I doubt NWP Co. would agree to the restriction
claimed in the article. The SMART SEIR states
that if the light DMU vehicle is chosen, midday
passenger service would be eliminated.

...and it's only 2 months after they won...

Does anyone doubt that they withheld this information
from the public?

Here's the PD article:



1st choice for SMART's rail cars goes out of business
Colorado company bankrupt, but agency says it has options

By BOB NORBERG
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Wednesday, January 7, 2009 at 4:20 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, January 7, 2009 at 5:25 a.m.

The Colorado manufacturer of the passenger rail cars initially chosen by transit planners for the Sonoma-Marin commute train service has gone out of business.

Colorado Railcars, the only U.S. maker of passenger rail cars to meet federal crash specifications, shut its Fort Lupton, Colo., manufacturing plant on Dec. 23.

"This doesn't come as a surprise, we have known they have been having problems for a while," said Chris Coursey, spokesman for the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit district.

Colorado Railcar said on its Internet site that it has ceased operations and is going through liquidation.

The closure may have little effect on SMART, which can choose to run lighter, European-built, diesel-powered rail cars instead.

If the rail agency chooses to stay with the heavier cars, however, Siemens Transportation of Germany is planning to develop and build such cars at its Sacramento plant, filling the void left by Colorado Railcar.

"It is part of our growth strategy and product development plan," said Frank Guzzo, business development director in Sacramento. "we clearly see a niche market."

Voters in Sonoma and Marin counties approved a quarter-cent sales tax increase in November, and SMART is now looking to start Cloverdale-to-Larkspur service in 2014.

SMART is planning to request proposals for its rail cars within the next two months and award a purchase contract next year.

The transit district has budgeted $88 million for 14 self-propelled, diesel-powered rail cars. The cars will take two to three years to build.

SMART initially had specified the Colorado Railcar vehicles, which are classed as heavy rail, diesel-powered vehicles, in its 2006 environmental impact report.

However, in a 2008 supplemental report, SMART indicated that it could also use lightweight European-style rail cars by running freight train service in off hours.

"The major difference between the two is how they operate in conjunction with freight on the same corridor," Coursey said. "To use the light cars, you need to have time separation, they cannot be operating at the same time as freight."

The most popular lightweight cars available are made by Siemens in Germany.

There are 12 of them in use by the North Coast Transit District in San Diego on its 22-mile Sprinter service from Oceanside to Escondido.

District spokesman Tom Kelleher said the freight service runs at night on the Southern California tracks to meet the federal rules against running lightweight cars and freight together. The lightweight cars are not as crash resistant as heavy-rail cars.

SMART officials say they could also schedule freight service midmorning and mid-afternoon, when the commuter trains are not running.