“I think we’ve had about 70 years of service from this design,” Metra Chairman Norm Carlson said at the Chicago commuter rail agency’s board meeting. “What we’re looking for is a smart car that meets the needs of the 21st century.”
Metra issued the original railcar RFP in April 2017. It called for 75 new gallery cars with an option to purchase additional cars depending on the responses, the amount of funding available and whether Metra could use financing for the purchase.
Only one manufacturer, CRRC Sifang America, which will be based in a new plant in Chicago, responded to the RFP, said Metra CEO and Executive Director Jim Derwinski. He said he hoped other car makers would offer more competitive prices and improved designs.
“Innovation will be on the minds of the team” evaluating the new RFP, Derwinski said.
In a statement, Metra said it hopes the new request will encourage manufacturers of different style cars to compete for Metra’s business and result in cars that are the most modern, comfortable and provide the best value.
Derwinski and Carlson pointed out that Metra’s central-boarding, bi-level gallery cars were initially designed in the 1930s and 1940s. Other options could allow more seating, improved access, and better compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act regulations.
According to Metra, alternative car designs now available have lower, platform-level boarding that could benefit ADA customers and families with strollers when boarding and de-training.
Other designs have different side-loading door configurations that could potentially lessen the time it takes passengers to board and exit the train, which would also speed train trips. Other features that will be considered for incorporation include heated floors and charging outlets.
Having ridden both the Pullman designed (and repeated by Nippon Sharyo, Budd and others) gallery cars and the Bombardier style bi-levels many, many times on Metra, I will throw in my two cents.
The Pullman approach with a dual sided, dual opening doors, with upper level single aisle chairs was based on the express need for conductors to check tickets and collect fares in an expedited fashion. As conductor crews were reduced over the years, this has put more pressure on them to collect quickly. Elimination of cash fares in 2010 was a huge help.
But with electronic fare collection and the extensive use of the internet for demand management, this provides a large opportunity to redesign cars to leverage this capability.
One large request from riders for many years has been public wifi access on the cars. The original design proposal by Metra (back in 2000) was not that great and did not leverage current technology very well. The tech supporting in car internet access has made huge strides since that original request and is viable. This would also support e-ticket collection and permit telemetrics on engine and car performance while in service.
If Metra had a modern car with telemetry, BNSF would have been able to catch their air conditioning issues much sooner and taken the car out of service.
The one request that will never be supported on Metra is cell call repeating. Metra riders will not and do not tolerate 1 way conversations on trains. Metra trains also don’t traverse tunnels like CTA lines do. CTA updated their subways with cell repeaters as their clientele are less sensitive to phone use.
Also in the mix is crush and safety standards, which Nippon Sharyo in Rochelle is struggling with. While some have presented it as a design issue, its really an engineering to meet a price point issue as well. Metra would like to have cars that are stronger and lighter to save fuel.
Metra has purchased gallery cars in the past that have unique handicap access platforms, but they have required all handicap boarding’s to occur in a single spot on the platform where that car (usually the only one in the consist) can be operated by the conductor. These are also the cars that have handicap bathrooms and 4 stalls per wheelchair to “tie up” for the trip. If all cars were so equipped or had a extended platform that worked automatically at every stop, you would not need a conductor to operate it.
Metra has added distance to their routes in the last 20 years. The original seats weren’t really designed for trips over an hour with overweight Americans. If I was on the local service from Fox Lake to the Loop, it would probably be uncomfortable.
Charging ports for USB style devices has also been requested for some time, but todays cars require some kind of HEP to power the lights, A/C and heaters. Can new cars use some newer technology (like a hybrid) to store energy locally and reduce the HEP requirements?
Security. While the platforms have security cameras, there are none in the gallery cars. While in-car crime on Metra is not large (usually purse nipping or purse snatching), in car cameras will also help with Metra’s liability coverage.
Travel status displays. While not a large request, today most boarding/arrival announcements are done by the lead conductor over the PA (many have digital replay). LCD displays with safety information, rules and regs on noise and then transit status would provide a added layer of confidence in how the trip was proceeding and if any delays are expected to be encountered.
Hopefully that provides some ideas on what a modern commute should look like.
Here is the update with the existing cars from March 2017.
Metra has started the next round of its in-house railcar rehabilitation program, where Metra workers with decades of know-how and experience transform old railcars to like-new condition at the agency’s 49th Street Car Shop.
The first round of the program, which began in 2010 and cost $115 million, renovated 176 railcars that were manufactured by Amerail (originally Morrison Knudson) and delivered to Metra between 1995 and 1998. The 176th and final railcar rolled out of the facility earlier this month.
The work now moves to the next round – 302 railcars that were manufactured by Nippon Sharyo and delivered to Metra between 2002 and 2008. The program will be able to rehab about 35 railcars a year until about 2020, when the facility will be expanded and capacity will increase to about 60 railcars annually. The current cost of renovating the Nippon Sharyo railcars is about $700,000 each.
“We are extremely proud of this program and the workers who have made it such a huge success,” said Metra Executive Director/CEO Don Orseno. “Not only does it produce like-new railcars thanks to our highly skilled workers, but we keep jobs and investment right here in the Chicago area. It’s truly a win-win program.”
In the program, each car is gutted and outfitted with new passenger amenities such as electric outlets to power phones and other small electronics, sensitive-edge outer doors that will retract if they come in contact with a person or object, four new LED signs per car to display station announcements and new toilets and bathrooms, wheelchair lifts, composite floors and seats. The upgrades also include overhauled air conditioning systems, upgraded battery chargers used for emergency lighting and hardware components for the federally mandated Positive Train Control safety system.
The Amerail railcars could be completely stripped and rebuilt in 32 days. But thanks to lessons learned so far and slightly different work, the 60 carmen, electricians and sheet metal workers assigned to the program will be able to complete each Nippon Sharyo railcar in about 28 days each. The rehabs extend the life of each car by about 12 to 15 years.
In a separate program at Metra’s KYD facility, Metra workers are renovating 41 cars that were built by Budd and delivered in 1974. Between the two programs, Metra expects to renovate about 43 railcars in 2017. Metra also has two separate locomotive programs, one of them in-house, that will renovate about 18 locomotives this year.
Transit advocates here in Chicago have been campaigning for them to get new car designs for years, hopefully this will finally get them to do it. Getting Bombardier bi-levels, for instance, will allow for more seating and easier boarding for wheelchairs, bikes, strollers, and others with mobility issues who don’t use wheelchairs.
Why Metra has been so committed to keeping the outdated gallery design for so long I’ll never understand.
Dennis Bolsega; Good luck with that. Even if something says Made in USA, it may well be made with components (even chemicals or minerals or food components) that come from China.
It’s basically impossible to avoid Chinese manufactured goods at this point.
The simplest solution is to get Bombardier BiLevels.
As long as all Metra lines but one are stuck with low level platforms (i.e. from now until time ends), Metra will have a big problem with car design. Metra’s only dedicated passenger route, which is Metra Electric, has its problems but it does have high-level platforms. Night and day compared to the rest of the system.
Wow, Nippon which is in Rochelle IL didnt bid? Kawasaki didn’t bid? Bombardier? Hmmmm. Something aint right
I would think most commuters only ride for a maximum of 1hr or less in Chicagoland and do not need all the bells and whistles that run up the cost of new equipment . Safety, comfort and on time trains is good enough !
I must point out that CRRC is a Chinese company. I will not buy a C
hinese car, or food. I also turn away anything made in China that I possibly can.