Although the article, below, is from April 10th, it is very
informative. One of the questions I have is, can this technology
work with third-rail power access or must it have overhead
catenaries. This would make a huge difference in Atherton, Menlo
Park, Palo Alto and further south. If only overhead cables can be
used, most of the trees along the rail corridor would need to be
removed. Also, note the last paragraph. The point is, will this
vision even happen in the foreseeable future or is it more
smoke-and-mirrors. Those among us who are struggling to re-open
closed stations and increase baby-bullet service to other stations
have been told by Caltrain that such changes must wait until
electrification. As I have pointed out previously, electrification
capital development costs are in the $1 billion range. Where is that
going to come from? A billion here, a billion there; it all adds up.

Here's a thought: There are still many grade crossings not separated.
Right now, almost 100 trains go north and south each day. With
EMU's, each running independently and not as multi-car trains, how
many times will the crossing gates go up and down each day?

Martin
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Published Tuesday, April 10, 2007, by California Rail News

Caltrain plans 21st Century fleet

By Richard F. Tolmach

Caltrain operations manager Bob Doty gave a frank assessment of
existing North American commuter rail equipment at the CalRail 2020
conference in Oakland, last November. At various moments in his
presentation, he described it as being overweight, slow, and outmoded.

Doty, who arrived at Caltrain fresh from a stint managing construction
on the London-Channel Tunnel high speed rail extension, can be
forgiven for being a bit impatient with American ideas of rail
efficiency.

Quoted in the Palo Alto Daily News in January, Doty was even more
forceful. "This is the time and this is the place to change an
industry," said Doty, "Once we pass this opportunity up, we won't
get it again." <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/33238>

Doty has made the case that off-the-shelf European-design lightweight
electric cars can cut operating costs, boost speeds, and improve
service productivity. Caltrain has announced plans to challenge the
prohibition on use of modern European rail equipment in the United
States.

Caltrain's capital plan, "Project 2025," is to replace its aging
fleet of diesel locomotives and gallery cars a modern fleet of self-
propelled electric cars. Caltrain intends either to convince state
and federal authorities to change regulations prohibiting lightweight
cars from operating on the same tracks as conventional fleets, or
physically separate the corridor from the rest of California's
network.

Progressive operators around the U.S. are hoping Caltrain is
successful on its battle for modern equipment. If it wins the battle,
the door would be open to world-class fleets, which are cheaper,
faster, and more energy-efficient than current American designs.

Project 2025 was a response to Caltrain management's concerns about
how to gain a bigger market share in an increasingly congested
travel corridor. Electric multiple unit (EMU) trains, the favored
mode in Europe and Japan, were chosen because they offer lower track
maintenance expenses, lower equipment operating expense, lower fuel
costs and higher speeds. Their superior rates of acceleration allow
a 10 minute time savings on a 15-stop stretch, compared to current
locomotive- hauled trains.

Current sets are capacity constrained because beyond six cars, diesel
locomotive acceleration times delay service unacceptably. Even with
five-car consists, only one peak-hour run can be made by most sets.
A new fleet of EMUs making faster turns would increase Caltrain's
peak hour capacity from about 5,400 seats to more than 17,000.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has stood in the way of
technological innovation on U.S. railroads, by perpetuating a flawed
concept of rail safety. The FRA's idea of safety dates from the
beginning of the 20th Century, and is focused on adding tons of steel
to equipment, rather than requiring crumple zones and collision
avoidance technology to protect passengers.

Modern passenger equipment is called by the FRA "non-compliant"
because it lacks the overbuilt endframes of American cars, but
Europeans ridicule the U.S. practice.

Caltrain officials hope to persuade the Federal regulators that
European-style EMUs and conventional trains can use the same tracks
safely if a Positive Train Control (PTC) system is implemented on
the Peninsula tracks.

The Lockheed-Martin technology used by the recent Illinois study of
PTC did not work out, but recent BNSF and Michigan tests have proven
the principle, stopping trains automatically before they endanger
other trains.

Caltrain faces uphill battles with the FRA and the state Public
Utilities Commission. It is hoped that the National Transportation
Safety Board and the Federal Transit Administration will add some
rationality to the debate, because they are not necessarily convinced
of the FRA's policies.

Even if Caltrain does win, the process of change may be slow.
Complete conversion of the fleet may take a decade or more to
accomplish, given the financial constraints of Bay Area
transportation.

-- 
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Martin Engel
1621 Stone Pine Lane
Menlo Park, CA 94025
650:323-1670
martinengel@earthlink.net
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