From: lip@s1.gov (Loren I. Petrich)
Newsgroups: ba.transportation
Subject: BART's Big Ding-Ding?
Date: 24 Nov 92 00:47:21 GMT
Distribution: ba
Organization: LLNL


	This is something that had been discussed for some time, but a
news article indicated that the BART folx _are_ interested in running
some diesel-locomotive-hauled commuter trains, the sort that one
CalTrain detractor has called Big Ding-Ding.

	BART officials had previously rejected the technology, on the
grounds that it is technically inferior to BART's Silver Trains, that
it would compete with BART expansions and so forth. But a study of a
route extension in West Contra Costa County reveals costs of $700 m to
$1.2 b, and that only to get from Richmond to Crockett. So they've
decided on Big Ding-Ding for Contra Costa and Solano Counties, which
they've decided is better than nothing.

	North Bay diesel commuter trains were tested out last
September, using a train borrowed from Los Angeles. Most of the days,
it went to and from Fairfield, but there was a special one to and from
Brentwood that was packed full.

	Here are possible routes and stops:

[Shared]

Oakland [West Oakland BART]
Richmond [Richmond BART]
Pinole?
Crockett
Martinez

[Contra Costa]

Pittsburg
Antioch
Oakley
Brentwood

[Solano]

Benicia?
Suisun City / Fairfield

	Running time? That can be estimated from Amtrak's Capitols and
San Joaquins, which traverse most of the same routes. The San Pablo
Bay route is _slow_, about 30 mph on some rather curvy track. Crossing
the Benicia-Martinez bridge is also pretty slow. Curiously some track
between Martinez and Antioch is also rather slow; I remember riding a
San Joaquin from Antioch to Oakland and discovering a pickup truck on
a nearby road outracing the train (on a parallel road, of course).

	I'd estimate about an hour from Fairfield to Richmond, and
probably more from Brentwood to Richmond. Martinez-Richmond is a
little less than half an hour.

	The Richmond-Oakland travel time will be about the same as for
BART; the latter system has several stops and curves along the way.

	Diesel trains do not accelerate and brake as fast as electric
ones can, especially as compared to electric m.u. trains like BART's.
I typically see BART trains going very fast just outside the stations;
for Amtrak or CalTrain, the train goes _very_ slowly in or out of the
station.

	However, stations will be relatively far apart (at least three
miles or so), so slow starts/stops are less of a disadvantage in
northeast Contra Costa County or Solano County than in (say) the
Peninsula. There aren't very many busy grade crossings either, as far
as I can tell, for most of the route, or at least those parts I've
seen. I recall going to Martinez out of curiosity one time, and seeing
traffic from the nearby park backed up because an Amtrak train had
stopped there; there wouldn't be much such traffic during commute
hours, I'm sure.

	Furthermore, basic peak-time service is relatively cheap,
perhaps $20 m or so.

	BART's General Manager Frank Wilson has even rationalized this
shift by stating that the trains might get people into the riding
habit, whereupon they might be interested in committing the money for
higher-quality service.