PETALUMA, Calif. — Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit, which operates Nippon Sharyo diesel multiple-unit passenger trains similar to those that led to a weekend shutdown of Toronto’s Union Pierson Express, has inspected its equipment and found no problems, a SMART spokesman tells Trains News Wire.
The brakes on the two fleets are slightly different, Matt Stephens, community outreach and customer service manager, wrote in response to a News Wire inquiry.
“SMART DMUs are equipped with solid one-piece disc brakes,” Stephens wrote. “The UP Express DMUs have split disc brakes. As part of our Preventative Maintenance Program, 16 of 18 SMART DMUs had new disc brakes installed between 2020–2022. The remaining two were inspected this weekend and no issues with the brakes have been found. We also performed spot checks on our fleet this weekend and again, no issues were found.”
The UP Express service between Toronto’s Pearson airport and Union Station will continue to operate on 30-minute headways this week, instead of the usual 15-minute frequencies, as it works to remedy cracks found in disc brakes on its fleet. Fourteen of 18 cars were initially reported to have problems before the entire fleet was sidelined on Saturday [see “Toronto airport rail service halted …,” News Wire, Feb. 11, 2023]. Limited service was restored the following day.
I wonder how these cost out on a per passenger/mile basis? I could think of several places where these would fit in very well.
Nice, detailed response from Mr. Stephens. It’s rare to receive such candor that’s not buried in buzzwords and euphemisms.
Just a note on spelling: It is Pearson (shown correctly in the airport name in the last paragraph), not Pierson (shown incorrectly in the name of the rail service that connects Union Station with Pearson Airport, in the first paragraph).