The newest additions of the NJ TRANSIT Rail fleet — the ALP-46 high-horsepower electric locomotive and the Comet V Rail car — were unveiled today by Board Chairman James P. Fox at the Corporation's Meadows Maintenance Complex (MMC) in Kearny.Fox — who also serves as New Jersey's Transportation Commissioner — presided over dedication ceremonies for the new equipment, highlighting the Corporation's ultimate goals of increasing train capacity, reducing overcrowding and improving system reliability."These new cars and locomotives are part of Governor McGreevey's commitment to take New Jersey's public transportation system into the 21st Century, providing our passengers with the latest in comfort and safety," said Chairman Fox. "The arrival of these single-level coach cars and high-horsepower locomotives — combined with the purchase of bi-level coach cars and high-horsepower diesel locomotives — will ultimately allow us to add more than 33,000 seats to the rail system."
"The arrival of these prototype vehicles means relief is on the way for our customers," said Acting NJ TRANSIT Executive Director Gwen Watson. "These critical investments will help NJ TRANSIT meet current and future ridership growth on the rail system."The Comet V rail car and ALP-46 locomotive are part of NJ TRANSIT's overall fleet modernization and expansion plan to meet the Corporation's growing ridership needs. NJ TRANSIT has also purchased 33 high-horsepower diesel locomotives from Alstom and is preparing to purchase up to 231 bi-level coaches, completing the Corporation's fleet expansion program — ultimately adding 33,392 seats for passengers when all equipment is delivered.Two Comet V single-level rail cars were unveiled today. The Comet V cab car — which allows the engineer to operate the train from the front of the vehicle — is fitted with 109 passenger seats. A Comet V "trailer" car was also unveiled today, equipped with 117 seats. A second trailer car is also being produced for NJ TRANSIT with 111 seats and a fully accessible rest room.The Comet V Coach cars — costing between $897,000 and $1.05 million each based on trailer or cab car configurations respectively — were purchased from Alstom Transportation Inc. of Hornell, NY, and will be delivered through February 2003. Approximately 80 cars will be delivered by this fall, offering the latest in passenger amenities including automated public address systems, LED information displays and automatic doors. Each car is 85 feet long, 10.5 feet wide and weighs just over 100,000 pounds.Manufactured in Germany by Bombardier, "Locomotive No. 4601" is one of 29 being manufactured for NJ TRANSIT. The new ALP-46 engines are 64 feet long, nearly 10 feet wide and weigh 99.2 tons. Each locomotive — with an individual pricetag of $4.7 million — is equipped with a 7,100 horsepower engine with a rated top speed of 100 MPH. The present NJ TRANSIT ALP-44 electric locomotives are limited to train lengths of up to nine single-level cars and five bi-level cars. The new locomotives will accommodate up to 12 single-level cars and 10 bi-level cars. A second prototype ALP-46 locomotive is currently being tested at the Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo, CO, a subsidiary of the Association of American Railroads (AAR) that provides testing facilities to assist railroads and vendors in evaluating a wide range of equipment and technologies. NJ TRANSIT expects to receive the remaining 27 locomotives on order through November 2002.
NJ TRANSIT is the nation's largest statewide public transportation system providing bus, rail and light rail services for 380,600 daily commuters on 238 bus routes, two light rail lines and 12 commuter rail lines. It is the third largest transit system in the country with 163 rail stations, 26 light rail stations and more than 17,000 bus stops linking major points in New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia.
FACT SHEET
ALP-46 Locomotive
Weight: 99.2 tons
Length: 64 feet
Horsepower: 7,100
Top Speed: 100 MPH
Cost: $4.7 million
Number of units ordered: 29
Comet V Coach Car
Weight: 100,000 lbs.
Length: 85 feet long
Number of seats: Cab car — 109 seats, Trailer with rest room — 111 seats, Trailer only — 117 seats
Cost: $897,000 for trailer, $1.05 million for cab car
Manufacturer: Alstom Transportation Inc.
Number of units ordered: 200
The Financial Times
2 May 2002
The government's rail policy has veered between shambles and farce since it forced Railtrack into administration. From that reckless initial decision, through months of bluster to his humiliating climbdown in March, Stephen Byers, the transport secretary, has failed to articulate coherent ideas for Railtrack's successor. Now he is cornered.
On one side, he wants to avoid formal nationalisation of the rail network: the Treasury has refused to allow the £9bn or so debt finance that Network Rail needs on to the government's books; and it is well known that Tony Blair told Mr Byers on his appointment that he could structure the rail industry as he pleased so long as he did not re-nationalise Railtrack.
On the other side, Mr Byers knows that without government guarantees for the debt Network Rail's financing costs would be exorbitant. It is now clear to anyone who can read that management of the rail infrastructure is a high-risk venture.
In dribs and drabs, the government's solution is trickling out. Network Rail will be kept just that bit more at arm's length than a normal public corporation such as the Post Office. This will satisfy the Office for National Statistics that it is not nationalised, keep the debt off the books and limit, to some degree, ministerial meddling in the company. The Strategic Rail Authority will provide standby loan facilities for the debt finance to provide security for lenders in case anything serious goes wrong.
In other words, Mr Byers now proposes to structure Network Rail to satisfy accounting niceties rather than to ensure the best outcome for the travelling public.
That is never a good sign.
Whether the debt sits on the government accounts or in private hands is a second-order question. What matters more are the incentives for Network Rail management.
They claim that they will be as free as any other private company. This is nonsense.
Already, it has emerged that the company has had to go cap-in-hand to the Treasury to seek permission to raise as much as £9bn in debt finance. Given that servicing this debt will cost more than Network Rail earns from track access charges, the Treasury will have to foot part of the bill. Some independence.
In addition, it is obvious that Mr Byers could not preside over the failure of a second rail infrastructure company. So the management will always know a bailout is available, diluting the incentives for efficiency.
By finessing its constraints in this way, the government has created a private debt financed rail infrastructure company, but one that faces most of the same incentives and constraints as a public corporation. One difference exists: the finance is more expensive. We are paying to save ministerial embarrassment.
Business Wire
05/10/2002
Encompass Services Corporation (NYSE:ESR), the premier provider of facilities systems and solutions in the United States, today announced that it has been awarded a $54.7-million track and signal improvement project for SEPTA, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority that services Philadelphia and five surrounding areas.
About 250 commuter and freight trains travel the 6.5-mile section of track associated with this project on a daily basis from the Wayne Junction Station to the Glenside Station. The improvements will allow more trains to travel at higher speeds through this important transportation artery.
"As well as being the home of the Liberty Bell, Philadelphia is also home to American passenger railroading, with some existing lines carrying passengers over rights-of-way that are well over a century old," said SEPTA General Manager, Faye Moore. "We are pleased that Encompass will be helping us keep our system safe, efficient and reliable."
"We are proud to be awarded this important transportation project," added Joe Ivey, president and chief executive officer of Encompass. "The requirements for the transit improvements were extensive, but the depth and range of our expertise continues to bolster our reputation nationally as a key provider of infrastructure services."
The company's unit in Lititz, Penn., will begin the 42-month project later this month.
Project highlights include:
Designing, furnishing and installing the track and wayside signal system, track switches, highway crossings, and interfaces with the existing signaling system
Installing a new bi-directional signal system with both cab and wayside signals
Installing a new fiber optic communication system
Modifying and renewing the overhead catenary system at Newtown Junction, Tabor, Jenkintown and Carmel
Demolishing Logan Station and expanding Jenkintown Station
In addition to this project, Encompass is currently finishing SEPTA's Girard Avenue Light Rail Infrastructure Renewal project. The project should be complete by June. About Encompass Services Corporation
Facts on File World News Digest
The rear carriage of a four-car, high-speed commuter train May 10 derailed and separated from the other cars, crashing into the Potter's Bar station in the town of Hertfordshire, 12 miles (20 km) north of London. Seven people were killed, and more than 70 others were injured in the disaster, Britain's fifth major rail accident in five years. The accident, which occurred just five miles from the site of an October 2000 crash at Hatfield station, heightened already intense scrutiny into the government's transport management and Britain's financially-plagued railway company, Railtrack PLC, which in October 2001 had gone bankrupt.
Transport Secretary Stephen Byers May 10 immediately ordered an investigation into the disaster. The Health and Safety Executive May 14 released a report confirming what some inspectors had suspected: that loose nuts along a set of points — mechanisms that were used to switch tracks — about 200 yards (180 m) south of the station caused the rear car to derail. However, it remained unclear exactly how the nuts came loose.
The four-car train had left King's Cross station with 151 passengers. About 10 minutes into its journey, it approached Potter's Bar, where it was not scheduled to stop, at its top speed of about 100 mph (160 kmph). As the train rode over the faulty points, its first three cars passed unaffected, but the rear car, carrying about 30 passengers, swung off the track to its right.
The car was thrown onto its side, and crashed into the wall of a road bridge that ran parallel to the tracks. The dislodged carriage then slid toward the Potter's Bar station, where it crashed sideways into a waiting room and came to a halt wedged underneath the station canopy. The other three cars, though jarred off the tracks by the last car's derailment, continued past the station upright, and eventually slowed to a stop without damage.
In the immediate aftermath of the derailment, numerous people, including the train's driver, Andy Gibson, who was unharmed, helped trapped passengers out of the wreck. Nineteen ambulances were dispatched to the scene to bring the wounded to an area hospital, and a nearby store was used as an emergency room for those less seriously injured.
Investigation Focuses on Maintenance
As it emerged that the loose nuts were the cause of the accident, the inquiry into the train crash May 12 began to focus on the possibility that the rail networks were poorly maintained. Inspectors May 11 had initially considered a variety of possible causes of the crash, including a theory that the fault lay with the wheels of the train. Because the Potter's Bar area had a recent history of vandalism, inspectors reportedly also considered the possibility that someone had deliberately loosened the nuts. However, sources close to the inquiry May 12 said that vandalism was unlikely as the perpetrators would have required sophisticated, heavy-duty tools.
The investigation then focused on Jarvis, Railtrack's maintenance contractor. Jarvis May 13 confirmed that the nuts that caused the accident had been discovered loose and retightened May 1. The company May 14 admitted that the problem was not properly logged in the required inspection reports. Critics said Jarvis's confirmation that the bolts had been found loose earlier undermined Byers's claim that the mishap was an isolated incident.
Bob Crow, head of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, May 12 complained that Jarvis's system of weekly track maintenance checks was "not adequate to do a proper inspection of the entire track." He advocated that the tracks be checked every day, and said the faulty record-keeping by the company suggested that other problems might not be routinely monitored. Critics also noted that the contracts Railtrack used to hire outside maintenance workers created a commercial incentive to rush work.
Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minn.)
05/11/2002
The democratic endeavor expects disagreement, then compromise. But compromise becomes harder when one side recklessly distorts reality, as the Taxpayers League of Minnesota has done in the current dust-up over transportation.
In a letter sent to legislators on April 23, the league retells its opposition to an increase in the gasoline tax supported by the governor, the Senate and a coalition of business groups. Fair enough. Minnesota's high-tax, high-service tradition invites criticism from any advocate of smaller, cheaper government. But sadly, to support its position, the league then takes a detour through one distortion after another.
For example, it accuses the Transportation Department (MnDOT) of a "disproportionate emphasis on building rail — often at the expense of roads."
Well, since there's yet no operating rail transit in Minnesota, any rail spending would be disproportionate. Fortunately, MnDOT recognizes its responsibility to anticipate the future and sees clearly that an all-roads solution won't work. Still, it spends 92% of its budget on roads and, because of the Hiawatha project, 3.5% on rail transit. It's hard to see where trains are devouring highway dollars.
The league says MnDOT wants a "slush fund" for its "pet rail projects." But there's nothing slushy about providing transit choices from a stream of dedicated money as other states do. The automobile was not ordained as Minnesota's only and eternal conveyance. If money is dedicated for roads, as the constitution stipulates, it should be dedicated also for transit. Transit is not welfare but basic infrastructure, like streets, sewers and schools.
The league apparently believes MnDOT already has enough money to build the projects Minnesota needs, that a conspiracy is afoot not to construct roads in order to extract more tax money. The group complains about MnDOT's "unwillingness to solve congestion," pointing to the Crosstown Commons as an example. The department shouldn't be "rewarded," the league says, because its initial interchange failed to increase capacity.
In fact, opposition from neighbors, not MnDOT's designers, prevented a wider interchange. Only when legislators amended the municipal consent laws could MnDOT buy enough land to build a higher-capacity roadway — for an extra $80 million.
Contrary to the league's charges that little has been built in the metro area while MnDOT's funding doubled over the last decade, the evidence points the opposite way. The agency's funding is up 57%, not 100%. Indeed, it is engaged in the largest roadway construction spurt in years, though not nearly large enough to rectify decades of neglect caused largely by the Legislature's reluctance to expand gasoline tax revenues. The tax has not been raised since 1988, and road-building for a growing region has suffered.
An additional $10 billion is needed over the next decade just to stay even with congestion. The Senate's 6-cent gas tax and transit fund provides 70% of the solution; the House's $750 million roads-only bonding plan provides a 7% solution, hardly worth the effort. House Republicans' proposal Friday to hike the gasoline tax by 3 cents was encouraging, but not sufficient, in part because it shortchanged transit.
Given the severity of the problem, it's odd that the Taxpayers League would obsess over not "rewarding" MnDOT rather than fulfilling Minnesota's obvious needs. The league's own no-tax pledge, accepted by scores of Republican legislators, only exacerbates the problem. MnDOT is not a perfect agency, but demonizing it and its commissioner adds nothing to the state's transportation capacity.
These attacks could be easily shrugged off in a more sophisticated Legislature but, sadly, many House members seem actually to take seriously the league's analysis. Yes, raising the gas tax by 6 cents would cost an average driver $60 a year. But the same driver now loses 10 times that much in wasted fuel, lost time and lost productivity.
Minnesotans understand that transportation costs money. The state may have to spend five times more to widen Interstate Hwy. 494 through Bloomington than it devoted to the Hiawatha Line. But it's time to build, not blame.
Canadian Corporate Newswire
05/11/2002
MONTREAL, QUEBEC and PERTH, AUSTRALIA — Bombardier Transportation and Australian train manufacturer EDI-Rail are pleased to announce that their joint venture received an order from the Western Australian Government to build 31 three-car electric commuter trains for the southern leg of the Perth Urban Rail Development (PURD) project. The contract, valued at $372 million Cdn ($437 million Australian), includes 15 years of maintenance and the construction of a maintenance and stabling facility. Bombardier Transportation's share of the contract is approximately $185 million Cdn ($218 million Australian), including $102 million Cdn ($120 million Australian) for the vehicles and approximately $84 million ($99 million Australian) for maintenance and the construction of a maintenance facility. Deliveries are scheduled to start in mid-2004, with the last set delivered in 2006.
Bombardier Transportation's scope is to design the railcars and supply propulsion and electrical systems. EDI-Rail will be supplying bodyshells and bogies. Testing and commissioning will be carried out by both companies as part of the joint venture. Assembly will be carried out at the Bombardier Transportation — EDI-Rail joint venture plant in Maryborough, Queensland. Propulsion equipment will be manufactured at Bombardier Transportation's plant in Vasteras, Sweden.
The tender includes an option for the manufacture and maintenance of 10 additional three-car units. These state-of-the-art electrical multiple units (EMUs), designed in Australia with modular stainless steel construction, will travel at 130 km/h and have a seated capacity of 236 passengers. Between 1990 and 1998, 48 two-car sets of an earlier generation of these vehicles were produced at the joint venture's Australian facilities, and delivered to the Western Australian Government Railways Commission (WAGR).
"These trains will provide the Western Australian public with state-of-the-art commuter transport. We are pleased that the manufacture of these vehicles will be carried out within Australia with significant local content," says Dan Osborne, Chief Country Representative of Bombardier Transportation in Australia.
Jules Pleau, Vice President, Bombardier International, adds that "this new order, combined with the Vlocity trains currently in production in Victoria, reinforces Bombardier's overall presence in Australia and strengthens Bombardier Transportation's ability to pursue other activities in the region."
In addition to the joint venture facility, Bombardier Transportation has a plant in Dandenong, where trains and trams have been built for Australian railways for over 25 years. Bombardier Transportation, which employs over 200 people in Australia, is currently working on manufacturing or service contracts in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.
Washington Post
Saturday, May 11, 2002
In a fake subway tunnel built inside a Landover warehouse, Metro officials yesterday "turned on" a simulated fire to show off the nation's first training tunnel where emergency workers can practice how to respond to rail disasters.
The $700,000 center — built by Metro workers — holds a pair of old Metro rail cars positioned on tracks, with an inactive third rail. Yesterday, smoke machines filled the tunnel with a gray haze and theatrical equipment created a faux fire as local and federal transit officials inspected the new center.
"This one-of-a-kind fire facility will provide a training ground... giving firefighters, police and other responders hands-on experience," said Federal Transit Administrator Jenna Dorn.
Metro began designing the center before Sept. 11 as a place where local fire, police and special operations teams could perform disaster drills under realistic conditions.
Until now, that practice took place in the Metro system after midnight, when the subway shut down. But those late hours made it difficult for many firefighters and police officers to schedule drills, and the kinds of exercises they could perform were limited, said Fred Goodine, Metro's assistant general manager for safety.
The Landover facility will be available for training seven days a week, 24 hours a day. "When we were thinking about building this, we asked the fire chiefs, if we build it, will you come? And the answer was a resounding yes," said Richard A. White, Metro's chief executive officer.
Prince George's County Fire Chief Ronald D. Blackwell, whose department is the first in the region to schedule training sessions in the new center, said it offers his firefighters a great opportunity to hone skills. "It allows you to get up close in a controlled environment and also perhaps to introduce other training besides fire: chemical, biological or nuclear elements," he said.
David Snyder, superintendent for operations and safety at Virginia Railway Express, said that commuter railroads could benefit from using the Metro facility and that he wants the fire departments that serve VRE to train there.
The facility is equipped with cameras that record activities in the tunnel, allowing workers to later study and critique their responses. And it has mock emergency communications equipment that connects to a fake operations center next to the tunnel, so responders can practice talking with train controllers.
Metro hopes to invest an additional $2 million in the facility, which would allow the agency to bring water to the tunnel and create a mock station just outside the tunnel, among other things.
Dorn said she would encourage emergency workers from the nation's other subway systems to train at the center, noting that the Federal Transit Administration made $50,000 emergency training grants available to transit systems after Sept. 11.
Evening Standard Online
Saturday, May 11, 2002
A points failure is the likely cause of the train derailment at Potters Bar which claimed the lives of seven people and injured dozens more. Railtrack has revealed there was evidence of a fracture in a front stretcher bar — one of the supports on a point system, just south of the station — that caused nuts holding them in place to shear off.
Railtrack chief executive John Armitt said as the four-carriage 12.45pm King's Cross to King's Lynn service passed over them, the points moved, causing the train to come off the tracks.
He told a news conference at Hertfordshire Police headquarters in Welwyn Garden City that the focus of the investigation would now be to find out why the nuts came loose.
But he said more than 400 checks had been carried out on similar points systems around the rail network in the last 36 hours and no defects of a similar nature had been found.
"The nuts that held the two other supports in place became detached which resulted in the front section bearing all the pressure," explained Mr Armitt.
"Why the nuts detached is not known."
The points were the subject of a visual check by an inspector only a day before the accident but no defects were reported. The points would not have been touched.
The accident had been "truly unique", Mr Armitt added, but it was not envisaged that any specific speed restrictions would be implemented across the rail network.
Dr Allan Sefton, the Health and Safety Executive's acting chief inspector of railways, also said that initial investigations showed it was a "one-off" incident.
The Guardian (London)
05/11/2002
February 28 2001 Selby, north Yorkshire Gary Hart fell asleep at the wheel of his Land Rover and plunged 40ft down the railway embankment onto the line. The 4.45am Great North Eastern Intercity service from Newcastle to London King's Cross ploughed into the Land Rover at 125mph before colliding with a coal train travelling north. Ten people died and more than 70 were injured.
October 17 2000 Hatfield, Hertforshire The high-speed 12.10pm London King's Cross to Leeds GNER service derailed leaving four dead and 35 injured.
October 10 2000 Dumfries and Galloway Twenty people escaped with minor injuries when a Scotrail train travelling from Newcastle derailed 14 miles from Stranraer after a 70-yard stretch of the track bed was washed away by floods.
October 5, 1999 Ladbroke Grove, London Thirty-one people were killed when a Thames train went through a red signal and collided head-on with a high speed service travelling from Cheltenham to Paddington.
June 23 1999 Winsford, Cheshire London to Glasgow express crashed into a stationary commuter train. The driver applied the brakes and averted a more serious accident. Thirty people injured.
September 19 1997 Southall, London A packed Intercity 125 Swansea to Paddington express slammed into a freight train at high speed. Seven people were killed and 160 were injured.
August 9 1996 Watford A Euston-Milton Keynes commuter service collided head-on with an empty southbound train. One person died and 73 were injured.
March 8 1996 Stafford A derailed freight train was struck head-on by a Royal Mail locomotive. One person was killed and 22 people were injured.
January 31 1995 Aisgill, Cumbria A passenger train was derailed when it hit a landslide and was struck by another passenger train on the opposite line. Three people were killed and 25 injured.
October 15 1994 Cowden, Kent Five killed and 13 injured in a head-on collision after the driver ran a red signal.
December 7 1991 River Severn Two trains collided inside the railway tunnel beneath the River Severn, injuring 102 people. British Rail admitted that there had been a major signalling fault.
July 21, 1991 Glasgow Four people died and 22 were injured in a head-on crash at Newton station near Glasgow.
January 8 1991 Cannon Street, London An early morning commuter train from Sevenoaks, Kent, hit the buffers injuring 547 people and killing two.
March 6 1989 Glasgow Two suburban electric trains collided head-on. Two died.
March 4 1989 Purley, Surrey A Horsham to Victoria slow train hit a Littlehampton to Victoria train on the fast line. Five people were killed.
December 12 1988 Clapham, London A train travelling from Poole to Waterloo smashed into the rear of a stationary train . Thirty-five people were killed and 113 injured.
The Toronto Sun
05/12/2002
Once more the harried transit rider has dodged the strike bullet and there's peace again on the TTC's 692 subway and 28 SRT cars, 1480 buses and 248 streetcars. Since the inception of public transit in our city in 1849, there have been a total of 10 disruptions to the service, ranging from a few hours to the 23-day occurrence of 1974.
In addition, there have been several times when it looked as if shank's mare would be the popular way to get around town. And while money, or lack of it, was the usual reason for the disagreement, in 1938 it was something else that nearly saw the system shut down.
That time it all had to do with the new style of streetcar the TTC had agreed to purchase. Known as the Presidents' Conference Committee (PCC) Streamliner, this revolutionary vehicle was "state-of-the-art," 64 years ago. It had been created with input from transit operators in the States and Canada, including staff of the TTC, resulting in a vehicle that had operating characteristics far superior to anything then in operation on city streets.
FASTER AND WARMER
The new PCC had several advantages over the TTC's older equipment. They were faster (automobile drivers were warned not to cut in front when racing away from a green traffic light), could stop quicker (this time drivers were warned not to sit too close behind the new cars), had smoother acceleration (fewer passengers cascaded into other passengers when the new cars left a stop) they were warmer in the winter, would decrease the headways between cars and each came equipped with nice, comfortable upholstered and padded seats.
Unfortunately, the new cars did have one problem — something that the TTC either didn't see coming or, if it had, perhaps hoped that problem would simply go away on its own. And what was the problem? The PCC car was intended to be operated by only one man.
While the Commission had operated a few one-man cars since its inception in 1921, the majority of the fleet were of the two-man (operator and conductor) variety. And while the introduction of the PCC cars on the St. Clair route in October had gone smoothly, as more of the new cars arrived, motormen and conductors began refusing to sign-up for the Bloor and Dundas routes, the next to have the new one-man cars.
They felt that an obvious result of the purchase of 140 one-man cars would be extensive layoffs. (By the way, I did not create the terms "one-man cars" and "two-man cars." Back then, that's exactly what they were. Women had yet to be hired as operators. It would take a world war to change that.)
Throughout early November 1938, the city's streetcar riders were bombarded with stories issued by both the TTC and the Union. Would there be a strike or would the cars keep running? For a time, it looked grim. Eventually, however, the two sides agreed on a plan that would see the establishment of a guaranteed six-day, 36-hour week for the majority of operators with guarantees that the senior motormen and conductors would be kept on the two-man cars that operated as "Extras" during rush hours.
Transit calm quickly returned to the system and before long the new one-man cars began appearing on routes all over town. But never on Yonge.
Legacy Sportswear has recently introduced a new line of casual clothing, mugs, keychains, etc. that feature the TTC's legendary PCC streetcar. The full "TTC Stuff" catalogue can be perused at LegacySportswear.com. Information on where the items can be purchased is available by calling 905-856-5289.
Seattle Times
05/12/2002
Buses and light-rail trains, underground together. Rolling through the same tunnel. Loading and unloading passengers at the same subterranean stations.
It's never been tried anywhere. Sound Transit and King County Metro propose to do it in the 1.3-mile tunnel that has carried buses under downtown Seattle for the past 12 years.
Their plan is either the best use of the tunnel for the foreseeable future or a giant waste of its people-moving capacity. It's either too risky or no more dangerous than the way the tube is used today.
Sound Transit and its opponents have been debating the wisdom of buses and rails sharing the tunnel since last summer, when the agency embraced the idea as part of its scaled-back plan to build a 14-mile light-rail line from downtown to Tukwila by 2009.
Voters may be asked to decide who's right.
Sound Transit and King County, the tunnel's owner, reached agreement Friday on joint use. If it's approved by the County Council and Sound Transit's board, as expected, light-rail opponents have threatened to collect signatures to submit the deal to a referendum. If voters rejected the agreement, it could kill light rail. Sound Transit doesn't have another way to get trains downtown.
Each side in the bus-tunnel debate has produced studies that support its own conclusions. Each side has accused the other of cooking the books.
But they agree on this much:
Sound Transit's plan would alter thousands of downtown commutes, beginning in 2007 when the tunnel closes for construction. When it reopens two years later, some transit users will enjoy shorter commutes. For others, trips downtown will take at least a little longer than before the tunnel closed.
Joint bus-rail operations in the tunnel won't solve downtown's traffic problems. Sound Transit's opponents say it will actually make the situation worse. Sound Transit disputes that, but it also says downtown congestion will be about the same, with or without light rail. "We've never said we will reduce congestion," says Joni Earl, Sound Transit's executive director. "What we're about is another option, out of the congestion."
Here are questions and answers about what's planned and what's in dispute:
Q: I thought Sound Transit planned to convert the tunnel to exclusive light-rail use — no buses.
A: It did, until last year.
When voters approved a 21-mile light-rail line from the University District to SeaTac in 1996, backers held out joint bus-rail operations in the tunnel as a possibility.
But Sound Transit concluded in a 1998 study that rail-only operations made more sense. Joint operation posed safety problems, the agency said, and both rail and bus service would be significantly slower and less reliable. So Sound Transit signed an agreement in 2000 to buy the tunnel from King County in 2003.
All that happened before cost overruns pushed Sound Transit to scale back the light-rail line last year. As the project changed, joint use began to look more appealing.
Q: Why?
A: The 14-mile "starter" line that's now planned is expected to attract just one-third as many riders as the original project. According to Sound Transit's forecasts, the number of people boarding trains in the tunnel daily in 2020 would actually be lower than the number of passengers boarding buses in the tunnel today. So reserving the tunnel for light-rail only was difficult to justify.
Sound Transit and Metro did another study of joint use last year and concluded it was much more feasible with the shorter rail line and fewer trains. Changing circumstances and new technology had eliminated or minimized the problems the 1998 study identified, they said.
Leaders of Sane Transit, the light-rail opposition group, say the agencies' change of heart was too convenient to be credible.
Q: Does Sound Transit still plan to buy the tunnel?
A: No. Under the new joint-use agreement, the county would retain ownership. Sound Transit would pay all the debt service on the tunnel during the two years it's closed, then pay 40% of the debt service and operating expenses after it reopens. That percentage would increase if Sound Transit's use of the tunnel increases.
The agreement also calls for Metro and Sound Transit to negotiate a contract that would name Metro the operator of the light-rail line. If there's no contract by next spring, Sound Transit would be required to buy the tunnel.
Q: How much of downtown's bus traffic does the tunnel handle now?
A: Metro says 132 buses run through it each weekday between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m., the busiest hour. They ferry about 2,500 passengers out of downtown and about half that number into the city during that hour.
The 132 buses in the tunnel amount to less than a quarter of the 593 north-south buses serving downtown during the peak hour. The other 461 travel on the surface.
Q: Why don't more buses use the tunnel?
A: Because Metro doesn't have enough of the right kind of buses. The ones that operate in the tunnel are custom-built, dual-powered models that run on diesel fuel most of the time, then switch to electricity from overhead wires when they go underground.
The agency hasn't bought any of those buses since 1990. It had planned to buy hundreds more but didn't because light rail was on the horizon.
Q: How much traffic will the tunnel handle when both buses and trains are running through it?
A: Sound Transit computer simulations indicate the tunnel can handle 10 trains and about 60 buses in each direction — that's 20 trains and 120 buses total — during the afternoon peak hour. That's almost as many buses as today, plus a train each direction every six minutes.
Sane Transit says those projections may prove overly optimistic when they're tested. Opponents haven't come up with numbers of their own.
Forecasts of the tunnel's capacity haven't always been accurate. When the tunnel was planned in the 1980s, Metro estimated it could handle 290 buses an hour. After more than a decade of operating experience, the agency now says the tunnel's capacity is 250 buses an hour.
Q: Will buses and trains share the tunnel indefinitely?
A: That's not the plan. Sound Transit and Metro say buses would be phased out as rail service increases. But they don't anticipate the tunnel would become all-rail until light rail is extended beyond Northgate.
Q: Why do they need to close the tunnel for two years for construction? Aren't there rails in the tunnel already?
A: Rails were installed in the tunnel when it was built in the late 1980s. But Sound Transit says it can't use them because they aren't adequately insulated. Stray electricity from the trains could escape into the earth and corrode metal pipes.
In addition to installing new rails, Sound Transit plans to lower the roadbed in the stations by six inches so passengers can walk or wheel themselves directly from the platform onto rail cars and onto new, low-floor buses without climbing stairs or using wheelchairs lifts. That should speed loading.
Sound Transit also plans to install new overhead electrical wires to power the trains, replace the overhead sprinklers with new ones on the tunnel's walls (the overhead sprinklers don't leave enough clearance for trains), install a new signal system to keep buses and trains separated and improve the emergency ventilation system.
Q: How much will all this cost?
A: About $62 million to $68 million, Sound Transit says. That's $37 million to $43 million more than the agency had planned to spend to retrofit the tunnel just for trains.
Q: Will both the trains and buses run on electricity from overhead wires?
A: Maybe not. Metro wants to replace the aging tunnel buses with hybrid buses that operate on both diesel fuel and stored electricity. Those buses wouldn't need wires.
Q: Is Metro interested in buying the hybrid buses only because it needs them — or something like them — for the tunnel?
A: Metro says it would be considering the hybrids regardless because they are more fuel-efficient and less polluting than standard diesel buses.
Q: Is it safe to operate buses and trains in the same tunnel? What about collisions?
A: Sound Transit expressed concern about that when it rejected joint use in 1998. The agency said that, because the tunnel lacked a fail-safe signal system, it would be up to operators to maintain safe stopping distances.
Sound Transit and Metro now say they have developed a new signal system to keep buses and trains from occupying the same station platform or tunnel segment at the same time. While the new system still wouldn't be fail-safe, a train-bus collision would be highly unlikely, they concluded.
Sane Transit remains skeptical; there's no similar operation anywhere to learn from. Sound Transit says the signal system will be tested for three to six months before the tunnel reopens.
Q: What about fire safety?
A: Assistant Fire Marshal John Nelsen, who has reviewed Sound Transit's plans, says the tunnel is safe now and adding light rail shouldn't make it any less so.
Q: What will happen to the buses that now use the tunnel when it closes for retrofitting in 2007?
A: Sound Transit and Metro estimate there will be 148 afternoon peak-hour buses in the tunnel by then, 16 more than today. They'll be rerouted to the surface on Second, Third and Fourth avenues.
Q: What will that do to downtown traffic?
A: It will make it worse. The only question is how much.
Sound Transit, Metro and the city of Seattle plan to spend $13 million, mostly on surface improvements, to minimize the impact. Third Avenue would be closed to all traffic except buses and emergency vehicles from 6 to 9 a.m. and 3 to 6 p.m. Traffic-control officers would be stationed at key intersections.
Even so, Sound Transit says average delays at some intersections will increase from one to 20 seconds.
Most buses rerouted from the tunnel to the surface will take six to seven minutes longer to get from one end of downtown to the other, the agency calculates. Sane Transit's technical advisers argue there will be more buses on downtown streets than Sound Transit and Metro assume — both while the tunnel is closed and after it reopens. As a result, they say, congestion will be worse than predicted (see accompanying story).
Q: What will happen when the tunnel reopens?
A: Most of the buses that were in the tunnel before will return. But they'll take longer to get through the tunnel because they'll have to wait in staging areas at the tunnel entrances when trains approach. The agencies say bus riders will experience an average delay of 1.5 minutes.
The wait could be longer, Sane Transit counters, if train and bus operations don't mesh as smoothly in the tunnel as Sound Transit's computer simulations indicate.
Q: How will the buses in the tunnel affect light-rail operations?
A: Metro and Sound Transit say trains will take about one minute longer to travel through the tunnel than if the tunnel were rail-only.
Q: Who will be riding the trains when the tunnel reopens?
A: Sound Transit says its two-car trains will carry about 1,800 passengers out of downtown during the afternoon peak hour in 2010, and 2,200 in 2020. Most will be headed for Southeast Seattle. Some will be former bus commuters.
Q: Will their commutes be shorter than now?
A: Rail should help many get to and from downtown in less time.
One example: Metro's current schedule shows that, during the afternoon rush hour, the 42 Express bus takes 31 to 34 minutes to get from Second Avenue and Pike Street downtown to the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Way and South Othello Street.
Sound Transit estimates it will take trains 22 minutes to get to the proposed light-rail station at that same intersection from Westlake Station downtown.
But there won't be nearly as many rail stations as there are bus stops, so some passengers may have a longer walk home if they switch to light rail. Sound Transit estimates more than 40% of its Southeast Seattle light-rail passengers will get to and from the train by bus; transfers could cost some commuters extra minutes.
Q: Will joint operations mean fewer cars on downtown streets?
A: The difference will be negligible. Sound Transit forecasts 34,000 morning rush-hour auto trips to downtown in 2020 if the 14-mile light-rail line is built, 34,400 if it isn't. Q: What about buses? Will light rail take some of them off downtown streets? A: Not many. Metro does plan to terminate some routes that now serve downtown at outlying light-rail stations, converting them to "feeder" routes.
But its tentative plan would eliminate just 15 afternoon peak-hour downtown buses when trains start running. Even in 2020, Sound Transit says, light rail won't have much impact on the number of buses serving downtown at rush hour.
Q: If light rail won't reduce the number of cars and buses downtown, how do Sound Transit's leaders justify it?
A: They say it will provide commuters an alternative to congestion, a new transportation corridor. They also say the benefits will be more dramatic when — if — the line is extended to Northgate, eliminating many more cars and buses from downtown.
Q: Do Sound Transit's critics have an alternative to joint use?
A: Sane Transit says the region would be served better if the number of buses in the tunnel were increased, and that buses have the potential to move just as many people as light rail. Sound Transit and Metro say committing the tunnel to all-bus use would be foolhardy over the long run.
Q: What about the short term?
A: The Downtown Seattle Association, which opposes joint use, has calculated that if the number of afternoon peak-hour buses in the tunnel were nearly doubled, to 250, they could carry slightly more passengers in 2010 than the 120 buses and 20 two-car trains proposed under joint operations.
Sound Transit's downtown light-rail manager, Mike Williams, doesn't contest that. But he says that, with 250 buses, the tunnel would be at capacity. The joint-use scenario could accommodate more growth, he says, because a third car could easily be added to the trains.
Sane Transit contends that, with some modifications, the tunnel's peak-hour bus capacity could be much greater than 250.
Q: In the long term, could more passengers move through the tunnel if it were all-rail or all-bus?
A: The two sides agree on the tunnel's rail-only capacity. They disagree on its bus-only capacity. Consultants to Sane Transit say bus-only and rail-only capacity are about the same. Sound Transit and Metro say the tunnel could accommodate only one-third as many peak-hour riders if it were all-bus.
Q: How did they reach such different conclusions?
A: By starting at different places.
In their capacity analysis, Metro and Sound Transit figured the number of buses in the tunnel would increase to 250 but assumed no other significant changes in the way the bus system operates.
Sane Transit's consultants assumed a bus system in 2030 that's very different from today's. For instance, they assumed buses would enter and leave downtown on exclusive busways or high-occupancy-vehicle lanes.
They also assumed bus service in the tunnel would be restructured to serve as a transit "spine," picking up inbound commuters at stops outside downtown served by "feeder" buses.
Sane Transit assumed every bus seat would be occupied, and that more passengers would stand in the aisles. Sound Transit and Metro assumed one bus seat in five would be empty.
Q: Couldn't we resolve this whole conflict by digging a second transit tunnel under downtown?
A: The state Department of Transportation is wrapping up a preliminary study of that notion, first suggested by downtown business interests. Study manager John Okamoto says a tunnel under Fifth or Sixth avenues is technically feasible.
The cost? "It's big," he says.
(NOTE: Guess the "transit expert" that told the reporter that buses and light rail trains have never operated underground together is clueless about Pittsburgh's Mt. Washington Tunnel)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
05/12/2002
New York — The discovery of body parts has slowed to a trickle, the rubble is almost gone, and soon all that will remain is a pit seven stories deep.
Within a month, the painstaking, around-the-clock effort to remove debris and search for remains at the World Trade Center site will be finished, and the focus will turn to building a new cultural, business and transit center.
Work already has begun on rebuilding the commuter train and subway stations demolished by the fallen twin towers, which left an estimated 1.7 million tons of rubble piled 10 stories high at the 15-block site.
No human remains other than small bones have been found in the last two weeks, and city officials predict the recovery operation will end later this month. Less than 120,000 tons of rubble is left.
Lt. John Ryan, who oversees the recovery of human remains for the Port Authority police, said the slowdown has been discouraging in some ways.
"I guess it's just a matter of the site winding down," Ryan said. "There's a mix of emotions."
Officials said they hope to have a master rebuilding plan completed by December for the site — one that is likely to include a permanent memorial, commercial space and cultural attractions.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said it could take the city up to two years to design a fitting memorial to the more than 2,800 people killed in the attack.
But transit officials said they couldn't wait for the final development plan to begin rebuilding train lines that shuttled hundreds of thousands of commuters before Sept. 11.
"If you tried to tie this into the future development, it would just delay the whole thing," said Joseph Englot, chief structural engineer for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the site.
While most planners envision buildings less than half the height of the twin towers, the new subterranean train lines will be able to bear weight equal to the 110-story towers.
"We'll put back the columns that could support the original loads. Not knowing now what the plans are, if somebody wanted to put back what was originally there, these columns could handle it," Englot said.
Construction on an elevator for the PATH commuter train station began last month. Workers will begin building the foundations for the station as soon as the recovery operation is complete, Englot said. The $140 million project is expected be completed by December 2003.
On the east side of the site, a repaired subway line will accommodate riders by November, according to Cosema Crawford, deputy chief engineer for New York City transit. Workers will build a new station at the Trade Center, which trains will bypass until the new development is completed.
After city officials determine that the remains recovery operation is complete, a 13-foot wall of structural steel with mesh panels will be built along the site's perimeter to allow visitors to view the construction.
The medical examiner's office expects its work identifying remains will continue for about eight more months after the recovery operation ends.
More than 19,000 body parts have yet to be identified, spokesman Ellen Borakove said.
The official count of Trade Center victims stands at 2,823, including all passengers and crew on two hijacked planes. City officials say 116 are missing. The medical examiner's office has issued 1,025 death certificates. An additional 1,682 death certificates have been issued without a body, at the request of victims' families.
The San Francisco Chronicle
05/12/2002
The smoothest Muni run is the inbound 30-Stockton that leaves at 6:30 a.m. The new trolley buses are absent the old herky-jerk. The driver is uncommonly courteous. Must be because this is the morning commute of Muni General Manager Michael Burns, who flashes his ID and says hello as he boards at Beach and Divisadero in the Marina.
As the bus crosses Van Ness, he leaves his regular seat opposite the rear door and transfers to the 47 or 49, which drops him off at the Veterans Building. Burns, 46, likes to be at as his desk by 7 a.m., to spend the next 12 hours running the San Francisco Municipal Railway.
His office used to be the mayor's and is big enough to run a model railroad. But Burns didn't take this job to play with trains. He -doesn't even allow Dress Down Friday in Muni headquarters. He is in a conservative blue suit when we met with him on a brilliantly sunny Friday morning.
On nightmare commutes.
One night I walked from here to Chestnut before a bus came. Power was out, but there should have been diesel buses running.
On passenger protocol.
I don't like to sit if there is somebody standing. I get a transit pass that I -don't pay for, so I -don't feel entitled to a seat.
On the new talking trolleys.
Those pre-programmed announcements are required by the Americans with Disabilities Act. It will say "move to the rear of the bus," and there I am sitting on the bus with five other people. I don't get up and move.
On why he loves trains.
It probably goes back to early years. My father worked in accounting for the railroad and I've ridden commuter trains all my life. When I was going to high school and in college I took the train. All through college, I worked at Penn Central.
On not loving cars.
I didn't get my driver's license until I was 19 or 20. I've never been a car person. I prefer not to drive. If I have a meeting, I'll take Muni or someone will drive me. If there is more than one person riding, I'll sit in the back seat. I like the view from the back.
On riding the 30-Stockton through Chinatown.
The bus is usually at least half full as it turns onto Stockton. Then at the first stop, Green, there are without exception 20 to 40 people who need to get on. Every one of them has two pink bags in each hand. They scramble on through the front door and the back door and just pack the bus. At the next stop, there's another 40 people. That's when it gets interesting.
On new Muni lines.
One extension that is being very actively talked about is taking the Embarcadero line the other way from Fisherman's Wharf, through Fort Mason, through the Marina and out to the Golden Gate Bridge. It would be historic streetcars, eventually part of the E line. There's a tunnel still there from the old railroad cars that ran to Fort Mason and the Presidio.
Reading Eagle/Times
For 25 years Edward H. Blossom has called a Longswamp Township trolley car garage his home.
Now Blossom is fighting to remain at least temporarily in the cement-block structure.
He built the garage in 1977 on land owned by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and sold last year to the Kutztown Transportation Authority for $151,000.
The transportation authority is trying to evict Blossom, claiming he did not fulfill a 1977 agreement with PennDOT to restore a trolley car and run it on the Kutztown to Topton rail line, which Kutztown now owns.
Blossom said the borough is using the decades-old agreement as a way to force him off the property.
He also claims ownership of and wants to be paid for the garage, which he said was valued at $66,000.
"The problem is that they want the building as a gift, and I can't do that," Blossom said of the authority.
But Dick Diehm, Kutztown zoning officer and an authority member, said he has heard many different figures on the value of the garage, and he said the transportation authority has voted to get another appraisal.
Diehm said Blossom never should have moved into the garage in the first place.
"We have concerns about someone living in a building that isn't a dwelling, especially because we own it," Diehm said.
Diehm said the transportation authority also needs a place to store and maintain equipment for the trolley line.
Blossom has retained Topton attorney John Florry and said he would fight eviction.
Timothy Dietrich, Kutztown solicitor, said Blossom's agreement with PennDOT did not say Blossom would be compensated for the building if the property were sold.
Blossom acknowledged he hasn't moved quickly on restoring the half-dozen trolleys that clutter the grounds around the garage, which sits amid farmhouses and freshly plowed fields.
"We are not able to get trolleys out of here fast enough," Blossom said.
The five remaining cars, most of which are owned by the East Penn Valley Traction Trusteeship, a group formed by Blossom and a few friends in 1977 will be out by mid-summer, he said.
Blossom said that in the 1977 agreement with PennDOT he promised to restore Lehigh Valley Transit Co. No. 801, which he affectionately calls the Liberty Bell.
The car, which began running on the Liberty Bell line between Allentown and Philadelphia 1912, has had a long journey since leaving the tracks in 1933.
Blossom discovered the Liberty Bell in the late 1960s in the Pocono Mountains, where it had been converted into a vacation cottage. He purchased it and took it first to Bloomsburg, then to his Dushore, Sullivan County, workshop. After a plan fell through to run the car in Philadelphia, Blossom finally hauled the car to his Topton garage.
In 1977, Blossom said, he agreed to restore and operate it on the Kutztown-Topton line.
In exchange for the work, PennDOT granted permission to build the garage near the terminus of the Kutztown-to-Topton trolley line, Blossom said.
But it was another 25 years before the car was renovated and presented last year to the Electric City Trolley Station and Museum in Scranton.
It was a move Diehm said he didn't understand because the car was supposed to run between Kutztown and Topton.
Blossom recently prepared another antique car for delivery to the New Jersey Railroad Museum in Phillipsburg, N.J.
With vintage advertisements pasted on its walls, newly caned seats and shiny light fixtures, the car could be one of the last refurbished trolleys to ship under Blossom's watch.
Historic trolley clubs, including the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, have helped Blossom with the work on the cars.
For Blossom, leaving the property before all the trolleys are restored would amount to abandoning a life-long passion.
Diehm said he understands how difficult it would be for Blossom to leave.
"He's sort of between a rock and a hard place, too," Diehm said. "Ed is a historian and wants to preserve some of the stuff of historical value around there. He's conscientious, maybe to a fault."
To many people, Diehm said, the trolleys and the parts scattered around the garage simply look like junk.
But to Blossom they're a dream not quite realized.
Independent
Sunday, May 12, 2002
Despite recent tragedies, trains remain the safest way to travel. But recent history shows the system is crying out for improvement, says Michael Williams
The panic on the faces of the rail executives as they faced the cameras was all too clear. It did not take a mind reader to spot that they were thinking "Oh God, not again, what did we do to deserve this?".
Indeed, the railway companies have taken an unprecedented battering over the past five years. They have become the favourite Aunt Sally of the media, variously described as fat cats or murderers depending on the whim of the reporter. "I work for a railway company" is a conversation stopper that elicits anger and sympathy in equal measure.
In a way, it is unfair. The railways are suffering the legacy of decades of under-investment and malign interference by governments which never quite knew what they were for. They would want them to break even at the same time as requiring them to run all kinds of uneconomic services.
Worse, investment levels would vary sharply from year to year because of Treasury interference, which meant that British Rail could never properly plan its modernisation process.
Privatisation was supposed to change all that by bringing in private sector money and getting the Government off the backs of those running the railways because they would be self-financing. Instead, selling off the railways has made the situation worse. Yes, money has been attracted into the industry, but it has been spent badly. And far from freeing the railways from government interference, the collapse of Railtrack and several train companies has increased the amount of taxpayers' money going into the industry and, consequently, the amount of ministerial interference. The result is a beleaguered and demoralised industry.
The series of recent accidents has compounded the misery. It is easy to jump to the conclusion that the railways have become very dangerous.
However, a bit of perspective is needed. Five accidents in five years may seem a lot, but it is pretty average for the railways in the 55 years since the end of the Second World War. In each decade since the war, however, the casualty rate has been lower — fewer died in the 1990s, despite Ladbroke Grove which killed 31, than in the 1980s, when fewer died than in the 1970s, and so on. The number and frequency of fatal crashes has remained pretty constant — one every year to 18 months — but the death toll has gone down because the rolling stock is built to much higher tolerances and can withstand crashes much better than the older stock that has gradually been phased out.
There is no doubt that rail remains the safest form of transport. The simple statistics speak for themselves. In the past decade, there have been 67 deaths in train accidents, including Friday's disaster. Contrast that with the death toll on the roads — around 36,000. That's 500 times more. Rail has around 5% of the transport market by mileage, so if it had the same death rate as motoring, there would have been 1,800 deaths, rather than 67, in the past 10 years. If that had happened, rail transport would long ago have been banned and the rail companies hounded into bankruptcy.
Oddly enough, a death toll of 67 over that time would have been accepted by the public under British Rail because no one would have thought the organisation was skimping on safety in order to make greater profits. Now, the travelling public, faced with the regular flow of horrendous images of mangled trains and bodies on the track, is beginning to doubt the railway industry's claims about safety. You hear of people driving from Edinburgh to London "because it's safer".
It is the privatisation of the railways that has raised doubts in the public's minds. It is too early to know whether the structure of the railways contributed to the cause of the Potters Bar crash but the Hatfield disaster, for example, was the result of pressures brought about by privatisation. The immediate reason for that accident was a broken rail, left unattended for several months even though it was known to be faulty. Its planned replacement was cancelled and despite the obvious deterioration in the rail, managers were reluctant to close the line in order to take out the faulty rail. If they had done so, it would have led to cancellations and delays and Railtrack would have had to pay out compensation to the train operators.
Other recent accidents at Southall and Ladbroke Grove were the result of the way that the industry was broken up and sold off. At Southall, where a train went through a red signal, a botched reorganisation of the maintenance depot after privatisation led to a vital warning device not functioning. Then, key warnings about the state of the defective train were not passed on between the train operator and Railtrack.
At Ladbroke Grove, also the result of a train driver going through a red signal, poor communication between Railtrack and the train operator led to warnings about the visibility of the signal going unheeded. The driver, who had only done the job for a fortnight, was employed by Thames Trains which did not check his references.
In many ways it is not so much privatisation that has created problems, but the fragmentation which accompanied it. While the Transport Secretary, Stephen Byers, has tackled the problems of Railtrack and effectively taken it back into public ownership, he has not addressed this key problem. So far it is impossible to know whether that contributed to Friday's accident, but already the death toll from the consequences of the way the industry was broken up has been high. Does it have to become even higher before action is taken?
Well before Friday's disaster, Stephen Byers plans for Railtrack's successor were in an advanced stage. Network Rail, the new not-for-profit company, was being fashioned with the help of the Government to take over the running of the railways. A deal was due to be announced by the end of this month, and there was pressure from the Secretary of State to have it signed and sealed by July.
Only last week, the chairman of NR, Ian McAllister, and its managing director, Iain Coucher, were assuring the industry that the buyout from Railtrack was on course for July. Mr Byers promised £300m for the buyout but made it clear that the offer could be withdrawn if it were delayed beyond then.
One reason for the haste, after months of preparation, is that the deal needs the approval of the European Union, and the EU bureaucrats go on their long summer break at the end of July. It is unclear whether the Potters Bar crash will delay completion of the takeover, but it must raise questions about the feasibility of the deadline, until the extent of the problem that caused the accident is known.
In theory other consortiums could bid for the Railtrack business, but in practice few were willing to take on the headache of running Britain's railways after the Hatfield crash.
As the full implications of the cause of the Hatfield crash sank in — cracking in the rails, which led to a massive programme of rail replacement across Britain — the senior business figures at Railtrack were publicly pilloried for the failure to maintain the tracks.
Few businessmen were prepared to offer themselves as sacrificial lambs the next time an accident happened. Railtrack shareholders could also block the takeover, but they too may be glad to be relieved of their shares in the company.
Picking up the pieces after Potters Bar may turn a daunting task into a nightmare. Public confidence in the railways once more needs shoring up. The new company must be careful to avoid it collapsing again.
Full details of National Rail have yet to be disclosed, but it will be governed by a small executive board drawn from 100 "stakeholders" — train operating companies, passenger committee leaders, and members of the public. So far the company has established a head office in London with 100 staff.
Mr Coucher is predicting a "big increase in renewals of track, signalling and structures". How he will raise the money is less certain. It cannot come from increases in fares so must come from the taxpayer through the Strategic Rail Authority. Another bail-out by the beleaguered Mr Byers could put the Transport Secretary back on the defensive.
The Plain Dealer
05/13/2002
Lyndhurst — Robert T. Pollock, 81, who headed the former Cleveland Transit System and steered it toward regional transit, died Thursday at Hillcrest Hospital in Mayfield Heights.
The Lyndhurst resident was general manager and chief executive officer of CTS from 1969 to 1974. Pollock chaired the five-county transit study group that led to the establishment of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority shortly after he retired.
He was considered the architect of the rapid transit link between downtown Cleveland and Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. He introduced air-conditioned buses to Cleveland and established the country's first transit-system marketing department to build ridership.
After retiring from CTS, he joined the Dalton-Dalton-Little- Newport engineering and planning firm of Cleveland as vice president of transit operations.
Pollock was past president of the American Transit Association, the national lobby group that became the American Public Transit Association. He was inducted into the APTA Hall of Fame in 1984.
He was born in Cleveland and grew up on a farm on the city's West Side. He graduated from James Ford Rhodes High School in 1938.
Pollock was a student at the Cleveland College of Western Reserve University in 1939 when he began working for the Cleveland Railway Co., the predecessor of CTS. After a stint with the Army Air Forces during World War II, Pollock resumed his studies, received a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1948 and rejoined CTS, becoming operations manager.
From 1967 until he took the top CTS post in 1969, he was president of W.C. Gilman & Co., national transportation consultants. Pollock had lived in Cleveland Heights from 1963 to 1993. He was a past member of the Cleveland Heights City Planning and Zoning Commission. He also belonged to Canterbury Golf Club in Shaker Heights.
Survivors include his wife of 51 years, Laura; sons, Randle R. of Houston, Martin R. of Shaker Heights and Jay R. of Mayfield; six grandchildren; and two sisters.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
05/13/2002
Private money, possibly raised by selling naming rights to vehicles and stations, could help finance a $300 million electric bus system from downtown Milwaukee to Miller Park and the east side, backers say.
At the same time, planners in Dane County are now considering using old-style streetcars to connect downtown Madison and the University of Wisconsin, in the second phase of a countywide public transit expansion that would start with a $188.6 million commuter rail line and a $53.4 million express bus network.
In both cities, authorities are trying to give commuters an alternative to fighting traffic by upgrading public transit — without the expense of building modern light rail systems.
Prospects for light rail in Milwaukee grew dimmer with Scott Walker's election as Milwaukee County executive.
While Walker has unequivocally opposed light rail, he has spoken less often about electric buses. Some comments suggest he flatly opposes such a system; others indicate that he considers an electric bus system better than light rail because of its flexibility, but that he remains concerned about the cost.
Attempts to clarify his position late last week were unsuccessful.
But before Walker even entered the race, studies in both Milwaukee and Dane County were moving away from light rail because of its cost: up to $615 million for 14 1/2 miles in Milwaukee, $575 million for 18 miles in Madison.
Light rail systems run electric vehicles, powered by overhead wires, on tracks in reserved lanes of streets or separate rights of way. That's one option under review in the Milwaukee Connector study, a Wisconsin Center District look at how to connect downtown, nearby neighborhoods and the ballpark with public transit.
However, former light rail backers such as Mayor John O. Norquist and developer Gary Grunau are joining forces with philanthropist Michael Cudahy to promote electric bus systems — also called guided street trams — now operating only in France.
"I've become a believer that because of the cost and problems of running on city streets, guided street trams are a much, much better alternative," Grunau said.
Although previous estimates suggested a 12 1/2-mile electric bus system would cost $340 million, planners are seeking to cap the cost at around $300 million.
Study committee chairman Peter Beitzel said that Grunau was trying to raise $1 million to $1.5 million to cover the local share of preliminary engineering and design after the study wraps up. Federal money is available for the remaining $4 million to $6 million cost of design work.
But Grunau denied that, saying, "Now is not the time to solicit financial support."
Private cash, by selling naming rights and advertising, also could cut local taxpayers' share of construction costs, said Grunau, Beitzel and study spokeswoman Kris Martinsek.
With a $300 million target, backers believe they could put together several pots of federal money — including $91.5 million already set aside — to total 80% of the cost, leaving about $60 million for local sources to cover. Options ranging from sales and gas taxes to hotel taxes, ticket taxes and convention fees also are being consider to help repay bonds.
Operating costs for the connector could be the same as those of the regular Milwaukee County Transit System buses it could replace on several routes, project manager Mark Kaminski said. In addition to Miller Park, the connector could run along Oakland Ave. to the UW-Milwaukee area, along Walnut St. to the near north side and along St. Paul Ave. to the Potawatomi Bingo Casino.
Two types being studied
Two forms of electric buses are now operating. Kaminski said the study would not choose between them. They are:
A bus guided by a single rail, manufactured by Bombardier Corp. and used only in Nancy, France. Nancy's system was sidelined for a year by safety concerns and labor strife but has been running smoothly since March 13 and is now carrying 30,000 passengers a day, Bombardier spokeswoman Lydia Dufresme said.
The laser-guided Civis bus, manufactured by France's Irisbus and now running in Rouen, France. Authorities fear snow could blind its electronic eyes. But that could be fixed by a magnetic guidance system under study, said John Marino, North American president of Irisbus, which is negotiating with Milwaukee's Super Steel Corp. to help produce the vehicles.
Cudahy has flown Norquist, Grunau and others to France to see the systems. He's planning a second trip May 20 with transportation and business figures, not including Norquist.
Other options under study include setting aside lanes for regular buses and expanding current rubber-tired trolley routes.
In Dane County, the joint city-county Transport 2020 study is focusing on an 11-mile commuter rail line, running full-sized trains on existing freight tracks from Middleton through Madison's isthmus to the East Towne shopping center, with express buses linking other parts of the county. Trains and buses would run all day, not just during rush hours.
The project's second phase could follow Kenosha's lead by adding streetcars on city streets, while commuter trains could be extended to McFarland, Sun Prairie and Dane County Regional Airport, at an undetermined cost, city transportation planner Dave Trowbridge said.
Both Dane County and Milwaukee planners are seeking public comment before moving forward.
Los Angeles Times
05/13/2002
I am profoundly disappointed by the decision by federal transit officials to take the $155 million allocated to the Exposition Line light rail project off the table ("Keep Westside Rail Alive," editorial, May 9). The benefits of the project are not limited to giving people a comfortable and viable alternative to the congested Santa Monica Freeway.
"More Cities Look Inward for Growth" (May 5) made reference to rail corridors as especially attractive areas for development, affordable housing and revitalization. This is a simple but powerful blueprint for planning growth in this era of gridlocked freeways and urban sprawl. The value of these rail corridors grows exponentially as the reach of the rail system expands. I eagerly await the opening of the Pasadena Gold Line, but there has to be a corridor to the Westside. Now is the time for all of our local leaders to pull together to support this vital project. — Andrew Shaddock, Manhattan Beach
Construction News
Monday, May 13, 2002
Mowlem has pulled out of the £500 million Leeds Supertram scheme, blaming skills shortages.
The decision has forced the Leeds Tramways consortium, which also includes Stagecoach and WS Atkins, to drop out.
A Leeds Supertram spokesman said: "Because Mowlem has pulled out, the Tramways consortium will no longer be able to bid for the contract."
A Mowlem insider said it had too many resources tied up bidding for rival schemes, including the £526 million Manchester Metrolink and the £190 million South Hampshire Rapid Transit. A Mowlem spokesman said. "The decision has been taken because of the heavy programme of PFI work to which some consortium members are already committed."
A spokesman for Stagecoach said it was "still interested in all light rail work in the UK including the Leeds scheme".
Sources close to the project said it may try to poach a contractor from one of its rival consortia.
One said: "Before bids are returned, the make-up of each consortia can remain fluid."
Only three teams are left in the running: Momentis (Bouygues/ Jarvis/FirstGroup/Bombardier), Airelink (Awg/Arriva/Siemens) and Leeds Tram Link (Amey/Bechtel/MTR/Egis Semaly).
Two teams will be chosen for best and final offers in September.
The contract will be awarded in summer 2003 and the first trams are expected to run in 2007.
The Leeds network will be 28 km long and will involve three lines running into the city centre.
It is due to come into operation by December 2007.
Asia Pulse
05/13/2002
Tokyu Corp. (TSE:9005) announced Friday a parent-only pretax profit of ¥17.5 billion (US $137.08 million) for the year ended March 31, down 5%, citing declined profitability on the real estate business and ballooned expenses for its mainstay railway operations.
Sales rose 3% to ¥302 billion, and operating profit was down 9% to ¥42.2 billion.
In the railway business, the number of passengers grew by nearly 2% thanks to linking up with subway lines run by the Teito Rapid Transit Authority, but expenses piled up from building a four-track rail line. As a result, operating profit from the business sank 7% to ¥30.2 billion.
Tokyu saw operating profit in the real estate division fall by 17% to ¥17.2 billion, due to active sales of property with low profitability.
Net profit climbed 9% to ¥7.7 billion. The company covered unfunded retirement obligations in fiscal 2000, which was not the case in fiscal 2001. It booked ¥11.7 billion as appraisal losses on its portfolio of group stocks.
The Asian Banker Journal
05/13/2002
Visa's contact and contactless smart card, also known as the Combi card, has been officially chosen by the Daejon City and Hana Bank as the payment card for multiple applications, including mass transit, in Korea.
The Visa Combi card is based on the GlobalPlatform standard and is part of Visa's family of low cost smart cards.
Conforming to the EMV global chip standards, the Combi card comes with a choice of Visa smart payment applications, such as Visa Smart debit or credit, and Visa Cash, a stored value purse application, pre-loaded in the read-only memory (ROM), with additional memory space for additional applications in the erasable memory (EEPROOM). The dual interface capability allows fast transactions to be done in the contactless mode, as required in mass transit applications, and enables a cardholder to use the card for payments in contact mode at traditional store-front merchants.
Hana Bank expects to issue a million Visa Combi cards in Korea by the end of next year, with half of these cards expected to be credit cards. These Combi cards will contain a chip for a variety of applications to be used for payment, public transportation, department stores, convenient stores and Internet shopping malls in Daejon City.
David Chan, Head of Chip Products, Visa Asia Pacific, said, "Daejon City's decision is a double win for Visa. Firstly, Visa's Combi card will be a world first in terms of the use of GlobalPlatform technology, endorsed by Visa, and secondly, Visa's strategic partner, Vcash Korea will be implementing Visa Cash for mass transit in Daejon. Visa cardholders in Korea will be the first in the world to use these high performance cards for mass transit and payment applications, using the quickest and most appropriate payment solution for their transactions."
The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC)
05/14/2002
Noted rail transit critic Wendell Cox said Monday that the Triangle Transit Authority's planned 35-mile rail system is doomed to fail, that it will cost millions more and carry far fewer riders than anticipated, and that it will do nothing to ease the traffic congestion gripping the region.
Which, in one sense, is good news for the TTA.
Cox's appearance at a luncheon forum sponsored by Triangle Community Coalition means that somebody is taking the regional rail plan seriously.
Cox, based in Belleville, Ill., is an internationally acclaimed transportation policy expert to some, a hired gun of the pro-sprawl movement to others. He travels the nation, warning communities of the unknown dangers of "smart growth" policies and cheerfully ratcheting up victories when light-rail referendums fail.
Chris Sinclair, the executive director of the Triangle Community Coalition — indeed, the group's only staffer and self-described "one-person wrecking crew" — said he brought Cox to Cary on Monday to offer a counterbalance to the "popular support" rail transit has enjoyed in the Triangle.
Sinclair's group, which represents Triangle real estate and development interests, conducted a poll last year that showed overwhelming support for a commuter rail system.
But when respondents were asked how they wanted to pay for it or whether they would ride it, Sinclair said, "It gets very gray very fast."
Cox characterized himself Monday as pro-transit, provided transit can reduce or control traffic congestion at a reasonable cost. And in the Triangle, he said, it won't.
"They can't even torture the models to show anything significant," he said.
The TTA's regional rail system will probably cost twice as much as expected, or about $1.2 billion, by the time it opens in 2007, and to cut traffic growth in half, the TTA would need to open three new lines every year, he said.
That's because rail transit needs intense population density and high employment concentration to work, he said, showing slides of high-rise apartments and skyscrapers.
Intense, as in 80,000 people per square mile, he said — not 2,000 people per square mile, as in Cary.
To pump up his point, he showed a map of the Triangle. At the density of Hong Kong, the entire population of the region could fit inside Morrisville. If Cary had as many jobs per square mile as Chicago's Loop, the town could fit 10 million workers in its 42 square miles.
Public transit serves downtowns the best where it can compete with travel times by car, but central business districts, he said, are largely becoming irrelevant and suburb-to-suburb commutes becoming the norm.
He said that light rail systems aren't reducing sprawl in Portland, Ore., improving downtown office vacancy rates in Dallas or increasing the transit market share in St. Louis.
But Kim Crawford, a TTA senior policy analyst sitting in the back row during the luncheon forum, later said that for the majority of residents in this region, "it is not, as Cox essentially maintains, an 'either-or' choice — whether you spend public money on improving transit or expanding roads."
Both are necessary, she said, to maintain a high quality of life and to compete with other regions.
She maintained that the regional rail system will provide a competitive option to the automobile in an increasingly congested travel corridor.
"Cox is correct in asserting that a rail system — especially in a single corridor — will not significantly reduce vehicle miles traveled or congestion, but neither will adding lanes to I-40."
John Hodges-Copple, director of regional planning for Triangle J Council of Governments, told Cox that the quantitative analysis and economic efficiencies the consultant espoused didn't necessarily add up to quality of life.
The Triangle can continue to devote itself to asphalt, he said, but "Is that really the community that people want?"
Los Angeles Times
05/14/2002
Running smack down the middle of Pasadena's Foothill Freeway are scores of new power lines and two sets of freshly laid rail track. A mile south, a 24-foot-wide tunnel slinks under a shopping district. In Los Angeles' Mount Washington neighborhood, a cement platform rises, one day to be flooded with train riders.
All along a nearly 14-mile stretch from downtown Los Angeles to Pasadena are signs that a long-sought light rail line, considered one of the region's transit priorities, is nearly completed.
But even as work continues six days a week, the fate of the railway known as the Gold Line stands in doubt.
On Thursday, the five-member Public Utilities Commission, which oversees California's rail safety, is to rule on the design of several controversial intersections on the route.
Approving the design would grant legal right of way for completion of the rail line — expected, shortly after a July 2003 opening, to send as many as 250 trains and 38,000 riders a day through dense neighborhoods. Plans are underway to eventually extend the line all the way to Claremont.
Yet if the commission asks for the most aggressive of the safety changes it is considering, transit experts say, it may take a decade or more for trains to run on the Gold Line, mainly because there is little money available to alter the intersections.
That would be a major setback for transit planners — and thousands of hopeful residents — who have waited for the railway since at least 1980, when funding was first made available. They envision the Gold Line whisking riders end-to-end in about 30 minutes, part of a blueprint to ease congestion in Los Angeles by getting more riders on a rail network that is sprouting from downtown in all directions.
"I haven't been sleeping well, thinking about this, reading all of the material," said PUC President Loretta Lynch, who would not say how she will vote. "I'm completely for the building of the Gold Line, but we have to build it in the safest way."
The commission is making its decision late in the game because the Los Angeles to Pasadena Metro Construction Authority, the contractor established by the state in 1988 to build the Gold Line, failed to get proper approval before starting construction. Rick Thorpe, the authority's chief executive, says such methods are duplicated by rail builders across the state, a claim confirmed by the PUC. Still, he recognizes it was a gamble that may end up backfiring.
In the past month, the commission has received conflicting opinions from a variety of official sources and interested parties, including an administrative law judge hired by the PUC to hold hearings and make recommendations.
Among the commission's options:
It could green-light the railway with slight modifications—calling for measures such as the slowdown of trains and a partial ban on horn blowing, particularly near residences in Mount Washington, where an elementary school, businesses and homes often sit feet from track.
It could call for trains to travel in a trench underneath Del Mar Boulevard, the busiest street on the trip, where trains will travel through a soon-to-be-constructed apartment complex, a structure that some say poses risks by blocking views of the trains from the street. Such a move could delay the project by two to three years.
Or it could call for more radical surgery: forcing the builder into a massive redesign of four intersections spread out over five miles. That aggressive a move would put a near foolproof guarantee of safety at those locations above the goals of light rail: a belief that placing commuter trains on streets is the most cost-effective way to ease congestion, at about 40% of the cost of subways.
If the PUC decides on the more radical approach, the cost of the fixes would be close to $80 million. Operating under a tightly planned budget of $451 million, Thorpe and others argue that it could take 10 years or more to come up with the money, then redesign and rebuild the line at those intersections.
People living near those streets, anticipating the decision, say the sudden mix of official opinions is fraying nerves. Some of them—residents of Pasadena, Highland Park and Mount Washington mostly—have diligently fought for changes.
"It's hard enough just waiting around for Thursday... (but now) it feels like we're on a roller coaster," said Sue Baldwin, a paralegal who is part of a group in the canyon-like Los Angeles neighborhood of Mount Washington worried about not only safety, but also noise pollution.
"We just don't know what to think," said Karen Cutts, founder of a group opposing trains running on streets just south of Pasadena's bustling Old Town, a popular shopping strip that is currently one of two tunneled portions of the railway. "It's still a David versus Goliath struggle."
Cutts' stance was given a huge lift this month by Judge Sheldon Rosenthal, the administrative law judge hired by the PUC to run hearings and come up with a recommendation.
In a 34-page opinion, Rosenthal focused mostly on Del Mar Boulevard. He worried that the crossing would be a hazard because of the limited sight lines, and was not convinced of the effectiveness of the railway's four-armed crossing gates, specially designed to keep cars from trying to beat trains across the track. "We find that an at-grade crossing at Del Mar Boulevard will not be safe," he wrote, arguing that the railway should be forced underground.
Responses, rebuttals and addendums, some taking direct aim at Rosenthal's stance, have since flooded in to the PUC.
The most important dissenting view came from PUC Commissioner Henry Duque, who unlike Rosenthal represents one of the five deciding votes. He said the line is safe as designed, calling only for some speed restrictions in addition to having trains not sound their horns in Mount Washington. Thorpe's building authority said nothing should change. The MTA, which will run the trains, originally echoed Thorpe. Then on Monday, the agency backed off its protest against proposed noise and speed limits at Mount Washington.
The PUC's rail safety staff argued for the most intrusive, costly—and safest—approach. Last week, they decided Del Mar and two crossings in Mount Washington should be built below ground or on bridges. One crossing in South Pasadena was denied as currently designed.
In an interview Friday in Los Angeles, Lynch said she was most concerned that pedestrians at the Del Mar crossing will find ways to walk around the traffic gates, a sight she said that happens frequently on rail tracks near her San Francisco home. Lynch said she thought the line could be engineered to connect with an underground parking structure, larger than two football fields, already being built at the apartment complex.
"This has to be a well-considered decision, because the line is so important, for the entire state," said Lynch. "If we run into problems and accidents down the line, the prospects for similar projects could be hurt. And that's not something we can really afford."
(NOTE: 14 miles for $451 million — that's about $30 million per mile)
Business Wire
05/14/2002
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (NYSE:JEC) announced today that a subsidiary company is part of a team selected by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) to design and construct the Blue Line Extension in Prince George's County, Md.
With an estimated construction cost in excess of $200 million, this is the first extension beyond the area's original 103-mile system and is WMATA's first major design-build project for a line extension. It is scheduled to open for service by 2004.
The project involves a 3.1-mile extension of the Blue Line from the existing Addison Road Station to Largo Town Center. As project designer, Jacobs will be responsible for all civil, structural, and site design; facilities design; and systems design of this expanded transit system, including at-grade double tracking, underground/covered structures, and aerial structures.
The Blue Line Extension will enhance service to the nearly one million residents of Prince George's County and will be the first line in the county to extend beyond the Beltway (I-495).
In making the announcement, Jacobs Group Vice President Michael Higgins stated, "We are pleased to be selected for this project. We intend to add value to the project by bringing our extensive experience in the design of transit, tunnel, bridge, and transportation projects for major transit properties to the team."
The Evening Standard
Tuesday, May 14, 2002
Railtrack admitted today it does not check maintenance work done on the track by its contractors.
It said the checking of work done by contractor Jarvis in the Potters Bar area, or anywhere else, would not be supervised or routinely examined afterwards.
Railtrack said under the terms of contracts inherited at the time of privatisation of the railways from 1994 to 1996, there was no obligation for it to check that contractors' work had been done properly — despite six other crashes costing 54 lives since 1996.
Although it operated a system of random checks, a Railtrack spokesman said: "The responsibility for safety and quality of work rests with the contractors. We are reliant on them being professional."
However, in a review of operating conditions following the Hatfield disaster in 2000, when four people died, Railtrack undertook to extend checks on maintenance work.
This has still not been introduced and is not expected to be phased in fully until the end the year. The guidelines were not in place at the time of the Potters Bar crash on Friday, which killed seven people.
Railtrack is now reviewing the procedures it follows when a complaint is made about the state of the track or equipment. This is how a complaint is dealt with at present:
Complaints about track or equipment can be made to train staff, station staff, Railtrack's 24-hour helpline or the Health and Safety Executive.
If the complaint is made to station staff or staff onboard the train, the driver is consulted and he or she determines whether there is a problem. If the driver believes the complaint is valid, he or she will inform their union and forward the complaint to Railtrack.
Railtrack logs any complaints on a computer and forwards it to a member of Railtrack's engineering team. The team contacts the complainant or the driver to try to determine exactly where on the line the problem is. It does not carry out any work itself but instructs its maintenance contractor to deal with it. In the case of the Potters Bar crash, this was Jarvis plc.
Jarvis sends a qualified staff track inspector to examine the problem. Railtrack is informed of the prognosis but it is the contractor's responsibility to take action. A work schedule is drawn up by Jarvis with a classification as to how urgently the work needs to be carried out and whether speed restrictions need to be imposed.
A Jarvis signalling maintenance team will then take over the work. The team is directly employed by the contractor and holds qualifications and licences recognised by the Institute of Railway Signalling Engineers. But maintenance work is not supervised or checked except by the working team at the time.
The track will only be checked for faults during a routine patrol by the contractor, which is expected to check the whole track once a month. The contractor looks for any visible faults on the track, including the points. Railtrack supervision is on a random basis.
Sub-contracted staff are bought in to move rails, lay track and to do other nonengineering work. This is supervised directly by Jarvis. It is this that alarms the unions. Sometimes, says Bob Crow, the sub-contractors use casual staff with no experience whatsover.
The Daily Telegraph
Tuesday, May 14, 2002
There is one big difference between the train crash at Hatfield two years ago and the one at Potters Bar last Friday. It can best be summed up by putting the question: who is ultimately responsible? Who, if anyone, should resign?
After the Hatfield crash in October 2000, nobody was in any doubt about where the buck stopped. Railtrack was accountable in law for maintaining the defective track, and Railtrack was therefore to blame. The head of Railtrack was Gerald Corbett, and he duly took the rap. Meanwhile, the Crown Prosecution Service began investigating the possibility of prosecuting the company for corporate manslaughter (a decision on that has yet to be reached).
But then in October last year, Stephen Byers confiscated Railtrack's assets from its owners, and put the company into administration. So — assuming negligence is found — who is to be held responsible to the survivors of the Potters Bar crash and the families of the dead for what they have suffered?
True, Railtrack retains overall responsibility for maintaining the track. But who is in charge of Railtrack? The answer to that, we suppose, is Alan Bloom of the administrators, Ernst & Young. But he is an accountant, employed by the Transport Secretary simply to keep Railtrack's finances ticking over as best he can until the company's future is settled. It would clearly be a monstrous injustice to demand his resignation over a matter for which he can hardly be said to bear any real responsibility.
It may be that Jarvis, the company contracted to maintain the stretch of track where the accident happened, will turn out to have been negligent. But Railtrack was supposed to be keeping an eye on the work done by Jarvis. It would be strange indeed to place all the blame on the sub-contractor, while letting the supervising authority off the hook.
No wonder safety is compromised, when the corporate structure of the railway system is in such a muddle, and nobody knows who is responsible for what. We all know, however, who is responsible for the muddle itself. But then we all know that Stephen Byers will never accept the blame for anything.
The Evening Post (Wellington)
05/14/2002
About two thirds of Wellington's ageing English Electric passenger trains will be refurbished after a deal struck by Wellington Regional Council and Transfund.
About 28 of the 43 cars, which are 50 yearsold, will be able to refitted, depending on price.
Transfund, the Government agency that funds big transport projects, offered the council a one-off grant of $3 million if it agreed to put in $2 million. The council is already spending $2 million during the next two financial years on the refurbishment programme. Transfund's offer came with a rider — it must be agreed to by early next month.
The council today agreed to the spending but not without some discussion about whether it should be making such major transport decisions in an ad hoc way. So far the council has yet to decide whether the money will come from a loan or rate increase.
Some of the cars have been retired in the past few years and the urgency of deciding who will foot the bill for their upgrade or replacement has been an important factor in the council's decision to try, with a joint venture partner, to buy Tranz Metro.
At today's meeting, Cr Ian Buchanan said the council was heading for a huge deficit in its funding of transport even before it committed itself to buying Tranz Metro. He said the council made too many decisions on transport without looking at the long-term view and the funding gap was heading towards $9 million.
But Cr Glen Evans said it was inescapable that the cars had to be refurbished, and the council was unlikely to get anyone else offering to pay a large part of the bills. "To turn this down is plain stupid and would affect our rate-line even more long term."
Cr Judith Aitken said the council should consider cutting other costs rather than just raising rates. Cr Chris Turver said the council had a statutory responsibility for rail, and had to agree to the deal in the interests of the reliability of the service and public safety.
Some councillors expressed concern that the council was apparently determined to buy Tranz Metro even before it knew what the price would be. Cr Rex Kirton said the council didn't even know whether Tranz Rail would sell, and Cr Rick Long said he was concerned the council seemed to be committing itself before it knew what the costs would be. "That scares me."
The council has already spent more than $300,000 on the commuter rail joint venture proposal, even before serious negotiations begin with Tranz Rail.
Most of the money paid out by the regional council has gone to Wellington corporate law firms Chapman Tripp and Phillips Fox and to Wellington accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. Meanwhile, the region's mayors were today discussing options for buying Tranz Metro.
Business Wire
05/15/2002
Cubic Corp. (AMEX:CUB), EDS and Siemens announced they have signed a Letter of Intent, agreeing to cooperate closely on the development of a national electronic ticketing system for public transportation in The Netherlands.
This agreement is the first step in building a consortium between the three major companies — specialists in transportation systems and integrated computer technology solutions — to bid on a contract which will be issued by Trans Link Systems.
Trans Link Systems, a combination of NS, Connexxion, HTM, GVB and RET, is asking for a proposal for the design, delivery and implementation of a new smart ticketing system for the Netherlands. The objective of Trans Link Systems is to develop and introduce a public transportation ticket that is valid for all transportation modes. It will contribute to the safety on stations, enhance passenger comfort and collect a high amount of anonymous traffic data on a daily basis, allowing public transportation operators to enhance customer service.
"The objective set by Trans Link Systems is a major challenge for all parties involved. In the first place millions of passengers each day must accept the new ticketing system and feel happy with it. Their judgment is of vital importance," said Jaap Bolhuis of Siemens Nederland N.V.
"The consortium partners involved have ample experience with automatic fare collection systems and will be able to satisfy the highest passenger usage requirements. The consortium will marshal the combined knowledge and experience of the three companies. By offering several ticket models we are able to offer the payment models and service levels required by the public transport operators and their passengers," Bolhuis said.
According to Jan Janssen of Cubic Transportation Systems Ltd., "The TransLink initiative means public transportation in The Netherlands will enter into a new era. The Netherlands can profit from Cubic's experience on large-scale projects that have been successfully implemented around the world, including London, New York and Washington, D.C. This consortium has a very strong basis, both at a national and international level."
Detlef Koerger of EDS said, "EDS adds knowledge and experience to the Consortium gathered in the various Dutch projects, like Tripperpas (smart card in Groningen), MobilityMixx (a card-based ticket system for Connexxion), and NS business card (a card-based ticket system for the business traveller), in the tender process. We are committed and highly motivated to make this project a success."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
05/15/2002
After nearly a decade of opposition, Edgewood officials have agreed — barely — to cooperate with the Port Authority on its planned extension of the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway through the borough.
At a special meeting Monday, council voted 4-3 to sign the cooperation agreement with the authority. Prior to the vote, council held an hour-long closed session, and a standing-room-only crowd of about 75 residents waited outside council chambers for a chance to influence council's decision.
While the first resident to speak, Cindy Bond of Gordon Street, urged officials to sign the agreement and "make lemonade out of lemons," most of the 30 or so people who addressed council asked for a "no" vote or at least a one-week delay. Residents want light-rail service instead of a busway and have tried to stop the project, which has been under construction for more than a year.
But Councilman Mitchell Brourman said council had been listening to concerns and incorporating them in the final agreement since a March 25 public meeting at the Edgewood Club.
"We as a council have listened to your voice," said Brourman. "If you've sent me something to read, I've read it."
Brourman asked residents to continue to fight for light rail, "while continuing to move forward and participate in this project."
By signing the agreement, Edgewood will allow the authority to spend $325,000 on restoring the historic train station on Edgewood Avenue, construct a linear park adjacent to the busway and a bus station on Edgewood Avenue that will include a pedestrian bridge from the station to Edgewood Towne Centre.
The borough also will receive $250,000 to upgrade its police and fire department equipment in exchange for providing emergency services on Edgewood's part of the extension.
The final agreement also includes a Port Authority promise to remove graffiti in a "prompt and reasonable manner," re-evaluate environmental studies done in 1995 and 2000 and explore the possible use of alternative and cleaner-burning fuels and engines.
"We're very pleased the agreement was adopted by the borough," Port Authority spokesman Bob Grove said. "We've been working on it for some time. We think it's a good agreement for both parties, and we believe we have a great project."
Residents objected to a lack of specific time conditions regarding light rail conversion, as well as unclear language dealing with emissions-monitoring and ownership of railroad rights of way.
Former Planning Commission member Marilyn Painter and former Mayor Ruth Pickering told council it had little to gain and much to lose by signing the agreement.
"I urge you not to support this agreement," said Pickering. "It does nothing to support a better quality of life for the borough."
East End Avenue resident Jessie Lesko took it one step further.
Lesko told council residents "will make their lives miserable if they vote yes to the agreement."
Former U.S. attorney and West Swissvale Avenue resident Fred Thieman asked council to delay voting on the agreement for at least a week.
Thieman said that a new nonprofit group, The Pittsburgh Transit Equity Project, had just received a grant to address transportation concerns of minority residents in Shadyside, East Liberty, Wilkinsburg and Rankin.
Thieman said residents of these areas had not been given sufficient help in opposing the busway extension and that Edgewood could act as a "lone voice in the wilderness" by supporting light rail in the East End.
Council members J. Edward Cook, Mal Hellet and Andrea Rockovich voted against signing the agreement.
"We have been bamboozled by the Port Authority," said Hellet, calling the authority's plan to send 500 buses a day through the borough "transit terrorism."
The Port Authority expects the $62.8 million extension to be completed by November.
The Seattle Times
05/15/2002
Sam Sewell, left, Theresa McCutchen and Robert Shultz watch one of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport's new subway cars being hoisted onto the airport's subway tracks yesterday. The $161 million renovation will give the airport a total of 21 subway cars for three shuttle routes.
(NOTE: $161 million could also "buy" 8 miles of light rail on an existing row.)
The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, Tenn.)
05/15/2002
A short downtown stretch of Madison closed for work on the Medical Center trolley extension should reopen by the weekend, a Memphis Area Transit Authority official said Tuesday.
Tom Fox, director of planning and capital projects for MATA, said contractors expect the section of Madison between Main and Second will reopen Thursday or Friday.
"We're shooting to have the street opened by the end of the week. It looks like Thursday will be the day," Fox said.
The section of Madison that closed in January when construction on the extension began is a small piece in the massive trolley puzzle.
In 1997, MATA unveiled a study that recommended light-rail routes linking downtown with Millington, Collierville and Southaven. According to the study, the system could cost $1 billion to build and $40 million a year to operate, including a taxpayer subsidy.
The east-west route includes the 2.3-mile Medical Center extension, which is scheduled to be up and running by March 2004 at a cost of $75 million.
The reopening of the small stretch of Madison downtown is a relief to business owners.
"I hope they finish it soon," said Clyde Crawford, owner of C.C.'s Liquors at 105 Madison. "Compared to this time last year, sales are down 45%."
Gerard Agid, general manager of the Madison Hotel at 79 Madison, said it is difficult to judge how the work has affected his business because the hotel just opened.
"But it is not good for traffic," Agid said. "It is more of a nuisance."
Officials previously said the stretch would reopen in late April or early May.
Poor weather and even poorer documentation of water and sewage pipes delayed completion of the section, Fox said.
"You can't work in the dirt when it's wet," Fox said. "We are working in an old part of town, and sometimes records are not very accurate."
When workers came upon a pipe or other infrastructure that did not appear in their documents, Fox said work stopped until they could determine what they had struck.
"It seems like days go by where nobody is working at this end (of Madison) at all," Crawford said. "I'll be glad when it's over."
The Record (Bergen County, NJ)
05/15/2002
With money coming in from recent fare hikes, NJ Transit would have had an extra $9.6 million by the end of June to help improve service for its commuters.
But that was before the state cut $9.6 million in other funds to NJ Transit this year to help plug a gaping hole in the state's fiscal 2002 budget.
The bottom line: NJ Transit is basically back where it started, and the agency will have to wait until next year to see extra money from its recent 10% fare hikes — a predicament that has some transit advocates fuming.
The state is reducing NJ Transit's operating subsidy by $5.6 million this year, and will keep another $4 million the transit agency was anticipating from Trenton this year to help ease overcrowding on bus routes serving commuters in Bergen County. Those bus improvements, including adding more bus trips, have been made in anticipation of the funds, NJ Transit officials said Tuesday.
"In response to the state's severe budget crisis, every state agency is being asked to tighten its belt, and NJ Transit was also asked," said Micah Rasmussen, a spokesman for state Transportation Commissioner James Fox. "The important thing is that NJ Transit was kept whole and it's able to do everything it had planned to do in this budget year. " State officials say that because NJ Transit didn't anticipate the extra $9.6 million in fare hike revenue when it put together its budget last year, the cuts simply keep the agency at the same level of funding it had expected all along.
Officials also say they're committed to continuing the state's operating subsidy for NJ Transit, and plan to give the agency the full $260 million in fiscal year 2003.
But some transit advocates feel betrayed. They said when the state asked riders in April to kick in an average of 10% more to ride buses and trains, that money should be used to improve service at the cash-strapped agency, which faces a $3 billion shortfall for capital projects over the next five years.
"There's an element of deception here," said Ralph Braskett, the New Jersey coordinator for the Committee for Better Transit. "If we didn't do the fare increase, we'd be cutting train service to give them the $5.6 million. I don't think the governor should be balancing the budget on the bus and rail riders^ backs, and that's what he's doing after getting the fare increase. " Leonard Resto, president of the New Jersey Association of Railroad Passengers, said the situation highlights the need for a reliable funding formula for transit.
"The fare hike seemed to come on quickly, but still, I think people will have a right to say, why are we paying more and the state is putting in less? " Resto said.
"The bottom line is that we were able to implement additional service out there, and made good at helping to relieve some of the congestion we're experiencing. We're in tough times and everyone has to do their part," said NJ Transit spokeswoman Penny Bassett Hackett.
Rasmussen said the state is committed to increasing capacity for riders, and said Fox and NJ Transit Executive Director George Warrington are working to find additional funding for the agency, including the Port Authority, which is kicking in $130 million for new bi-level rail cars.
"Even with these tough fiscal constraints, we're still funding the program that's going to add 33,000 more (train) seats, we're still adding capacity, and these are not insignificant accomplishments when the state has this fiscal hole," Rasmussen said.
But not everyone is satisfied with the state's math.
"It's a fraud on the voters and certainly a fraud on the transit riders," said Janine Bauer of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. "No matter what excuse you use to raise money from riders and taxpayers, like saying we need new trains, if we give them more money they take it, and we never get better service. We're totally fed up. "
Ventura County Star
05/15/2002
LONDON (AP) — Last week's commuter train crash that killed seven people and injured more than 70 was caused by four loose nuts in a track switching mechanism, safety officials said Tuesday.
The Health and Safety Executive said the high-speed express commuter train carrying 151 people derailed as it passed through a faulty set of points — the mechanism diverting a train from one track to another.
"Evidence suggests that the points in question moved as the rear of the third carriage of the train passed over them, deflecting the fourth and last carriage toward the left," said the interim report, which blamed loose nuts for that movement.
Rail maintenance contractor Jarvis PLC said Tuesday its inspectors repaired loose nuts at the same switching mechanism just days before the crash. On Monday, a rail union official said a worker drew attention to the faulty points and the poor state of the track three weeks before the crash.
But John Armitt, chief executive of Railtrack, which manages the railway infrastructure, told BBC radio Tuesday the company had not received any official information about track problems.
Frank Hyland, who is managing the executive's investigation, said the inquiry was focusing on why the nuts were not in place. No debris was found on the track and any vandalism would have been "extremely sophisticated and daring," he said.
There also was no evidence the train was badly driven, the report said.
The accident occurred Friday at the suburban Potters Bar station north of London. Ten of the 76 people injured remain hospitalized, with one in critical condition, the report said.
The accident further sapped public confidence in Britain's dilapidated railway network. It was the sixth fatal crash since 1997.
In an interview with British Broadcasting Corp. television to be aired Tuesday night, Prime Minister Tony Blair said there were "huge problems on the transport network" caused by years of underfunding and a 20% increase in ridership since 1997.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
05/15/2002
The federal government will release more than $18 million for light rail improvements in the Pittsburgh area, including the purchase of 28 new light rail vehicles.
U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said yesterday that the funding will be released this week to the Port Authority of Allegheny County, which is rebuilding the 5.5-mile closed Overbrook line and rehabilitating existing lines.
The improvements will restore Pittsburgh's light rail through several communities in the South Hills and add about 2,400 park-n-ride spaces.
The Overbrook line has been closed since 1993 and is expected to reopen late next year.
Thomson Financial Inc.; ATM & Debit News
05/16/2002
Enabling mass-transit riders to use debit and credit cards instead of cash to pay fares is spreading to cities across the nation. While New York City and Washington, D.C., already accept plastic, two other cities are about to follow suit.
San Francisco's Bay Area Rapid Transit system will have a fare-collection system that accepts debit and credit cards within two years. And the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority recently solicited bids for a project to replace its cash-accepting fare system with one that also takes plastic.
Among the bidders in the MARTA project is Thales e-Transactions Inc., an Atlanta-based point-of-sale terminal manufacturer. Thales e-Transactions CEO Fred Silverman says MARTA is looking at what may become the most advanced fare-collection transit system in the nation. In addition to traditional stations, MARTA's fare-collection system may be used at suburban park-ride lots, he says.
MARTA also is considering the use of contactless smart cards for both payment and access to buses, trains and park- ride lots, says Silverman. Officials at San Diego-based Cubic Transportation Systems Inc., which holds most of the fare-collection conversion contracts in the U.S., could not be reached to comment on whether Cubic also will bid for the MARTA project.
Washington's and New York's transit agencies are reporting steadily rising use of debit and credit cards to purchase public transportation. Chris Cipperly, an assistant treasurer with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, says that debit and credit cards thus far this year have generated about 17% of collected revenues, up from 14% at this time last year.
About 225 of WMATA's 600 fare-collection devices accept debit and credit cards. At some locations that began accepting debit and credit cards two years ago, plastic is now being used more often than cash to buy rides, Cipperly notes.
Offline Vs. Online
About 77% of all electronic payments are initiated with signature-based, or offline, debit and credit cards. The remaining 23% are initiated with PIN-based debit cards. Some 110,000 rides per day are purchased using a debit or credit card compared with 84,000 rides per day purchased electronically last year, Cipperly says.
WMATA, however, has had a bumpy ride in terms of EFT-related costs. As with other merchants, acquirers pass on to transit systems interchange paid to card issuers, Cipperly notes. And early in the electronic-payment program, unacceptably high fraud rates began to emerge, he says.
To address the problem, the authority slashed its daily per-card limit on fare purchases to $50 from $100. "Fraud is a significant issue because of the credit cards," says Cipperly. "We have begun to monitor transactions almost on a real- time basis."
While WMATA's fraud rates generally were no higher than those experienced by other merchants, the expenses were too high for the publicly supported transit system to justify, Cipperly notes.
In New York, meanwhile, debit and credit card use to buy transit fares is up 14.8% from last year. Some 59,700 debit and credit card transactions are initiated daily to pay for rides, of which 36,000 are initiated with an offline debit or credit card and 23,700 are made with a PIN-based debit card. About 52,000 debit and credit transactions were initiated daily at this time last year.
Some 319 of New York City Transit's 600 wall-unit MetroCard dispensers accept debit and credit cards but not cash. The machines augment the system's existing 1,600 fare machines, all of which accept debit and credit cards as well as cash, says an agency spokesperson.
San Francisco's BART authority, meanwhile, has nearly completed its systemwide rehabilitation, which will feature a new fare-collection vending system that BART officials describe as being similar to an on-screen ATM menu selection. BART is replacing about 250 cash-only vending machines with devices that that accept cash and plastic. BART officials did not return calls seeking more information about the project.
Seattle Times
05/16/2002
A second transit tunnel under downtown Seattle could cost as much as $1 billion and take at least eight years to complete, a preliminary report for the state Department of Transportation says.
That means it probably doesn't make sense as a way to get Sound Transit's proposed light-rail line through downtown, business leaders who pushed for the study concede.
"It's not an affordable option in the short term," said Steve Leahy, president of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce. "There were some of us who were hoping it would be more affordable."
But a second tunnel may have merit down the road — perhaps for buses or another light-rail line, he and others added.
King County Executive Ron Sims, who also is Sound Transit's board chairman, said the new report provided no reason for the agency to reconsider its plan to run light-rail trains through the existing Metro downtown bus tunnel under Third Avenue.
"But it gives us an idea for what we might want to do someday, off in the future," Sims said.
The chamber of commerce and Downtown Seattle Association began pushing for a study of a new tunnel last fall, after Sound Transit, beset by cost overruns, scaled back its proposed light-rail project to a 14-mile, $2.1 billion line linking downtown with Tukwila.
The agency said the shorter route would attract just one-third as many riders as the original line it had planned to build between SeaTac and Seattle's University District.
Sound Transit said its new plan would allow some buses to remain in the Metro tunnel (the agency's original plan had called for the tunnel to become all-rail). But the downtown business groups argued the new "joint operations" plan would result in no significant increase in the number of transit patrons using the tunnel and do little to ease downtown congestion.
A second tunnel for light rail could allow more bus service in the existing tunnel rather than less, some said, and might eliminate possible conflicts between buses and trains.
Sound Transit agreed to cooperate with a study of a second tunnel if someone else took the lead. The state Department of Transportation came up with about $125,000 for a preliminary investigation and hired Bellevue consulting firm HNTB, which hosted a three-day technical workshop that included national experts on tunnel construction.
The consultants' 24-page report was distributed to business and government officials at a briefing Tuesday. It identifies a 1.8-mile route for the second tunnel along Fifth Avenue, with stations at either end adjacent to and connecting with the existing tunnel's International District and Convention Place stations.
It proposes a third station in the heart of downtown's office district, under Fifth Avenue between Cherry and Marion streets. The second tunnel would pass under the Metro tunnel's Westlake station, but would not have its own station there or connect with the existing one.
Permitting, engineering and construction could take eight to nine and a half years, the report says. Because Sound Transit now plans to open its light-rail line in 2009, switching to the second tunnel would delay the project.
The report says the second tunnel could cost between $540 million and $800 million in today's dollars, depending on such variables as soil conditions, real-estate prices and environmental restrictions.
But when inflation is taken into account, it says, the second tunnel's costs could zoom to between $660 million and $980 million in 2008, considered the likely midpoint for construction.
" 'Where's the money?' would be the question that lurks," said the chamber's Leahy.
The Metro bus tunnel, which opened in 1990, cost $455 million. Sound Transit plans to spend $68 million converting it to joint bus-rail operations starting in 2007.
Sound Transit Executive Director Joni Earl said her agency never considered the second tunnel as a serious alternative. The cost estimates and long construction schedule spelled out in the new report "probably put it to rest for the short term," she said.
Downtown Seattle Association President Kate Joncas said she hasn't had a chance to discuss the report with her board. But Leahy's assessment that the second tunnel is too expensive for Sound Transit now "might be a rational conclusion," she said.
However, Joncas said, the report confirms a second tunnel is feasible, "and that certainly does raise some intriguing questions" for the long term. The second tunnel could be built for buses, she said: Sound Transit and Metro plan to phase them out of the existing tunnel as light-rail service expands, probably no sooner than 2016.
Or the second tunnel could handle a light-rail line from the Eastside if one were built, Sims said.
The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.)
05/16/2002
Between now and February, Spokane-area transit officials will be making major decisions about the future of a light-rail commuter train between downtown and Liberty Lake.
What kind of locomotives should be used? How many stations should be built? What impact would it have on the environment?
They hope the public will help them decide.
On Wednesday, the Spokane Transit Authority kicked off a nine-month campaign to educate people about the proposal and to solicit input that will help shape the project before it is placed on the ballot for voter approval.
The public relations effort will include public meetings, television and radio advertisements, a Web site, comment cards and newsletters — the first of which appears in 75,000 copies of today's Spokesman-Review.
"The project is not black and white. It's not in concrete," said Phyllis Holmes, a former member of the Spokane City Council who serves as chairwoman of STA's light-rail steering committee. "We need community help along the way."
Don Cain, chairman of the project's citizens advisory committee, agreed.
"Projects benefit from public involvement," Cain said. "Engineers don't know everything."
As currently envisioned, the line would run from downtown Spokane roughly to Liberty Lake, with the potential to extend north along the north Spokane freeway alignment, west to Spokane International Airport and east to Coeur d'Alene.
Trains would travel at about 55 mph, stopping at as many as 14 stations. Travel time from downtown to Liberty Lake would be about 35 minutes.
Two alternatives for the system are under consideration.
One is to build a two-track line that uses locomotives powered by electricity. Trains would arrive at stations at 10-minute intervals during rush hours. That project would cost about $585 million.
The other, deemed the "low-cost alternative," would use diesel-powered locomotives on a single track. Trains would be spaced about 15 minutes apart during rush hours. Passing lanes would be built into the system to allow trains to operate in both directions at the same time.
Cost for that option: at least $320 million. "That's rock bottom," said Greg Northcutt, STA's light rail project director.
The diesel option is cheaper because it doesn't require overhead electrical transmission lines to power the trains and also uses less track.
"We're looking at some low-cost alternatives so we can maybe get something going," Cain said.
Elements of both options could be incorporated into a separate alternative as well, said Molly Myers, STA's communications director.
"People may say they want parts of this one and parts of that one," Myers said.
Money to build and operate the project would come from the federal government and local tax dollars. The state could pitch in if the economy improves and revenues are available.
Building a commuter train could help alleviate traffic congestion along Interstate 90 as the region grows during the next few decades, transit officials said.
Surveys have shown that reasonable commute times are viewed as crucial to quality of life, said County Commissioner Kate McCaslin, who sits on the light rail steering committee.
Other communities, like Seattle, didn't plan ahead for transportation alternatives and now are paying a heavy price, McCaslin said.
"We don't want to go there," she said.
Some people aren't sure going with light rail in Spokane is the answer, however.
City Councilman Steve Eugster asked to be removed from the STA board of directors earlier this year because he doesn't believe in the project.
"At the present time, there is nowhere near the number of people being served in that transportation corridor that the proponents say will be served when the system is built," Eugster said in a statement on his Web site. "One might ask, if that is the case, is the system necessary. Is it even practical?"
McCaslin said she sees the project as an integral part of efforts to head off future traffic congestion, manage population growth and spur economic development in the Valley corridor to the tune of $1 billion.
"I hope light rail has a place in our future," she said.
Dayton Daily News
05/16/2002
DAYTON — Fifteen electric trolleys with as many as four cracked rear axle welds continue to carry passengers for the Miami Valley Regional Transit Authority, while two others were removed from service because of the severity of the cracks.
The latest problem with RTA's $550,000 electric trolleys comes as repairs are being made to cracked rear main-frame beams and suspension brackets — defects that kept all but three of the trolley fleet out of service for more than a year.
In mid-April, cracks in rear axle welds were discovered on 30 electric trolleys. Most of them were out of service at the time, part of the fleet of 54 RTA electric trolleys manufacturer Electric Transit Inc. (ETI) recalled in 2001 because of the bracket and frame cracks.
RTA officials do not know how many cracked axle welds are on the remaining 24 recalled trolleys because they have not yet been inspected.
RTA returned to service the first of the repaired trolleys in late winter, and 12 were on the road when the new defect was discovered in April.
Acting on ETI's advice, RTA is allowing trolleys with cracked welds to remain in use unless five or more of the part's eight welds are damaged, said Wayne Barnett, RTA director of operations.
"The condition is not a safety concern. Inspection criteria have been established to inspect the coaches in order to keep the coaches in service," said Susan Flowers, spokeswoman for ETI, of Hunt Valley, Md.
She said ETI and the Hungarian axle manufacturer RABA are devising a repair that should be done by the end of May and applied to all trolleys. The repair will likely involve a metal insert around a screw and a weld around a bracket, Barnett said.
Flowers emphasized that the defective axle welds are unrelated to the cracks found in suspension brackets or frame beams, the problem that took the fleet out of service last year.
Minnie Fells Johnson, executive director of RTA, downplayed the latest problem with the trolleys, which were purchased in 1994 and arrived in 1998 and 1999. Johnson said the axle weld cracks are far less serious than the bracket and frame cracks, which were discovered after a driver noticed steering problems in November 2000.
She said RTA has withheld payment of $850,000 of the trolley fleet's $32 million cost and will not release the $16 million performance bond posted by ETI until satisfactory repairs are made. She said the company will be required to honor the full length of the 18-year warranty once all trolleys return to service, probably in August.
Johnson said the cracked axle welds were not discovered during previous trolley inspections because they cannot easily be seen.
The axle weld cracks were discovered locally after being found first in electric trolleys purchased from ETI by the San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Agency, said Flowers, the ETI spokeswoman.
The California transit agency, which awarded ETI a $170 million contract for 250 electric trolleys, has received 68 trolleys and removed from service the six found to have cracked welds, said Maggie Lynch, spokeswoman for the agency. She said agency officials stopped delivery on all trolleys until the problem is fixed. It is the first major problem San Francisco has had with the trolleys and she praised ETI's response.
Barnett said RTA believes the trolley buses are safe to operate with fewer than five cracked welds, unless four cracks are on one side of the axle. According to RTA records, four of the buses now in use have four cracks, and on two of those four there is one crack each on the axle front and rear sections on both sides of the trolley.
If all eight welds on the axle failed, the bus body would fall onto the axle, Barnett said.
The cracked frames and suspension brackets that resulted in last year's recall of 54 RTA trolleys was caused by metal that was too thin. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration reported that the frame defect could cause the rear section of the bus to "catastrophically fail, causing loss of vehicle braking and possible electrical fires."
ETI is reinforcing the metal with more brackets and gussets, a process being overseen by welding inspectors hired by ETI and consultants hired by RTA. Barnett said the federal traffic safety agency will evaluate the repairs.
Last June, ETI executives told the RTA board of trustees that the company's future success was riding on resolution of electric trolley problems in Dayton.
ETI, a joint venture company formed by AAI Corp., also of Hunt Valley, Md., and SKODA, of the Czech Republic, is owned by the defense and energy company United Industrial Corp. of New York. On Wednesday, United Industrial Corp. (NYSE:UIC), released its first quarter earnings for 2002 and included a $4.9 million estimated loss to be incurred by ETI. Flowers said the $4.9 million is the amount being set aside to fix trolleys in Dayton and San Francisco.
RTA board members contacted Wednesday said they are satisfied that the company is responding aggressively to the trolley problems, which also include defects in electrical systems that have now been retrofitted.
"I guess as a taxpayer it would give me some concern about the quality of them," said Trustee Berman Layer. "But since I know the total picture, knowing every effort that the supplier of the buses is going through to try and solve this issue, I don't feel to uncomfortable with it at all."
The Boston Globe
05/16/2002
Building a commuter rail link between the two largest cities in Southeastern Massachusetts and Boston will cost nearly $60 million more and take two years longer to build than previous estimates, according to a final MBTA environmental impact review released yesterday on the proposed New Bedford-Fall River rail extension.
The report, which will now be reviewed by Secretary of Environmental Affairs Robert Durand, said the project's cost has risen from $610 million to $669 million and its completion date has been pushed back from 2005 to 2007.
It analyzes the environmental impact of the project — 27 miles of new or reconstructed track running from Stoughton south before splitting to link Southeastern Massachusetts' two largest cities to the state's largest public transit system.
Citing the size and complexity of the report, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority officials asked Durand for a 65-day comment period. The usual period for comment is 30 days.
The project's cost increase is attributed primarily to the two-year construction delay plus an additional $5 million in planned environmental projects necessary to lessen the rail line's impact.
Senator Mark C. Montigny, a Democrat from New Bedford, said yesterday that despite the cost increase and delay, he's confident the commuter rail line will be built. "I consider it to be not only one of the most important economic development projects for the region, but one of the top transportation issues for the Commonwealth," he said.
Montigny, who chairs the Senate's Ways and Means Committee, said the New Bedford-Fall River region has the political clout to make certain the project will not die. "The time has come," he said.
Southeastern Massachusetts has experienced a boom in recent years as people have sought more affordable homes. But, other than cars, the only commuting option to Boston is offered by private bus lines.
The release of the final environmental impact report by the MBTA is a major milestone for the project. However, state officials admit that without a major funding influx from the Legislature, the proposed rail line will be hard to turn into a reality.
To contain costs, Transportation Secretary James H. Scanlan said officials are considering adopting a design-build option for the rail line, under which contractors working hand-in-hand with designers are responsible for remaining within a set allocation. That process would make it less likely the price tag would rise beyond $669 million.
"It is a priority," Scanlan said of the New Bedford-Fall River project. "The key will be to identify the design and early action items." But he admitted money is tight.
The MBTA has only allocated $33 million for the project in its recently approved five-year capital improvement plan.
The rail line is badly needed, according to the report.
The corridor it will serve is one of the fastest-growing in the Commonwealth and is projected to increase by 12%, or more than 500,000 people, by 2020.
The report also said that the MBTA's preferred route is from the Stoughton station south. Previous configurations had the rail line extending south from Attleboro.
The line would follow the inactive Stoughton rail line to Longmeadow Street in Taunton, use existing freight tracks through the east side of Taunton to Weir Junction, and continue through Cotley Junction to Myricks Junction in Berkley, where the New Bedford and Fall River lines would split.
(NOTE: at $669 million for 27 miles, or about $25 million per mile, this will cost about the same as current light rail construction costs on existing rights of way.)
The Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah)
05/16/2002
PROVO — A few decades ago, some predicted that by the year 2050 we would be living like the Jetsons — cruising along "skyways" at 500 mph and taking vacations to Venus.
Turns out getting from Provo to Salt Lake City will be difficult enough. Regional planners say I-15 will become one giant parking lot unless it is widened further and other transit systems improved within the next 50 years.
"I tell people, the situation you're dealing with today is the best it's going to get until we do something different," said Darrell Cook, executive director of Mountainlands Association of Governments. "We're very close to having the kind of gridlock everyone is paranoid about. One improvement we've looked at is commuter rail."
Cook says a commuter rail line from Provo to Salt Lake could mean 400 fewer vehicles on I-15 during morning and evening rush hours.
While such a rail line is more than a decade away, Provo city leaders are already preparing for it. Mayor Lewis Billings says a new train station at 600 South and 300 West in south Provo, which was formally dedicated on Wednesday, is destined to become a transportation hub offering bus, train and light-rail services.
Regional planners say the station will be one of two such transportation hubs in Utah County, the other being located near Utah Valley State College in Orem.
The hubs are part of the long-term transportation plan for the county.
Cook also envisions a rapid bus transit system that starts at UVSC, runs up to University Mall, then down to Brigham Young University, along University Avenue to Center Street, and ends at the Provo Towne Centre mall.
Cook says the bus would run along a dedicated right of way and could preempt traffic lights the way the light rail system does in Salt Lake County.
The route would eventually be used as a commuter rail line, Cook says.
These elements of the transportation plan are at least 10 to 15 years away. Meanwhile, Utah County officials must deal with the gridlock drivers are already experiencing, especially drivers trying to get onto I-15 during rush hour.
Cook says planners have identified three locations in Provo as possible sites for a new interchange: 920 South, 820 North and 2000 North.
An alternative to more onramps is a collector/distributor road that would run parallel to I-15 with several access points to the freeway. The road would be built within the existing I-15 right of way, and drivers would merge onto the freeway instead of using onramps.
"Our greatest challenge is getting the funding for these projects," Cook said. "Many times it's not until things develop into a crisis that we have the motivation to act."
While voters in Davis, Weber and Salt Lake counties approved a quarter cent sales tax increase to fund light rail projects, Utah County has yet to put it on a ballot.
New York Daily News
05/16/2002
Subway crime has dropped to 30-year lows while ridership has ballooned to nearly 50-year highs, according to new statistics obtained by the Daily News.
The dramatic numbers show crime is down 6.2% through early May, compared with the same period last year. Serious reported crimes are on track for the lowest total since 1969.
Meanwhile, average weekday subway ridership reached 4.68 million last month, compared with a weekday average of 4.58 million last year — when ridership was the highest since 1953.
The crime and ridership numbers are closely related, transit experts said, because the combination of safer subways and MetroCard discounts are a magnet for commuters.
"The safer the subways, the more people will take them," said Gene Russianoff, a lawyer for the Straphangers Campaign, part of the New York Public Interest Research Group. "A busy subway is probably a deterrent to crime — there are more eyes, more activity," he said.
"People don't think of the subway as a neighborhood, (but) it's much safer than above ground," added Beverly Dolinsky, head of the New York City Transit Riders Council, a mass transit advocacy group.
Through early this month, 1,201 felonies were reported in the subway system — an average of fewer than 10 a day.
There were no murders, two rapes and 100 assaults — virtually identical to last year's numbers.
Robberies dropped 4%, to 430, and grand larcenies, which includes pickpockets, dropped nearly 8%, to 666.
"We're actively out there policing smart," Transit Bureau Police Chief William Calhoun said.
Subway crime peaked in 1990, when there were about 18,000 felonies.
Transit police are keeping close tabs on where serious crimes are taking place and stationing cops, both uniformed and undercover, at trouble spots, Calhoun said.
Cops also continue to focus on smaller offenses — such as fare-beating, vandalism, smoking and littering — believing that nabbing culprits prevents them from committing more serious crimes.
Praising police strategies, Russianoff said: "You could argue with more riders, you'd have more potential victims and more opportunities. The fact that crime is going down while ridership is up is a sign that police are doing a great job."
San Jose Mercury News
05/16/2002
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A bill that would allow cities to approve high-density development near busy bus and rail stops — even if traffic in surrounding neighborhoods would significantly worsen — was approved Wednesday by a state panel.
The bill, SB 1636, passed the Senate Local Government Committee 4-2, with Republicans opposed. It now moves to Senate floor, where it is expected to be approved next week. But it faces an uncertain fate in the Assembly.
The bill would create "infill opportunity zones" within a third of a mile of busy rail and bus stops, where rules that now bar new development unless certain traffic standards are upheld could be waived.
Under current rules, cities cannot allow developers to build unless they make street improvements — such as widening — that keep busy intersections from being gridlocked.
Proponents say the bill, sponsored by state Sen. Liz Figueroa, D-Fremont, would reduce traffic congestion regionwide by concentrating new residential and commercial development near transit stops in cities instead of forcing it to outlying areas. The proposed exemptions would apply only in the 20 urban California counties with populations exceeding 400,000.
Figueroa said the bill would help generate riders for the new BART extension to San Jose.
"We are seeing more and more studies that show when people live near public transit, they use it," Figueroa said.
The bill is co-sponsored by two Republican assemblymen _ Bill Campbell, R-Irvine, and Tom Harman, R-Huntington Beach. Supporters include the Valley Transportation Authority, California Building Industry Association and California Bicycle Coalition.
Another supporter, the city of San Jose, has already taken steps to encourage transit-oriented development within its borders by lifting restrictions that banned development near intersections where delays exceed a minute.
But opponents say traffic would worsen within core cities because few of the new residents would use the nearby bus or rail lines. The bill is opposed by the San Mateo County Council of Cities.
"It's just Sacramento telling locals how they should do their planning," said Sen. Dick Ackerman, R-Tustin, who voted against the bill Wednesday. "We're trying to jam something in because we think from a social engineering standpoint that it's going to work, but there's not evidence people will use public transportation."
The Independent
Thursday, May 16, 2002
Railtrack is scouring the world to make up a shortfall of 1,000 engineers and another 3,000 technical staff, the company admitted yesterday.
As evidence mounted that the Potters Bar rail crash was caused by inadequate maintenance, Railtrack disclosed that the industry was seeking skilled employees in countries as diverse as South Africa, Australia, India, Romania and the Philippines. In an interview published in Rail magazine today, David Carrier, head of engineering education at Railtrack, said: "The competence of the whole industry has eroded." He warned, however, that attracting experts from overseas was not the long-term solution, because they would ultimately want to return to their own countries. "We must grow our own." he said.
Richard Middleton, Railtrack's technical director, conceded that since privatisation there had been a lack of consistent standards and insufficient emphasis from the company on technical competence. Most of the engineers being taken on by Railtrack were from outside the industry. Those with railway expertise were invariably taken from another rail company. The budget for such activities had also been reduced by 3% every year since the industry was privatised.
Mr Middleton admitted that since the sell-off, more responsibility had been placed on contractors for maintenance of the network. In an attempt to meet the shortfall of qualified staff, future contracts awarded by Railtrack were likely to contain a requirement that the winning firm committed itself to training.
Mr Carrier said the task of the industry was likely to become more difficult because London Underground would need more skilled people as lines were rebuilt and stations refurbished.
Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT union, said: "Private companies in the rail industry clearly see training as a cost rather than an investment."
An American man died and another is fighting for his life today after being hit by a Tube train at King's Cross while "larking around".
The victims, both understood to be 21-year-old tourists from San Francisco, rolled over the edge of the platform.
One man, who died instantly, was pulled onto the tracks and run over by the approaching Victoria line train. The other suffered severe head injuries as he was pushed back onto the platform on impact.
Horrified witnesses who were waiting for the northbound train just after midnight have told police the two, who were returning home after a night out, were "play-fighting".
British Transport Police officers are treating it as an accident and said it was not suspicious.
The survivor is being treated in a specialist neurological unit at University College Hospital where his condition is described as very serious. Staff say the next 24 hours are critical.
A BTP spokeswoman said today: "It appears to be an accident involving two friends involved in a bit of horseplay on the platform. It seems they were hit as they hung over the edge of the platform. One of the men was dragged onto the line and the other was thrown back onto the platform. The driver did not have time to take avoiding action. The man who has suffered severe head injuries is on a ventilator.
"It shows that utmost care must be taken when travelling on the Underground at all times."
Police have informed the American Embassy and the parents of the victims are flying to London today.
Police shut down all services after the accident at 12.20am while an examination of the scene was carried out. A post mortem is being carried out today and an inquest will be opened at St Pancras coroner's court.
London Underground recently launched a public awareness campaign about the dangers of drinking while taking the Tube.
In March a 19-year-old man was electrocuted after falling onto the track at Moor Park station, near Rickmansworth.
In another incident a young woman died after jumping on the line to retrieve her mobile phone. At Wembley Park a drunk female commuter had to be rescued after climbing into a tunnel.
Los Angeles Times
05/17/2002
The state Public Utilities Commission narrowly approved the design of the light-rail line already under construction between Los Angeles and Pasadena, calling for few changes other than the imposition of speed and sound reductions.
The commission—which oversees rail safety in the state—voted 3-to-2 Thursday in favor of the current plans for the railway, giving a green light for street-level crossings that had been the subject of concern among some who live along the nearly 14-mile route.
"Significant public benefit will result in timely project completion," said Commissioner Henry Duque, who touted the line as a tool to improve air quality, boost job access and reduce auto accidents. Trains mixing with cars and pedestrians along the route, he said, "will be safe."
Duque's plan won out over another blueprint, which called for a putting the trains in long trenches at several intersections. That plan would have been a huge blow to transit officials because it could have cost close to $100 million and possibly have pushed the railway's proposed July 2003 start date back a decade.
During its deliberations, the commission focused mostly on busy Del Mar Boulevard, just south of Pasadena's Old Town, where trains will travel through an apartment complex that will limit sight lines for train operators. Duque's plan calls on trains, which will run up to 250 times daily, to not exceed 20 mph at the crossing. His plan asks the PUC's rail safety staff to monitor the crossing and slow the trains further if there are accidents.
Commission President Loretta Lynch strongly disagreed, saying she was troubled by Del Mar Boulevard.
Lynch was not convinced that safety measures at Del Mar — including gates to keep cars from the tracks — would be adequate. She criticized the plan to have PUC staff monitor, and possibly alter, train speeds — moves likely to be made only after bad accidents.
"By then," said Lynch, pushing for the train to be put into a trench at Del Mar, "it would be too late."
Siding with Lynch was Commissioner Carl Wood.
Joining Duque were Commissioners Michael Peevey, a Pasadena-area resident, and Geoffrey Brown. Before the vote, observers close to the commission said they were unsure what would happen, but some that speculated Brown would provide the swing vote.
A San Francisco resident, Brown said the line had the backing of scores of residents and almost every major politician from the Los Angeles and Pasadena area. He noted that light-rail trains in his city often run on bustling streets. "Compared to other lines that I know, this will be a safe operation," he said.
Perhaps most relieved Thursday was Rick Thorpe, chief executive of the Los Angeles to Pasadena Metro Construction Authority, the agency created in 1998 to build the line after a then-struggling MTA had spent tens of millions of dollars planning it.
Thorpe had been criticized for building before being granted approval by the PUC, a move he argues he was forced into since he was told to build as fast as possible on a tight budget of $451 million.
"I'm completely relieved," he said. "I hate 3-2 votes, but in the end, we prevailed and that's all that matters."
Thorpe said construction at the crossings would begin as soon as possible and added that the half-finished railway is about three months behind schedule.
A small group of citizens who had fought for years to put the railway in trenches through Pasadena took the news hard. "It is a turning point in the life of Pasadena," said Karen Cutts. "Its future will go in the wrong direction."
Larry Hoffman, a lawyer who has represented his neighbors in the Mt. Washington area, said said most of his clients were willing to accept a compromise floated by some PUC officials to limit train speeds and reduce the use of horns. The commission voted for those changes.
"We are really pleased with the result, and proud of it," he said. "We feel like we've won."
South China Morning Post
05/17/2002
MTR Corp plans to break into the mainland market, building and operating subway lines, according to chairman Jack So Chak-kwong.
Speaking after the corporation's shareholder meeting yesterday, he said the MTRC had recently announced its presence in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen by providing consultancy services. The group was building on its experience in running Hong Kong subways.
"In future, there is a possibility (that we co-operate with provincial governments to build and operate subway services). At present, we enter the mainland market by doing consultancy works," he said.
The MTRC's consultancy work spanned nine cities around the world, with 33 projects.
In Hong Kong, passenger numbers and fare revenue from four urban subway lines and the Airport Express had been fickle as a result of cut-throat competition from buses.
Separately yesterday, Kowloon Motor Bus Holdings revealed fare revenue jumped 3.2% in the first four months of this year.
Last month, MTRC's combined urban-line patronage edged up 4.9% year on year to 60.61 million as Easter holidays fell in March. Last month's passenger numbers represented a 5.77% fall from March this year.
Analysts said heading to the mainland where subway services remained in their infancy would allow MTRC to capitalise on experience.
Another key reason behind the mainland expansion was uncertainty surrounding MTRC's bidding for the HK $30 billion rail link project between Sha Tin and Central.
Property director Thomas Ho Hang-kwong said that in the first quarter next year MTRC would put on tender the development of Tseung Kwan O's Area 86 — a giant residential project temporarily called Dream City.
The corporation yesterday signed a lease agreement with the Government and would settle the land premium on the development when the tender was launched, he said.
However, it had paid a premium of HK $150 million for its train depot at Area 86. Dream City, at Clear Water Bay peninsula where the Tseung Kwan O rail extension terminates, is the single largest planned residential estate in Hong Kong, with 21,500 flats housing 58,000 residents.
Mr Ho said tender of the development at Hang Hau station was scheduled next month. This project offers 1.53 million square feet of residential-retail space.
Asked if the huge supply of apartments in Tseung Kwan O would depress the new town's apartment prices, he said: "Tseung Kwan O itself is a property market. Also, the MTR railway extension will be available in mid-August."