Replying to Southwest Chief #4

It's to complex if you ask me for a commuter rail car. Why does it need those uge windows. It looks I'll see it next May when it chugs its way to Boston.

It will be in Newark on the 14th.

Click here to view the tour schedule in PDF format.

I think that its pretty ugly myself.

Isn't Newark's Penn station Amtrak property?

Yes.

But Newark Penn is served by far more NJT trains in a day than Amtrak trains. And it's the busiest transportation terminal in the state, plus it's immediately adjacent to NJT headquarters. So it's still a place where the most potential NJT passengers could come in to see a static display of the DMU....... although Hoboken Terminal is a close second.

Plus, Newark is the 5th Busiest Amtrak Station Nationwide.

Isn't Newark's Penn station Amtrak property?

Yes.

But Newark Penn is served by far more NJT trains in a day than Amtrak trains. And it's the busiest transportation terminal in the state, plus it's immediately adjacent to NJT headquarters. So it's still a place where the most potential NJT passengers could come in to see a static display of the DMU....... although Hoboken Terminal is a close second.

Finally with the intro of NJT Clockers, direct NYP/NYG-Philadelphia-ACY direct service, again electric/dual mode service, and of course have access to the ACRL through the other end of 30th Street.

Viewliner,

How do you propose access to the Atlantic City line from the other end of 30th Street Station? How would the trains get past the river? The track to the ACRL now splits at Shore Interlocking in North Philadelphia. The tower & switch are approximately where Amtrak's NEC crosses under the Frankford Elevated (Blue Line). That is well to the north of 30th Street. The current ACRL route takes such a circuitous routing that it actually took George Washington less time to cross the Delaware than one NJT train on the Delair Bridge, which itself has permanent slow orders.

There has been discussion about having the ACRL trains stop at the North Philadelphia station, and have cross-platform transfers there with the Clockers (even while they are still operated by Amtrak). But North Philadelphia is not the greatest of neighborhoods, and so it's probably safer to make the switch at 30th Street, albeit with all that backtracking.

Definitions:

Push-n-Pull- is it referring to a locomotive with its cab on one end of commuter cars and on other end is a cab in a commuter car, just like LA Metrolink?

MU- ???

Push/Pull- Locomotive on one end, and a cab car (coach with controls) on the other. Can move either direction without having to turn around.

MU (Mulitiple Unit)- Train with no locomotive, each car has motor in it, and could power the train in the event that one motor fails.

Definitions:

Push-n-Pull- is it referring to a locomotive with its cab on one end of commuter cars and on other end is a cab in a commuter car, just like LA Metrolink?

MU- ???

Interesting read Viewliner, although I think that politician is dreaming a little too much. If all the short little lines he wants are near businesses so that he gets lots of local, one town to the next, commuters then it might work. If he expects people to hop on the DMU, then transfer to a Bergen line only to have to transfer again in Secaucus to reach Manhattan, then he’s dreaming. People want a one-seat ride; many will tolerate a two-seat ride. However, there are very few people who are going to settle for a three-seat ride. Especially when they may still have to ride a subway once they get into NY.

With all those transfers you’re talking about a two-hour commute from Passaic to NY. You can do that in your car in the same amount of time with rush hour traffic, or you could just drive to the nearest Bergen line station. So why would you want to take the train? Trains need to be frequent, reliable, and convenient to work. Three transfers are not what I would consider convenient. Yes as a rail fan I’d still ride it once for the fun of it, but I’m not sure that I’d want to commute every day like that.

That’s not saying that I don’t think that the DMU has its place, but I’m not sure if that place is Bergen & Passaic counties in NJ.

I found this article which might clarify the purpose of the DMU being where it is.

Here's a couple of figures on new cars.

The new Comet V push/pull cars that NJT is buying cost just under $900, 000 dollars for the trailer cars. A cab control car costs 1.05M per car. The new ALP-46 loco's cost 4.7 million a piece.

I found this info on the NJT website here. Scroll down to the bottom of the page.

Now for the MTA's new M-7's, which are currently undergoing testing on the LIRR. These new state of the art MU's cost just under 2M a piece, so there is no doubt that they cost more. However, as I pointed out their performance is better than NJT's p/p equipment. Especially when you've got stations that are less than a mile apart.

The MTA's numbers come from their captial improvement plan located here. Scroll down to table 5 and right under that they tell you the total cost of the contract and how many cars that buys.