Which cities will see the largest growth/improvement of their Rail systems? (Subway, Light Rail, Commuter Rail, etc)? (parks, expensive)
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Septa regional rail is already fully electric, and so is the keystone line to Harrisburg, but yeah probably need some dual mode engine past the current termination points unless they run catenary.
I think battery electric is the way to go on that for the second mode as they've been trying them out in different parts of the world.
On the already electrified sections of track this lets you continue to use electrified lines as you normally would and to draw power in excess of the train's needs at the moment to charge the batteries while on that line. Bonuses are that it allows for backup without emissions (especially in poorly ventilated tunnels) in case anything happens to the catenary or grid. It also likely means better recovery of regenerative braking energy since that localized generation can be on the batteries in place of or in addition to an ESS installed nearby or hoping that a train nearby needs to pull more power.
On the currently not-electrified sections of track, the cost of electrification in terms of putting it up and then maintaining it can be dramatically lower if done at key points rather than electrifying the entirety of the tracks. Some of these tracks in Pennsylvania are quite remote and not that well-connected to the grid and would need to have that run. Some of these more remote areas might be at risk of being downed by a tree following or other inclement weather and so would need greater tree clearance. Some of these areas have tunnels where electrification may not be easy to fit in. Some of these areas might be shared with taller stacked freight rail in parts which would not work well with catenary. These myriad issues can be avoided using battery electric.
Now, why battery electric versus diesel-electric? Aside from being less polluting in operation, it also avoids some of the noise and emissions complaints that would happen with diesel and allows it to go through any potential tunnels that have less than ideal ventilation. The negatives in comparison might be it's greater heft but steel wheel on steel rail trains have very small coefficient of rolling resistance so there's not much energy loss there with the additional weight as there would be with rubber wheels on asphalt road and these passenger trains, the additional weight is sometimes already needed for traction sometimes, and moreover, the batteries on board and use of electric motors means much of the greater energy expenditure to move a larger mass is largely recovered so it does not necessarily net out to being much of a negative.
As for any potential range issues, this can be solved with the aforementioned partial electrification along key points. This would especially be in and around stations where the trains would be running more slowly or at a complete stop for a time. Stations are generally placed where there are people and where there are people there is usually a short pathway to the electrical grid. That greatly helps with the cost and so deploying partial electrification for just in and around stops itself is great. Since the average speed is going to be slower around the station (and at times zero when fully stopped to let off and pick up passengers), it also means a quarter mile or so of electrification at and around the station would remain in contact with the trainset and transferring power to it for longer than likely many miles of a train barreling through electrified lines. What's more, that initial push against static friction and the energy expenditure to get the train up to speed when leaving the station can be supplied by the electrification at and near the station and so the total energy transfer isn't just what goes into the batteries, but also the energy the lines provide in getting the train up to a certain speed as kinetic energy which due to the regenerative braking system and onboard batteries can potentially be recovered and translated back and forth to some extent, such as if approaching a curve or going downhill where speeds need to be lowered for a bit, which a diesel electric train cannot.
Interesting, it does sound like a good way to extend service that's already electric. I know septa is looking at reintroducing service to old diesel routes like to reading, west Chester and Allentown/Bethlehem. Seems like it would be a good option there.
The electrification remains in place on the entire PRR West Chester Branch, which I believe SEPTA still plans to reopen as far as Wawa in the next year or two, though I don't know whether the pandemic might have derailed those plans.
Otherwise, I like OyCrumbler's recommendation that SEPTA consider battery-electric locos for the extended service. All of SEPTA's current RRD fleet is EMUs, though it does have a few electric locos in mothballs. However, the agency's next car order is supposed to consist of loco-hauled double-deck coaches.
The electrification remains in place on the entire PRR West Chester Branch, which I believe SEPTA still plans to reopen as far as Wawa in the next year or two, though I don't know whether the pandemic might have derailed those plans.
Otherwise, I like OyCrumbler's recommendation that SEPTA consider battery-electric locos for the extended service. All of SEPTA's current RRD fleet is EMUs, though it does have a few electric locos in mothballs. However, the agency's next car order is supposed to consist of loco-hauled double-deck coaches.
My preference is that you like all of the ideas and use the power of your pen, uh keyboard, to move Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley into adopting all of them in short order.
My preference is that you like all of the ideas and use the power of your pen, uh keyboard, to move Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley into adopting all of them in short order.
Of the three options, I voted for the one that most closely resembles Sydney's regional rail network: a core of 15-minute routes closer in and 30- or 60-minute service further out. I'm not sure I like the idea of having to transfer from one of the 60-minute services to a trunk line, though. My second preference is the 30-minutes-everywhere service.
And fare coordination with transit is also important. If the idea behind the 15-minute trunk lines is for them to serve as a force multiplier for the rapid transit network (which it is, from what I understand), then transfers between bus or rapid transit and RRD should be allowed on the same basis as between bus and bus or bus and rapid transit (first transfer free, second transfer $1).
I'm privy to some inside-baseball stuff about SEPTA's governing board and operations people that tells me there's a big transit-equity component to this. The old guard (and the SEPTA Board, where suburbanites hold sway even though the bulk of the riders live in the city) saw Regional Rail as strictly "commuter rail" — that is, it ferries suburbanites into their city jobs in the AM and back home in the PM. COVID may have been the best thing to happen to SEPTA in that regard, for it forces those people to confront the fact that RRD needs to change how it functions if it's going to remain relevant going forward — and that means making it more like transit, even if that means more of Them (you know who I'm talking about, right? I'm one of Them) ride it.
Anyone have any updates or changed opinions? Inflation over the last 3 years has caused many projects to be delayed, revised, and reconsidered. Any project that doesn’t already have shovels in the ground is endangered and even ones that do might be.
Since 2021 LA has opened 10 new light rail stations with 6 of them underground. That includes the new K line as well as the regional connector that connected the former blue, gold, and expo lines (now A and E). An additional 9 are under construction (one is actually completed but not open) including the billion dollar LAX station and an extension of the already ridiculously long A line. 7 new heavy rail stations are still under construction but none will open for over a year and the last in 3-4 years. The new light rail line in the East San Fernando Valley has started pre-construction with actual construction starting later in 2024.
But the West Santa Ana branch line is no longer fully funded and in needs additional funds. Same for the C line extension and likely the Sepulveda Pass heavy rail or monorail.
I think that Austin’s new light rail subway is no longer planned to be underground and may not be built completely and in the way promised to voters.
What about Atlanta’s beltline train? Dallas’ expansions? Seattle?
Seattle is doing thing a bit more slowly and not necessarily as well. It'll all get built though.
ST2 includes some delays with the new Eastside line and the south extension. The north extension and a segment of the east should open next year, with the rest in 25/26. This is mostly about construction challenges.
The ST3 work is still in early days. They're nearing some final decisions about "preferred" options for the West Seattle and Ballard Link extensions, which will include a new tunnel through Downtown. Big options abound for alignments, elevated/tunnel/at-grade, and station locations. Sound Transit's board is too sensitive to neighborhood disruption concerns, which might mean we don't get a unified Chinatown/ID station cluster for easy transfers, and the CBD stations might be extremely deep. Other extensions to Tacoma and Everett have moved back to the 2030s and 2040s due to cash flow and construction challenges. For example a new train yard on the south line could cost three billion. A BRT system mostly in the I-405 corridor, including some freeway interchange work, is only moderately pushed back and will complete in a few years. Another Eastside Link line, from Kirkland to Issaquah, is still many years out.
Seattle is doing thing a bit more slowly and not necessarily as well. It'll all get built though.
ST2 includes some delays with the new Eastside line and the south extension. The north extension and a segment of the east should open next year, with the rest in 25/26. This is mostly about construction challenges.
The ST3 work is still in early days. They're nearing some final decisions about "preferred" options for the West Seattle and Ballard Link extensions, which will include a new tunnel through Downtown. Big options abound for alignments, elevated/tunnel/at-grade, and station locations. Sound Transit's board is too sensitive to neighborhood disruption concerns, which might mean we don't get a unified Chinatown/ID station cluster for easy transfers, and the CBD stations might be extremely deep. Other extensions to Tacoma and Everett have moved back to the 2030s and 2040s due to cash flow and construction challenges. For example a new train yard on the south line could cost three billion. A BRT system mostly in the I-405 corridor, including some freeway interchange work, is only moderately pushed back and will complete in a few years. Another Eastside Link line, from Kirkland to Issaquah, is still many years out.
Thanks for the update. It sounds like Seattle is having the same challenges as everywhere else. I would be worried about construction dates getting pushed back because it's only getting more expense every year.
How is sales tax revenue? Sales tax is below projections in LA, probably due to lower car sales and population decease. That might impact construction starts as well.
Tax revenue is hard to unpack. ST reports talk mostly about the difference vs. the last report six months previously. They refer to the State for sales tax revenue trends. State reports show increases each FY. Things have been trending up, aided by good news with federal money, despite lagging farebox revenues. But construction costs have been going up much faster.
One reason is contracts that put a lot of the cost risk on the builders...which the builders respond to by either not competing for the work or baking the extra costs into their fees and other business terms.
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