Wishing everyone a good holiday season.

Earlier this year there were some posts about the mixing of Siemens and CAF light rail vehicles together in multiple-car consists and how Regional Transit was experiencing problems trying to make it work. It would seem (at least to what Ive observed) that this experiment has ended as every consist Ive seen recently along the Folsom Blvd line is solid Siemens or CAF but not mixed.

Which brings me to this thought: I know full well there are many issues involved in bidding for light rail car contracts and that there are millions of tax dollars at stake so its important for the communities to maximize their return. However, given that Siemens went ahead and invested in/built a major light rail assembly plant here in Sacramento after they were awarded the initial contract I dont quite get why the follow up contract was awarded to CAF? I would have thought that the powers-that-be at RT would have at least forseen possible issues in trying to mix the vehicles together in consists once the 2nd manufacturer was brought in, I dont care what the new manufacturer would claim. If youre a transit agency trying to maximize its return on taxpayer money wouldnt one of your first considerations be for maximum flexibility with using new equipment, and if thats the case why would you want to even consider having your fleet split between two entirely different designs, software usages, inventories of parts and accessories, etc? And further, even if CAF underbid Siemens on per-vehicle cost, wouldnt having to stock two lines of parts and train workers on how to operate and maintain two different designs negate the initial savings in the long run?

Thanks,

Matt