LAGOS, Nigeria — The commuter rail service in Lagos using Talgo trainsets built for but never used by the state of Wisconsin has been suspended indefinitely because of mechanical issues, the Nigerian newspaper The Nation reports.
The trains experienced breakdowns last Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 2-3, the newspaper reports, after which the operator posted a message on social media saying “the train will not be operating tomorrow, and until further notice.”
The 27-kilometer (16.7-mile) Red Line Mass Transit service began operation on Oct. 15, beginning with two trains and two during the evening rush, with the intent to expand operations. When complete, it has been projected to carry more than a million passengers daily.
The Nigerian government purchased two 14-car Talgo Series 8 trainsets ordered in 2009 for a planned expansion of Amtrak’s Hiawatha route to Madison, Wis., a project subsequently killed by Gov. Scott Walker. Never operated, and long stored at Amtrak’s Beech Grove Heavy Maintenance Facility, they were eventually sold in 2022 [see “Never-used Talgo trainsets find buyer …,” Trains News Wire, Jan. 18, 2022].
Is it the same railway which bought retired British HSTs last year?
A million riders a day????? Really?????? That’s quite some train line! Amtrak and Chicago METRA each carry about 32 million a year.
In order words, the math equals 1.5 train rides per year per Nigerian resident.
Slow day in Steel City. 🙂
Glad to hear from Mr. Pinkepank. As a youngster, his diesel book was the first railroad book I owned and I truely wore it out. You have provided much enjoyment for, and still do. Blessings. (PS: I still have my orighinal copy.)
Ship the out of service cab car tto Seattle as a substitute for the tree damaged one. Nigeria will never get them going again.
Knowing the opinion of engineers about the dangers to themselves at grade crossings, I seriously doubt that “pedestrian and yard worker incidents” had anything to do with the design. This sounds like an opinion a hostler might have expressed who never operated outside of an engine terminal.
It’s always been an issue in passenger service about visibility and protection. I had my complaints about the P40 and 42. Limited visibility immediately in the front as one had to stand up to get a better view closer to the nose. And a blind spot between the windshield and engineer side window.
The E and F units, actually any of the cab units, had similar if not worse visibility to the front and side. Imagine what visibility was like on articulated steam locomotives.
Yes, except the SP Cab forwards as the engineer sat right in the front, above and ahead of the rest of the engine. A person would have had to intentionally hidden themselves to not be seen. This was obviously for smoke-in-tunnel and snowshed reasons in the Sierra’s but had its practical usage elsewhere as well…
Hearing from someone with Mr. Pinkepank’s knowledge and history is an honor.
Thanks for the kind words!
The danger to the engineer of this low operator cab was demonstrated in the tree-trunk penetration between the collision posts on one of the two Amtrak Cascades sets during the “bomb cyclone” event of Nov 19. In 1934-1938 agreements between US railroads and enginemen’s unions barred cabs of this type, which led to the EMD bulldog nose and subsequent similar protection by products of other builders, and first of all, in 1934, the PRR P5A Modifieds. The issue hasn’t existed for decades so apparently the prohibition disappeared in later agreements, but I would expect it to arise again in the aftermath of the Nov 19 event. I doubt this equipment can be maintained in Nigeria, or that Talgo would even try (they were probably not party to the sale agreement)
The cab design of these Talgo sets were due to direct feedback from the engineers themselves who work for Amtrak. They expressly wanted a lower field of view to avoid pedestrian and yard worker incidents.
Many found the design change repulsive because it destroyed the aerodynamic “face” of the original Talgo design. But the customer demanded it, so Talgo designed it.
As a reference, one should look at the new electric USPS delivery vehicles designed by Oshkosh. They too lowered the sill and made the windows much broader for similar reason, to increase visibility for the postal drivers. Because the postal drivers demanded it, Oshkosh designed it.
Yes, but US Postal workers aren’t driving around at 65 miles an hour on local streets either. (though some would probably like to…seems like UPS drivers go faster than the speed limit whenever the occasion arises…)