June 13, 2006
Problems With Rail Cars Squeeze Metro
For months, we've been anxiously awaiting the new and improved rail cars Metro has been promising. The cars will have fewer vertical bars, which clog up the area near the doors in their current configuration. A commenter (who possibly works for Metro?) recently passed along a few pictures of the new cars, getting transit geeks and commuters alike even more worked up with anticipation.
However, as we noted this morning, most of the cars that were slated to be rolled out this month will be delayed due to cracks found in a critical part. That is just the beginning, though. Of the 100 cars that Metro wanted to have on the tracks by the end of this year, only 50 will be ready for service. With daily ridership continuing to increase and the full brunt of the summer tourist season bearing down, this could seriously affect Metro's ability to handle crowds.
We'd feel better about this debacle if Metro did not have a history of working with companies that flubb orders. According to the Washington Post, of the 1,136 rail cars that Metro has ordered over it's 30 year history, well over a third - 38% - have required some sort of post-delivery adjustment.
The standard response is that very few companies manufacture rail cars, and because they are built to order, kinks must be worked out by rotating problematic cars out of service. This might work for other transit systems that have plenty of extra capacity lying around. However, on any given day, Metro only has a dozen or so spare cars.
We hate to criticize Metro while it is in a tight spot, but it seems like they could have learned something from the past and written some sort of backstop into their contract with Alstom, the manufacturer (a free rail car for every month of delay, or perhaps a discount on the next order?). Even though Alstom will pay for the repairs, they are still getting off the hook pretty easily. It is unacceptable that Metro riders might be forced to bear this burden, which can be blamed squarely on the manufacturer, with no redress.
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Short people everywhere will mourn the loss of the vertical bars. For we are too short to reach the ceiling bars, even in our mightiest high heels and we know that we will go flying into other people's backs/shoulders/butts at every Metro stop if we aren't lucky enough to snag a bit of rail at the wall (where people will inevitably lean on them taking up as much space as possible) or one of the few remaining seats.
*sigh...
I can't reach the overhead bars. :(
Tall people everywhere will cheer the loss of the vertical bars. That means the bar that ran down the center of the aisle on ceiling is gone, and that means I no longer will hit my head on it at a hard stop, which occurred at least once a day.
Despair not, my wee friends... While there will be no vertical bars in the doorway area, bars will be added along the ailes - you can see then in the pics. There will be four on each side, which arguably gives you more grab space than the current setup.
I like to use the entire car as my personal grab space. Jiggidy Jiggidy!
So DC faced high penalties for any delay in constructing the new baseball stadium (since removed - Thanks City Council) and yet when metro contracts out for new cars there is no penalty for delays? Hunh? I don't know when they are going to discuss their next round of procurement, but I hope they get some pressure to consider Alstom's track-record when awarding the bid.
Why do short people bitch about the vertical bar thing so much? There's a little bar on the back of every bloody front/back facing seat. Grab onto that! Because you shouldn't be crowding around the doors, anyway.
BTW, whatever happened to the plan of turning some of the seats inward?
I say do away with most of the seats. Makes more space.
I vote for all overhead bars to be eliminated, because it is gross to stand next to someone who has their smelly, sweaty armpit in my face.
I'm actually shocked that the Breda cars worked out so well.
The new Breda cars in San Francisco were more heavy than the previous cars and required retracking the entire system! (Now that's a screw up.)
And there was the other little problem of the cars being too long and so not as many were able to daisy chain on to the platforms (SF muni has light rail which come together and split off and various points. Or so that was how it was supposed to work. You'd have a train consisting of an M and L. And then at the Y -- the M would go one way and the L the other.)
All those screw ups can mostly can be blamed on McLean, Virginia's own Booz Allen. Once the sh*t hit the fan though, the Mayor of San Francisco put in place some performance goals and restitution. And I think they got some money from either Breda or Booz Allen in the end.
I hope Metro does the same.
? how do you know there is no penalty in the contract? Have you seen the contract? The Post news story says nothing about penalties for the contractor. Further, how do you know the contractor is squarely to blame? And where is this transit system that has "plenty of extra capacity laying around," and if it exists, why is it ordering new railcars?
Massyett is correct; there's nothing in the Post article that clarifies how the cost (repairing and possible penalties for not delivering a working product on-time) is being handled.
Frankly, I think it's an example of poor reporting by the paper. The public needs to know about good or dismal contracting practices, and they just didn't ask and get the answers to those important questions here.
I believe I posted the link originally.. I don't work for WMATA, nor does the person who posted the pics (not my site!). He is an avid enthusiast who has followed Metro since pre-opening and has a fantastic knowledge of the system. He originally posted the link in the forums on railroad.net.
Note there are also vertical bars right next to the doors.. on the side of where the system map or an ad would be.
This new design is really crappy. See that huge open space in between the doors where there will be at least 40 people crammed in at busy times (highlighted in gray), what the hell are they going to hold on to when the train comes to a screeching halt? They should at least have the loop bars that you can pull down from the ceiling if you need and then they retract back when not in use. Although, as long as you can grab a seat, it will be fun to watch people flying. Let the chaos/lawsuits ensue.
Brendan - Near the center doors (not shown here, down a couple links) there is an overhead bar across the aisle. However, this bar does not seem to be in place near the end doors. Good observation.
i agree with brendan. in the morning when i have to get on the train to go to work, the whole car is jammed and i usually rely on the vertical bars by the door to steady myself. as a short person, i fear these new cars - i can't reach the overhead bars, and now i don't have anything to hold onto when the train conductor breaks suddenly, or stops. couldn't they at least put a couple vertical bars by the doors (and tell ppl they aren't for leaning)???
It hardly matters if there are more vertical bars in the aisles. People will still have to stand near the doors during rush hour and most tall commuters are completely oblivious to the needs of the vertically challenged and our desire to stand in an area where we can hold on to something.
Heypretty - Sorry we aren't all mind readers. Have you tried asking people?
I know I won't get much sympathy for my next comment either but,
I usually commute in the opposite direction of rush hour and the trains are never that crowded. Less seats means more standing around in that huge open space, or oops, I mean either pressed up against the wall to hold those wall rails or towering over Ed as I'm holding onto one of the seat rails while he bitches that my bag is hitting him in the face and people bump into me as they exit, or wait maybe he wouldn't because he'll be so glad I'm not crowding the door.
you know, why can't they just put all the seats on the walls facing inward (like the NYC subway).
that will free up space all over the car, not just near the doors. they'd probably be able to fit more seats, too.
chris - the mcmansion richies who ride in from Shady Grove, Vienna, Franc-Spring, etc. would bitch about having to stand for an hour.
gretta - I'm confused. If the trains aren't that crowded, what's the problem? You should be able to control your bag on the Metro, no matter what height you are.