From: ed@wente.llnl.gov (Ed Suranyi)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Passenger Rail News
Date: 8 Apr 92 02:00:40 GMT
Organization: UC Davis Dept of Applied Science at LLNL


Note from Ed Suranyi:  Dharm Guruswamy acts me to post this for him.
Please reply to him, not me.  His e-mail address is at the end.
---------------------------------------------------------------

The following is gleamed from the pages of the April Railpace and Second
Issue of March Rail Travel News:

Equipment Notes:

NJ Transit will expand it's fleet of ALP 44 AC Traction electric locomotives
 by 1995.  NJ Transit will expand on it's existing fleet of 15 units to provide
service on the Morristown line via the Kearney connection.  When complete
many Morristown line trains will bypass Hoboken and head directly for Penn
Station, via the Northeast Corridor.  The ALP 44's will haul Comet III coaches
in push-pull configuration and will be dual voltage capable to handle the NEC's
11,000 volts and the Morristown lines 25,000 volts AC.  MU trains are not
appropriate since are not dual voltage capable.

NJ Transit also annonced it was purchasing 11 Morrison Knudsen GP40 
remanufactured locomotives to replace 22 year old GE U-34 CHs which NJ Transit
inherited from Conrail (and the Erie Lackawanna before that).  The GE u-boats
are not worth reparing.

M-K is the likely winner of a contract from BART for 50 new heavy rail cars.
M-K also recieved an order from CalTrans for 88 of the new "California" Car
which will be used by Amtrak on long distance trains and on commuter services
throughtout the state.  The initial order from Caltrans was for 48 commuter 
coaches and 40 long distance coaches.  The Caltrans order has an option for
up to 300 additional cars which is dependent on the passage of new rail
bond initiatives in the future.  A new factory will be opened in the Bay 
Area to complete these two orders.

MARC has acquired 10 former SEMTA coaches.  These include numbers 101,103-108,
and 110-112.  The cars will be rehabilitated and put into service to satisfy
MARC's voracious appetite for rollling stock which is fueled by increasing r
idership and service.

VRE concluded the purchase of 21 former MBTA passenger coaches.  The so called
Boise Budds will be used intitially as a back up fleet to the new commuter
operations brand new Brazilian coaches, but if ridership is above normal they
will be used in regular service.  VRE has contracted with M-K to refurbish them
for the second time (M-K originally converted these ex. RDC's to coaches in
the 1970's).  The work will be done in M-K's Hornell, NY plant.

Metro North and ConnDOT are planning to purchase electric push-pull trainsets
for all future New Haven line rolling stock.  A report apparently found that 
MU cars cost three times per seat as push-pull cars do.  Also the current
MU stock on the New-Haven line averages 45,000 miles between failiures, this
is compared to 250,000 miles for push-pull cars.  Metro-North and ConnDOT 
are the last northeast corridor users to use push-pull train sets.  Both
MARC, SEPTA, and NJ Transit already have push-pull train sets.

SEPTA has already let out bids for and held a pre-bid conference for it's 
upcoming order of replacement cars for the Market-Frankfort eleavated.  The 
order for 220 cars has attracted many car-builders.  SEPA plans to award a 
contract by May.  The cars would be similiar to Washington's METRO in that
they will feature both upholstered seats and carpeting according to sources.
I guess SEPTA riders will be getting their dollars worth (or 2 dollars or what
ever their base fare is) when these new cars arrive in 1995.

The prototype Norristown High-Speed Line car continues testing, but has not
entered revenue service.  SEPTA has given the go-ahead for construction which 
will take place in Morrison-Knudsen's Hornell, NY plant.

FINALLY"
NJ Transit will spend 6 million dollars on preliminary work to reinstate
commuter trains on the Susquehanna railroad as far as Sparta or maybe
even Warwick, NY.  The project when complete will cost $42 million dollars
to restore trains on the Suzy-Q which last saw commuter trains in 1966.

ConnDOT has seen ridership increase since replacing SPV-2000's (seldom 
powered vehicles) with FL-9 push pull train sets on the Waterbury line.  
Ridership grew from 150 on weekdays and 250 on weekends to 250 on weekdays
and 400 on weekends.  Speaking of which the 9 of the SPV's will be converted 
to unpowered, push-pull locomotives.

Metro North reported that both ridership and revenue were above projections
in January.

Dharm Guruswamy
gurd@wam.umd.edu