The Siemens equipment on Sprinter, has adequate capacity for over 100 with standee's and can be "trained" in multi-car operation, this is not FRA compliant for "mixed" operation with freight, but may operate with freight only "off hours" in the late night, like Sprinter does.

The Colorado Rail car DMU's are fully FRA compliant, carry nearly 200 in the doubled deck configuation, and can be trained. The Colorado Rail Car equipment effectively has nearly the same capacity as a Caltrain car, and can be "trained" and run in multi-car trains. CRC had been in discussionss with Vermont and Amtrak, over using CRC equipment to add more 403b service in that State.

The choice of DMU technology is not a problem, it comes in various sizes and shapes, various designs and standards of operational compliance, it is another option in the choice of equipment for commuter/passenger rail. DMU's can range from pretty basic rail buses in Africa, to State of the Art systems in Europe that use vehicles like the Siemens product. DMU is used successfully, in commuter and intercity service, every day throughout the world, by millions of happy riders.

If DMU is the choice SMART is considering, there are a variety of options to use, to achieve the various needs and goals of the system. It is not an either/or proposition?

Comparisons of variuos passenger rail technologies based upon speculation are unnecessary. You could go to actual web sites for the DMU manufacturers or the agencies with this type of information? You will see real pictures, get real capacity, and operational figures?