York Transit Posted October 1, 2021 Report Share Posted October 1, 2021 https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/pop-up-metro-aims-to-provide-affordable-passenger-operation/ Interesting pilot project in Pennsylvania 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D40LF Posted October 3, 2021 Report Share Posted October 3, 2021 On 10/1/2021 at 1:53 PM, York Transit said: https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/pop-up-metro-aims-to-provide-affordable-passenger-operation/ Interesting pilot project in Pennsylvania They tried this in the UK, with the same train, and the project seems to have failed. The operators were offered the battery electric, diesel electric, and diesel battery units with only the battery electric (this unit) not generating any orders. Maybe the fact that the oldest units are forty-three years old or that the first unit rebuilt by Vivarail caught fire during a demonstration run might be turning the UK operators off these units, hence this demonstration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallspy Posted October 4, 2021 Report Share Posted October 4, 2021 On 10/3/2021 at 9:07 AM, D40LF said: They tried this in the UK, with the same train, and the project seems to have failed. The operators were offered the battery electric, diesel electric, and diesel battery units with only the battery electric (this unit) not generating any orders. Maybe the fact that the oldest units are forty-three years old or that the first unit rebuilt by Vivarail caught fire during a demonstration run might be turning the UK operators off these units, hence this demonstration. Uhhhh...... Over a half-dozen sets are currently in daily service. Orders have dried up of late, sure, but that's also because the focus seems to be more on ordering newer, larger, longer-distance equipment Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GojiMet86 Posted October 8, 2021 Report Share Posted October 8, 2021 The train was out on a test run recently. These are not my photos, these are Marc Glucksman photos. He takes some really great photos, and these are no exceptions. https://rrdc.com/op_usa_pop_up_metro.html https://www.riverrailphoto.com/popupmetro 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D40LF Posted October 8, 2021 Report Share Posted October 8, 2021 On 10/4/2021 at 9:15 AM, smallspy said: Uhhhh...... Over a half-dozen sets are currently in daily service. Orders have dried up of late, sure, but that's also because the focus seems to be more on ordering newer, larger, longer-distance equipment Dan The units that have been ordered, and entered service are as follows. 230001 - Diesel Electric (prototype), this was the one that caught fire and I don't think is in use anymore. 230002 - Battery (prototype), now in the USA. 230003-5 - Diesel Electric, in use on the Bedford - Bletchley line. 230006-10 - Diesel Battery, for Transport for Wales, not sure if they are in use yet due to reductions in service due to Covid. 484001-5 - straight electric 3rd rail, for use on the Isle of Wight but not in service yet. There have been huge issues getting this project off the ground, partly as you said the TOC's want newer units, but certainly the battery option seems to have flunked, despite the fact it was the DEMU version that caught fire. I honestly don't see this going further as the TOC's don't seem interested in old equipment. They will even replace new equipment if a predecessor TOC ordered it, for example class 707 introduced in 2017 by South West Trains but are already being replaced by its successor South Western Trains, so what chance does the old D stock have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallspy Posted October 9, 2021 Report Share Posted October 9, 2021 13 hours ago, D40LF said: I honestly don't see this going further as the TOC's don't seem interested in old equipment. They will even replace new equipment if a predecessor TOC ordered it, for example class 707 introduced in 2017 by South West Trains but are already being replaced by its successor South Western Trains, so what chance does the old D stock have? I completely agree. And the fact that the Pacers and seemingly the Sprinters are to be replaced by the likes of the new CAF and Stadler diesels (and dual-modes) is testament to that. I was pointing out, however, that for at least a hot minute they were the latest-and-greatest and seemed poised to make a breakthrough in the market. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D40LF Posted October 10, 2021 Report Share Posted October 10, 2021 On 10/9/2021 at 8:50 AM, smallspy said: I completely agree. And the fact that the Pacers and seemingly the Sprinters are to be replaced by the likes of the new CAF and Stadler diesels (and dual-modes) is testament to that. I was pointing out, however, that for at least a hot minute they were the latest-and-greatest and seemed poised to make a breakthrough in the market. Dan I haven't heard anything about the Sprinters being replaced, at least not yet, but I am not surprised as the oldest class 150s are approaching forty years old, which is older than most of the first gen DMUs they replaced. Well that is except for when they have been cascaded from one TOC to another, but there is nothing odd with that. Considering that the contemporary electric version class 317 is currently being withdrawn then perhaps they are on there last legs. There is a persistent rumour going around that the Isle of Wight lines will be expanded and this may require more class 484s but aside from that I haven't heard anything more about the 230s, probably why they sent the unit to the USA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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