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hp2ena

hp2ena

Posted
Posted

Metro Transit has officially retired all of its 2003 Phantoms. They also listed 4 2004 Phantoms; only 4 remain. Safe to say we won't be seeing them in revenue service ever again. 

Meanwhile, every bus except 1061 was bought up by the same scrapper based in Arkansas. Actually, the scrapper didn't even bid on 1061. 

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hp2ena

hp2ena

Posted
Posted
26 minutes ago, MVTArider said:

According to TransSee 3113 is on the C Line currently. Possibly the only time in its history that a high floor bus operates on this service.

Also 3116 route 10, 3119 route 5.

You are correct.

FBB1859D-3AE0-4DC9-8060-EE5E6A7E5606.jpeg

3113 is on the C Line until at least 2 today

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MVTArider

MVTArider

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I wonder what was going on at South that would lead to needing to put those on regular route service? I would assume they weren't just randomly assigned while there were regular route 40' units ready to go.

D60 have been running on the State Fair express Bloomington runs.

51416259300_29a44a256f_t.jpg

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MVTArider

MVTArider

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Metro Transit is looking at whether to consolidate the north/south running local routes in downtown St. Paul onto Robert St. permanently once some street reconstruction projects wrap up. https://www.metrotransit.org/robert_minnesota_survey Personally I like the concept of getting everything onto one street if it means they also have better stops (NexTrip display/heated shelter/security) at the major transfer points. One thing I wonder about is if it might work better to have all NB going up Minnesota and SB coming down Robert. Might make for some better waiting areas with more space.

Some trips on both LRT lines were cancelled Saturday evening due to operator shortages. https://kstp.com/minnesota-news/metro-transit-staff-shortage-causes-light-rail-cancellations/6234553/

A few more D60 shots from the last couple weeks. From randomly checking TransSee they seem to have returned to roost in their respective garages at the end of the State Fair. Perhaps a few were out on limited assignments, but I didn't notice anything. I'm going to guess this is the last time the 31xx operate before they get retired, but with how things have been I'll wait until they show up at auction before saying they're done for good.

51441431201_c6c4f55cc1_t.jpg 51440676807_36d72b9648_t.jpg 51420315764_a80d06a68b_t.jpg 51419549171_41429b3cdc_t.jpg

For MTS, D40LF 2608, 6046, 6047 have all been semi regularly showing up on local routes. The Nova has not been active since 8/6, so not sure if it's 'retired' or just waiting on a repair or something again.

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hp2ena

hp2ena

Posted
Posted
On 9/12/2021 at 11:34 AM, MVTArider said:

Metro Transit is looking at whether to consolidate the north/south running local routes in downtown St. Paul onto Robert St. permanently once some street reconstruction projects wrap up. https://www.metrotransit.org/robert_minnesota_survey Personally I like the concept of getting everything onto one street if it means they also have better stops (NexTrip display/heated shelter/security) at the major transfer points. One thing I wonder about is if it might work better to have all NB going up Minnesota and SB coming down Robert. Might make for some better waiting areas with more space.

Some trips on both LRT lines were cancelled Saturday evening due to operator shortages. https://kstp.com/minnesota-news/metro-transit-staff-shortage-causes-light-rail-cancellations/6234553/

A few more D60 shots from the last couple weeks. From randomly checking TransSee they seem to have returned to roost in their respective garages at the end of the State Fair. Perhaps a few were out on limited assignments, but I didn't notice anything. I'm going to guess this is the last time the 31xx operate before they get retired, but with how things have been I'll wait until they show up at auction before saying they're done for good.

51441431201_c6c4f55cc1_t.jpg 51440676807_36d72b9648_t.jpg 51420315764_a80d06a68b_t.jpg 51419549171_41429b3cdc_t.jpg

For MTS, D40LF 2608, 6046, 6047 have all been semi regularly showing up on local routes. The Nova has not been active since 8/6, so not sure if it's 'retired' or just waiting on a repair or something again.

4254 has retired. Scheduled to be auctioned in October in Glencoe. Rear shocks leaking. https://faheysales.proxibid.com/2012-Nova-Bus-RTS-Bus/lotInformation/63661479

Also, 8008 was on the 6 tonight

F68B8733-486C-4E31-8298-7FF730FF95C9.jpeg

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AmaryahJohnson1996

AmaryahJohnson1996

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Hi all good everyone,

 

You sure wish but sorry unfortunately they do not know anything about an articulated bus and back inside the engine so what about no more old Cummins ISL9 last year in 2018 ceased it’s over then and now it gets a new engine called Cummins L9 - after forward. 



 

They have a wiki editor who should fix this CPTDB Wiki list, please thank you for understanding. Any questions, Can it help?

B04ADD0A-C608-42B1-AACA-44B8FFBD3568.png

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hp2ena

hp2ena

Posted
Posted
On 9/19/2021 at 11:06 AM, AmaryahJohnson1996 said:

Hi all good everyone,

 

You sure wish but sorry unfortunately they do not know anything about an articulated bus and back inside the engine so what about no more old Cummins ISL9 last year in 2018 ceased it’s over then and now it gets a new engine called Cummins L9 - after forward. 



 

They have a wiki editor who should fix this CPTDB Wiki list, please thank you for understanding. Any questions, Can it help?

B04ADD0A-C608-42B1-AACA-44B8FFBD3568.png

Noted. I’ll change it once I can verify the serials of the engines that are in the roster I have.

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MNbusdriver

MNbusdriver

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Hello, I am a driver at Metro Transit. I have worked for them about 4 years. I drove for the state fair a lot this year, one of the days I asked the dispatcher for a high floor artic and got bus 3129. Drove it for 13 hours that day. Here are some pictures. This might be the last year we have them, i dont know yet. We had about 10 in service this year. 3113, 3116, 3118, 3119, 3123, 3129, 3135, 3138, 3141, 3143, and 3147. Some of which broke down and were quickly put back out of service again.

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MNbusdriver

MNbusdriver

Posted
Posted
On 8/16/2021 at 12:05 PM, hp2ena said:

Metro Transit has officially retired all of its 2003 Phantoms. They also listed 4 2004 Phantoms; only 4 remain. Safe to say we won't be seeing them in revenue service ever again. 

Meanwhile, every bus except 1061 was bought up by the same scrapper based in Arkansas. Actually, the scrapper didn't even bid on 1061. 

Just curious how you know for sure it’s a scrapper that bought them? 

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hp2ena

hp2ena

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13 hours ago, MNbusdriver said:

Just curious how you know for sure it’s a scrapper that bought them? 

I get the invoices from Minnbid and have a guy here verify who the buyer is. The invoices are public data and can be requested through the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act.

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MVTArider

MVTArider

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^Thanks for sharing all the pics :) Curious, are there operators who preferred driving the D60 over the D60LFR or newer Xcelsior artics, or are the newer buses generally favored? (I imagine the acceleration is better on the newer ones) That's awesome you got to drive one for a day.

If the 8020's are just waiting for delivery then I suppose we'll potentially see them in service on RED as soon as November if it's a quicker PDI process.

----

I've noticed the 54 seems to have gone back to having more 40' units assigned in the last week or so. It's still a little awkward after all the social-distancing the last 18 months to get onto a Low Floor with 25 riders on it and go sit with someone. At the same time it's nice to see ridership returning though.

----

FWIW, for the D60 fans here's a video I got of a ride on, based on TransSee, 3141's last in service regular route run going from MSP to MOA back on 8/26. (It may have done some Fair service since that wouldn't be noted) As a bus nerd it would be cool to see these return one more year, but realistically these are 18 years old and probably becoming more of a liability than an asset as time goes on. I remember riding one of these when they were new on the Hiawatha Line opening day in 2004.

 

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MVTArider

MVTArider

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Went by South this afternoon, 8141 and at least one other 81xx XD60 were outside. Multiple D60 lined up in the spots along 77th. There are still some Phantoms parked in the side parking lot area with their livery whited out. Also one 34xx unit in the ABRT wrap. Unfortunately I was driving by in a work vehicle and had an urgent repair to attend to so did not have time to stop for pics.

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hp2ena

hp2ena

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Posted
On 9/28/2021 at 12:02 AM, MVTArider said:

Went by South this afternoon, 8141 and at least one other 81xx XD60 were outside. Multiple D60 lined up in the spots along 77th. There are still some Phantoms parked in the side parking lot area with their livery whited out. Also one 34xx unit in the ABRT wrap. Unfortunately I was driving by in a work vehicle and had an urgent repair to attend to so did not have time to stop for pics.

How many Phantoms were you able to count? I saw one when I went by yesterday. Maybe safe to say that all Phantoms are retired?

A bunch of D60s were listed on Minnbid today. Some of them were in service as recently as this August. 

Also attaching the agreement that Met Council has with DTA in leasing Metro Transit's buses. Five in total, and appear to be the first five active units out of East. While the agreement stipulates that the branding has to be removed, I understand DTA won't do much to these buses. Because the fare systems are apparently incompatible with the fare system DTA uses, rides on these buses will be free. Lease Agreement for Metro Transit Vehicles.fnl.pdf

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MNbusdriver

MNbusdriver

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On 9/25/2021 at 11:08 AM, MVTArider said:

^Thanks for sharing all the pics :) Curious, are there operators who preferred driving the D60 over the D60LFR or newer Xcelsior artics, or are the newer buses generally favored? (I imagine the acceleration is better on the newer ones) That's awesome you got to drive one for a day.

If the 8020's are just waiting for delivery then I suppose we'll potentially see them in service on RED as soon as November if it's a quicker PDI process.

----

I've noticed the 54 seems to have gone back to having more 40' units assigned in the last week or so. It's still a little awkward after all the social-distancing the last 18 months to get onto a Low Floor with 25 riders on it and go sit with someone. At the same time it's nice to see ridership returning though.

----

FWIW, for the D60 fans here's a video I got of a ride on, based on TransSee, 3141's last in service regular route run going from MSP to MOA back on 8/26. (It may have done some Fair service since that wouldn't be noted) As a bus nerd it would be cool to see these return one more year, but realistically these are 18 years old and probably becoming more of a liability than an asset as time goes on. I remember riding one of these when they were new on the Hiawatha Line opening day in 2004.

 

There are some operators who still enjoy driving the high floors like myself, but as more and more time goes by that we haven’t used them, there are a lot of new drivers that weren’t trained on them and don’t want them.  Ironically, these buses were already on the way out the door when I started but I just love them. They drive so much better than anything they build today. Of the artics we do still use regularly, I prefer the 3300s, they are a lot smoother driving buses than the Xcelsiors. I don’t really care for the 3400s, they look very nice and classy, but they are jerky and when you stop the retarder kicks in real strong when you hit the brakes, and I’m always worried I’m going to launch someone through the windshield if I have to stop quick. 

 

another side note — Metro Transit is trying to gradually lay off using the artics so heavy, as they can’t keep up with the brake jobs and maintenance on them. They’re used to using them as highway buses and we’ve been running them so hard for the past year they are getting to the point where a lot of the buses need work done. They have taken most of the 3200s out of service now as well.

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hp2ena

hp2ena

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Some things:

- All the 3100s auctioned off recently were bought by the same scrapper in MI. One was bought by a longtime scrapper out of Hollandale, Minn.

- 324 and 325 are on the Sabo siding and will be towed in tonight

- I-35W and Lake St station will open next Mon/18. I’m planning to be there to see the first revenue bus at around 5:30am.

- Expect service cuts next pick because of operator shortage.

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Tcmetro

Tcmetro

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The schedule cuts probably will be an improvement over the current practice of randomly cutting runs everyday.

Here's a presentation about the upcoming Met Council budget. Notably, they are replacing the 12-year bus replacement schedule with a 14-year one.

https://metrocouncil.org/Council-Meetings/Committees/Metropolitan-Council/2021/10-13-21/Info-Item_2022-2027-Capital-Program-Presentation-F.aspx

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