Lets just hope that the press release actually reflects reality. It may not!

Point of example, Amtrak's Acela trains; which from the start were officially claimed by their builder to comply with FRA regulations. Unfortunately, when put to the standard tests, they failed miserably. The design had to re-worked and Amtrak had to insist upon it over stiff opposition from the vendor. The jerks even went to congress to try to buy their way out of it. That caused a multi-year delay and much political ranker, but Amtrak prevailed. So what if those European idiots that run that car builder now want to call 'em "pigs". At least they are considerably safer than they would have been.

Now fast forward to several MetroLink accidents and finally to Chatsworth. In each accident there, commuter cars built by the same vendor also failed to perform as intended in accidents - twice with catastrophic structural failures leading to much unnecessary loss of life. So just because the big all powerful vendor says they comply, does not actually mean they do. In fact it means not very much at all! The purchaser must perform due diligence to see to it that it is actually a fact.

Now fast forward again to WMATA, nine people died when an older Rohr transit car (same design as a BART car) was telescoped into, also with catastrophic structural failure. The fallout from that will produce a watershed change, in that congress has reacted by mandating that all rail mass transit will now fall under similar federal safety rules as railroads. The only thing still up in the air is whether the safety regs will be administered by the FTA or directly by the FRA.

The end of this ridiculous double standard between regular rail and so-called light rail / transit is near. Indeed, according to an associate still at BART, they are already studying the expected impacts, including the need for heavier, more structurally sound cars, possibly increased braking distances, and possibly the need to beef up aerial structures to carry the added weight. BART was built to the absolute minimums in these areas - and there is little margin to absorb these new rules. We shall see what happens.

But still, the end of this ridiculous double standard will be good in the long haul.


OPB