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Post by antonio on Mar 3, 2008 4:26:30 GMT -8
Ughhh, March and still no operational Bredas. Just letting y'all know its yet another month of delay
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Post by bluelineshawn on Mar 3, 2008 8:31:33 GMT -8
I guess they knew what they were doing when they ordered the cars years ahead of when they thought that they'd need them. It amazes me that they still aren't running.
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Post by metroman on Mar 9, 2008 18:52:52 GMT -8
Breda cars in revenue service!
Last Wednesday (3/5/08), 2 Breda cars (706-708) went into revenue service for 2 round trips, starting around 10:30 am. It's the first time a Breda car has carried the transit-riding public.
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Post by antonio on Mar 9, 2008 20:29:40 GMT -8
Just in time. My personal hope was that there would be Bredas for me to ride by the time I came home for spring break and as it turns out I come home on Thursday. Any idea when those cars first arrived so we can get a rough estimate on how long it will take all the other Bredas to go into revenue service?
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Post by bluelineshawn on Mar 9, 2008 23:06:12 GMT -8
Very good news!
I don't see how we can tell from this when the other cars will go into service since these weren't even the first cars to arrive.
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Post by bluelineshawn on Mar 9, 2008 23:12:59 GMT -8
I assume that they went in service on the gold line?? Are they still in revenue service?
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Post by antonio on Mar 10, 2008 6:06:19 GMT -8
But the first cars to arrive were the prototype cars remember (look back in the thread). These came in a batch with some others so I assume they should be up soonish
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Post by bluelineshawn on Mar 10, 2008 10:38:40 GMT -8
I don't know that "prototype" was the correct word. Maybe it was, but $6 million seems a tad expensive for cars that wouldn't be expected to run in service at some point. Normally the first cars are test cars, not prototype cars.
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Post by antonio on Mar 10, 2008 14:29:34 GMT -8
Er yah, test cars, whatever. I'm those will be put into service but they required more extensive testing than the others. I think the others just needed to be burnt in while the original ones needed bug-fixing AND burn-in
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Post by metroman on Mar 10, 2008 18:50:32 GMT -8
Yes, they were running on the Gold line. It doesn't seem like they are being perpared in numerical order. They also ran on Friday and today. Only a few round trips per day, till they get all the bugs out.
Got a report from one of the guys on-scene. One of the Breda cars had technical problems at Mission station today. Several reports of smoke comming from under one of the cars. Had to get all the riders off the train. Had to limp the train back to the yard. On-scene guy said he didn't know what was burning, but that this wasn't the first time. Guess they really do have a lot of bugs to work out.
That's all I know. If I get any more info I'll keep you posted.
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Post by bluelineshawn on Mar 10, 2008 19:46:30 GMT -8
Thanks for the report. If you hear anything about when they'll be running this weekend please post it here.
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Post by metroman on Mar 14, 2008 1:20:27 GMT -8
Shawn:
It's very unlikely they will be running this weekend. Too many problems to iron out. They ran the cars in revenue service again on Wednesday, and once more a breakdown at Mission station! Might be awhile before they take on passengers. That's all I know.
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Post by bluelineshawn on Mar 14, 2008 12:56:31 GMT -8
Thanks for the info. No trip on the gold line for me this weekend.
I wonder when they plan to start testing on the gold line extension? Is there any possibility that the problems that these cars are having could effect the opening date?
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Post by metroman on Mar 14, 2008 19:27:42 GMT -8
I wonder when they plan to start testing on the gold line extension? Is there any possibility that the problems that these cars are having could effect the opening date? I was thinking the same thing. Cars 706 & 708 were accepted by Metro (meaning Metro now officially owns them), but are still not ready for prime-time. Then the Breda folks have to get the other cars ready for revenue service. Breda has a LOT of work ahead of them. Last I read, the extension will open in July 09.
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Post by Transit Coalition on Mar 14, 2008 20:57:45 GMT -8
I wonder when they plan to start testing on the gold line extension? Is there any possibility that the problems that these cars are having could effect the opening date? I was thinking the same thing. Cars 706 & 708 were accepted by Metro (meaning Metro now officially owns them), but are still not ready for prime-time. Then the Breda folks have to get the other cars ready for revenue service. Breda has a LOT of work ahead of them. Last I read, the extension will open in July 09. Somewhere on this board, I posted the January 17 Chief Capital Management Officer report. The Gold Line is on schedule and on budget. The plan is to start pre-revenue service testing in February 2009 with Revenue Service around July 1, 2009. I would suspect that Rail Operations will get the Breda cars in good working order within the next 12 months. Remember, we are a little over 15 months away from Opening Day.
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Mac
Full Member
Posts: 192
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Post by Mac on Mar 15, 2008 19:09:49 GMT -8
Remember, we are a little over 15 months away from Opening Day. Wow, I just forgot we were in 2008! It seems like dream that the Eastside Extension is not far away from opening after many years of planning.
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Post by tonyw79sfv on Mar 15, 2008 21:41:04 GMT -8
Not only that, we're halfway between the time the Expo Line started construction and the proposed opening in summer 2010; time surely does fly, just not fast enough. We're still a long way to seeing the Purple Line being extended. Remember, we are a little over 15 months away from Opening Day. Wow, I just forgot we were in 2008! It seems like dream that the Eastside Extension is not far away from opening after many years of planning.
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snuffy
Junior Member
Posts: 62
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Post by snuffy on Mar 19, 2008 14:05:18 GMT -8
They are still testing a breda car and saw it today at 11:AM at Union Station and 2PM at Pasadena station. Check back tonight or tomorrow I'll gonna post some videos of Breda car on youtube.
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snuffy
Junior Member
Posts: 62
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Post by snuffy on Mar 20, 2008 17:08:25 GMT -8
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Post by bluelineshawn on Mar 20, 2008 18:07:59 GMT -8
Thanks for the video link. I like the Metrolink shot at the end as well.
Sheriff deputies have told you that you couldn't take pictures from the gold line platform at Union Station? I take a fair amount of pictures and video and they have only ever told me that once and that was a couple of years ago.
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snuffy
Junior Member
Posts: 62
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Post by snuffy on Mar 20, 2008 21:01:28 GMT -8
It was young female SD. I think she did not know anything about railfan. Before she started telling me"no photo", she said, "do you have a ticket?".
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Post by metroman on Mar 21, 2008 12:12:48 GMT -8
I would suspect that Rail Operations will get the Breda cars in good working order within the next 12 months. Remember, we are a little over 15 months away from Opening Day. Its not up to rail operations to get the cars in good working order. It depends on the Breda engineers, techs, and vendors. They still have problems with propulsion, braking, air conditioning, and communications. And they still have to install the GPS systems. I hope you are right, but it's kind of hard to see how they are going to pull this off in time. OK, rumor time: The word on the street (or should I say word on the rail?) is that Metro has let the deadline go past for ordering 50 more Breda cars. Metro had an option for 50 more cars, at a set price. Now if Metro wants more cars, they must sign a new contract at new prices. If true, it would indicate that Metro has lost interest in buying future Bredas. FYI: Breda cars will be running on the Goldline this Fri, Sat, Sun. Don't know if they will carry passengers. Perhaps testing only. Keep in mind it will be a hit-or-miss kind of thing. If they encounter too many problems, they'll bring em back to the yard.
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Post by Tony Fernandez on Mar 21, 2008 14:15:07 GMT -8
So is it likely that they will go with someone else to get the new cars?
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Post by bluelineshawn on Mar 21, 2008 18:36:31 GMT -8
Didn't the 50 car option come about when Breda was complaining about the falling dollar and them losing money on the 1st order? It could be that the additional 50 cars are of no interest to either party at this point.
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snuffy
Junior Member
Posts: 62
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Post by snuffy on Mar 23, 2008 12:54:59 GMT -8
As for today(sunday) around 12 noon, all breda cars(seven cars) are sitting in the Gold Line yard. Here's more video I filmed it at Memorial Park station.
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Mac
Full Member
Posts: 192
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Post by Mac on Mar 23, 2008 13:51:20 GMT -8
Nice shot there snuffy! Anyways, are they gonna paint the Bredas or just leave them Grey? Anyone know?
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Post by metroman on Mar 23, 2008 17:09:19 GMT -8
As for today (sunday) around 12 noon, all breda cars (seven cars) are sitting in the Gold Line yard. They ran them on Sat for 2 round trips only. Didn't run today cause it's Easter and they are short-handed. As far as the color scheme, I have not heard anything. Nice vids, snuffy. Guess you could call them snuff films
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Post by bluelineshawn on Mar 23, 2008 17:30:04 GMT -8
They are supposed to stay silver. At least that's what Metro said the rail cars would be a couple of years ago. It was part of the branding. Orange for local, red for rapid, and silver for rail.
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snuffy
Junior Member
Posts: 62
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Post by snuffy on Mar 31, 2008 18:33:29 GMT -8
Thanks for all comments and I have two more videos that I filmed it at China Town station.
>Are they still in revenue service?
Did anyone actually see it or just saw it breda car was running without passengers? The last Wednesday, they were still testing and because of that, regular Gold Line train was 30 mins late! It happened 2~2PM at China Town station. Breda car stopped at the station but no one allowed to get on aboard except MTA folks. They were also filming the train.
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Post by Transit Coalition on Apr 3, 2008 10:38:53 GMT -8
In an effort to get direct information from the top decision maker, so we can have accurate information, I am glad to pass your questions along and then post the answers here. Here is what Mike sees as the plan to get the first set of Breda cars into Revenue Service: The first two Metro P-2550 AnsaldoBreda rail cars #706 & #708 were introduced into limited non-peak revenue service on Wednesday, March 5. Metro has anticipated and experienced a few bumps on this new design. Fortunately, they've been small and are being corrected. These two cars are scheduled to enter all day service in April. In July, Metro will start introducing two additional cars each month into revenue service. Mike Cannell General Manager, Rail Operations
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