PITTSBURGH — The city’s transit agency has applied for a $100 million federal grant as part of its process to replace its current fleet of light rail vehicles, the Pittsburgh Union Progress reports.
Pittsburgh Regional Transit is looking to replace its entire 81-car fleet of 53 cars built by Siemens AG in the 1980s, with the remainder manufactured by CAF. Those newer cars are about 20 years old, and would face major upgrades by the time the new equipment is available, so will also be replaced, CEO Katharine Eagan Kellerman told the news site.
The replacement process is expected to take six to eight years. The agency expects to hire a consultant in 2024 to begin design of a prototype in 2024
Applications under the Federal Transit Administration’s Rail Vehicle Replacement grant program were due by Dec. 18 [see “FTA offers almost $200 million …,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 12, 2023].
Good question. Why must a consultant be hired to design a new car? Thus the high cost of equipment. Everyone wants their own special equipment. Where’s today’s PCC car?
Just have Brookville do the job, not that hard to make sure a quality Penna. company gets the contract. 🤷🏻♂️
And PRT thinks it has to spend money it doesn’t have to design replacement cars rather than buying off the shelf and saving time to complete the replacement?
Does PRT even have an established restricted Fund reserved for equipment replacement? I know they existed in the 1960’s when my required Governmental accounting course discussed this concept.