cars, that may prove a powerful incentive for relocation or expansion.
Knapton also downplays the supposed seating advantage double-deckers have over gallery cars. "The beauty is in the ability to seat 150 people each, comfortably, in an 85-foot car without three and two seating. Using an eight-car platform, we can board 1,200 people."
Double-decker partisans may talk of the "wasted space" in gallery cars in the middle of the second level. But Knapton says, "We don't want double-deckers because the conductor would have to walk the train twice. In addition, during off-peak runs, gallery cars provide a lighter, brighter, safer environment, and better sight lines, for everyone involved."
Metra's overall fleet also includes 165 self-propelled Highliner cars on its electrified line running southeast from Chicago - the only electric multiple-unit bi-level cars in operation in North America. According to Knapton, these too have served well. * Accessibility factors. Manufacturers, willing to produce either style, are keeping an eye on two recent developments: the impact of Congressional action mandating railcar access for the disabled; and California's big capital plans for rail, including a "California car."
During the summer, Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which mandates, among other things, wheelchair access to selected areas of any passenger train operated in the United States. Commuter authorities must retrofit existing equipment - and/or redesign new car orders - to comply with ADA by July 1993.
Some advocates for the disabled point out that double-deck cars, designed to allow high-platform entry, allow wheelchair access at the car's "mid"-level, unlike gallery cars which require stepping up stairs.
Peter Dimond says the new Kawasaki bi-level cars ordered by MBTA anticipated the new law. Kawasaki Senior Manager Lee Singer notes the new cars "include a wheelchair tiedown in the vestibule area, allowing direct access to the car."
The LIRR, expecting two of its 10 prototype double-deckers this fall, also will use vestibule space for handicapped accessibility.
Joy Doyle, rail consultant for Caltrans, says such concerns may make double-deckers the choice for an upcoming "California car." But she says gallery cars may meet the requirements equally well.
"Right now, nothing out there is adequate for handicapped accessibility, in my opinion," Doyle says. "Amtrak's Superliners come closests to being accessible, but those cars can't meet the load speed needs of commuter service. Even single-level cars leave something to be desired."
Manufacturers may solve this problem, since California recently passed three ballot propositions targeting almost $3 billion toward $100 million from Proposition 116 is set aside to acquire "standard Amtrak/commuter rail rolling stock" which must now meet the ADA law; other monies targeted for new commuter rail starts throughout the state add to the dollar amount, and railcar numbers, the state will request shortly.
"A standardized `California car' is the only vehicle that can be purchased with [Proposition] 116 money," Doyle notes. "If everything goes well, the first delivery of such a car would be in four years." Caltrans and CalTrain already have talked to Nippon Sharyo, which produced the Sumitomo gallery cars now in operation, to see if a standardized, double-deck, handicapped-accessible car can be designed. If so, requests for proposals would be sent out "to all interested manufacturers," Doyle says.
Not everyone in California is willing to wait. Already, the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission has asked for bids to assemble 40 bi-level passenger cars of unspecified design. LACTC is using funds generated from Proposition A sales tax revenues. Depending on what LACTC chooses for its own use, "they may determine what the California car will be," one state observer says. "And it will be a double-deck car." * Defining the market. Not all commuter authorities are seeking to add bi-level cars to their fleets. SEPTA's Skoropowski says that close lateral and vertical clearances in the Philadelphia area make bi-level operations there "problematic; right now, it's highly unlikely that we could employ bi-levels effectively." Farther up the Northeast Corridor, New Jersey Transit Rail Operations had considered purchasing 50 double-decker cars; faced with budget constraints and the need to rehabilitate its existing fleet, NJT postponed its plans.
Meanwhile, Metro-North Commuter Railroad's potential use of bi-levels is thwarted by the 1 1/2-mile low-clearance tunnels which all trains must use to reach Grand Central Terminal. While a massive tunnel rehabilitation project currently is under way, the tunnel sizes themselves will not be enlarged.
But for most North American commuter railroads, the constraints are more fiscal than physical. Bi-levels can carry more passengers per car, improving revenue-to-cost ratios for each train operated.
Faced with that reality, the authorities will seek out the manufacturers ready to serve them - and the manufacturers will be waiting. "Anytime there's a contract, there will be plenty of competition from reputable companies," says Bombardier's Tom Owens. "In fact, the 1990s will see new entries, new supply companies, from Japan, Western Europe, and now Eastern Europe; that will make the competition even tougher."
Commuter authorities may benefit from such competition, but Owens cautions them to be careful. "New bi-levels won't be just a matter of price; long-term value also must be considered. How good is the manufacturing company that provides the equipment? And is the specific design what the railroad really needs?"
If commuter railroads heed those notes of caution, bi-level trains, using either double-deck or gallery cars, may be the answer they seek. Says MK's George Johnson, "Bi-level cars are excellent, cost-effective tools for existing railroads and new agencies alike."
PHOTO : MBTA received the first four double-deck cars of a 75-car order in August. Cars were manufactured by Kawasaki Rail Car Co.
PHOTO : CalTrain operates 69 Nippon-Sharyo gallery cars on its San Francisco-San Jose route.
COPYRIGHT 1990 Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group
|
