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Re: SMART - DMU and EMU questions-Costs Vary as do the "priority" of other needed rail investments...
Author: BOB2
Date: 09-21-2018 - 08:19
There are many factors you need to take into consideration with the cost per mile of electrification, including clearance issues, tree removal, signal upgrades, utility or pipeline relocation, type of electrification system you'd want to use, how much trackage you need to or want to include (yard tracks, etc.), train volumes, desired operating parameter like high speed versus trolley speeds, which affect the number of feeds, substations, wire tensioning, and other engineering parameters.
I've seen very "bare bones" streetcar numbers and I've seen mainline numbers, in a "realistic" minimum "range" from as low as $2 million to over $10 million per mile. The contract awarded for Caltrain's 4 track mainline was a hair under $700 miles, for a route of 51 miles with up to 4 tracks, without the nearly six hundred million they are spending on the first EMU orders.
There are cost "outliers" from the super low BC electric costs from the 80's and some of the coal operations, or even OERM, to the massively bloated. I worked on an electrification study back in the 90's, where I saw the RR's try to drive up the costs to over $50 million per "track mile" by asking for cost bloating things like a minimum 26 foot wire clearance (requiring massive track lowering and/or overpass rebuilds) to kill the idea.
Some folks think I'm not that keen on electrification, they're wrong. I'm fine with it. But, I've got a list of about $15 billion in safety, capacity, speed/time improvements and new operations that are a higher priority. These are projects like the LAUPT run-through, LOSSAN South DT, Del Mar Bluffs tunnel, LOSSAN north DT and sidings. And, we need critical safety improvements like overpasses at about 50 critical locations (for safety, traffic congestion relief from trains, and speed increases from 79 and 90 mph. to 110 and 125 mph.) and continuous fencing along most ROW. We also need higher service levels and new services, like the Salinas, Coast Daylight, and Palm Spring/Coachella Valley service, as well as more frequent 1 hour off- peak, half hourly peak, on all of the major IC corridors in CA.
After we've done all of that, and get to that service level, we may even have a level of service that rises to the economic justification threshold to electrify. Which we probably have achieved at Caltrain, since they've dome many of these things already, and have a high enough service level to justify it.
When SMART wants to get down to 6-12 minute bi-directional all day service frequencies like the Gold Line, we'll talk electrification. Meanwhile, there are only about $500 million to a billion dollars worth of projects that I do first on SMART, from DT, to fencing, to pedestrian gates, to an "on-dock" Ferry Station, to fleet acquisition, so they can operate at the 1/2 hour off peak, 15 minute peak service that they should be operating now.
I've seen very "bare bones" streetcar numbers and I've seen mainline numbers, in a "realistic" minimum "range" from as low as $2 million to over $10 million per mile. The contract awarded for Caltrain's 4 track mainline was a hair under $700 miles, for a route of 51 miles with up to 4 tracks, without the nearly six hundred million they are spending on the first EMU orders.
There are cost "outliers" from the super low BC electric costs from the 80's and some of the coal operations, or even OERM, to the massively bloated. I worked on an electrification study back in the 90's, where I saw the RR's try to drive up the costs to over $50 million per "track mile" by asking for cost bloating things like a minimum 26 foot wire clearance (requiring massive track lowering and/or overpass rebuilds) to kill the idea.
Some folks think I'm not that keen on electrification, they're wrong. I'm fine with it. But, I've got a list of about $15 billion in safety, capacity, speed/time improvements and new operations that are a higher priority. These are projects like the LAUPT run-through, LOSSAN South DT, Del Mar Bluffs tunnel, LOSSAN north DT and sidings. And, we need critical safety improvements like overpasses at about 50 critical locations (for safety, traffic congestion relief from trains, and speed increases from 79 and 90 mph. to 110 and 125 mph.) and continuous fencing along most ROW. We also need higher service levels and new services, like the Salinas, Coast Daylight, and Palm Spring/Coachella Valley service, as well as more frequent 1 hour off- peak, half hourly peak, on all of the major IC corridors in CA.
After we've done all of that, and get to that service level, we may even have a level of service that rises to the economic justification threshold to electrify. Which we probably have achieved at Caltrain, since they've dome many of these things already, and have a high enough service level to justify it.
When SMART wants to get down to 6-12 minute bi-directional all day service frequencies like the Gold Line, we'll talk electrification. Meanwhile, there are only about $500 million to a billion dollars worth of projects that I do first on SMART, from DT, to fencing, to pedestrian gates, to an "on-dock" Ferry Station, to fleet acquisition, so they can operate at the 1/2 hour off peak, 15 minute peak service that they should be operating now.
