Ed Immel Wrote:
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> The cars were acquired to meet increasing passenger loads on the WES service.

Except that TriMet:

1. Cannot operate any more trains (this is the agreement with P&W, as well as siding capacity, the lack of anywhere to store extra trains at the ends of the line as each terminus station is a single stub track)
2. Cannot run three-car trains (platforms can only accommodate two car trains)
3. Is nowhere near the first year ridership goal and has plenty of excess capacity (there is never, ever a "crush load train", while TriMet on a daily basis turns away bus riders because it would violate federal law by taking on more riders.) - TriMet carries about 1,900 daily riders, or 950 in the morning and afternoon. The first year ridership goal was 2,500 daily riders, and the expected ridership by now was somewhere around 5,000 daily riders.
4. TriMet doesn't need to add equipment; each train spends 36 out of every 90 minutes stopped at either Wilsonville (27 minutes) or Beaverton (9 minutes), which is longer than a one-way trip (27 minutes) - it simply could reduce the dwell time to increase equipment availability.

But, hey, something good for the non-tax paying railfans to enjoy looking at, while bus riders are left in the dust and commuters are in gridlocked traffic because where they need to go, WES is utterly useless for.