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Re: SMART selects American-made rail cars
Author: Mike T.,
Date: 07-16-2009 - 09:12
The Oceanside-Escondido Sprinter service is run with Siemens Desiro cars. These are standard cars in Europe and come in both DMU and EMU form, in various models. Wikipedia has a good article about them that should tell you all you might want to know.
They do not meet FRA crash requirements, so when freight is running, Sprinter does not run. This has forced Sprinter to shut down a little earlier at night than some people would like.
If the Desiro drive train could be fitted to a car that meets FRA collision specifications, perhaps SMART could use it, but the Desiro drive train is designed for a car the weight of a Desiro, and it might not be successful on a substantially heavier car. If anyone is a mechanical engineer with experience in this area, his input would be appreciated.
They do not meet FRA crash requirements, so when freight is running, Sprinter does not run. This has forced Sprinter to shut down a little earlier at night than some people would like.
If the Desiro drive train could be fitted to a car that meets FRA collision specifications, perhaps SMART could use it, but the Desiro drive train is designed for a car the weight of a Desiro, and it might not be successful on a substantially heavier car. If anyone is a mechanical engineer with experience in this area, his input would be appreciated.
