R179 Discussion Thread

[Grand Concourse]

I still think they should've sent the R68s out. It makes no sense to move the R46s over for at best another 5 years till replacements are needed.

 

That said, I take it this means: R179 to CI, push R160s to JYD, push out R46s to SI? I also wonder if SI will take the AA pairs over at Pitkin?

[East New York]

There are no R46s in CI Yard (the s are from Jamaica, no)?

 

 

Sorry about that, I meant Pitkin Yard, not CI.

 

I still think they should've sent the R68s out. It makes no sense to move the R46s over for at best another 5 years till replacements are needed.

 

That said, I take it this means: R179 to CI, push R160s to JYD, push out R46s to SI? I also wonder if SI will take the AA pairs over at Pitkin?

 

 

That's just the thing. Everyone keeps saying 5-10 years, but none of that is known yet. And if they are there for 10 years, thats still certainly cheaper than new R179's. The R211's aren't expected until the early 2020's anyway. The way I see it, the 46's will replace some of the 44's, and a later order of 179's or 211's will replace the rest, or begin to retire some of the 46's.

[Threxx]

This just in! As of this afternoon, I am being told some of the R179's will likely go to PITKIN yard to displace R46's that will head over to Staten Island next year. I should also have an update on where many of the cars may end up by the end of this month.

 

 

Just corrected that...

 

So this means the is getting new cars?

[Roadcruiser1]

Just corrected that...

 

So this means the is getting new cars?

 

 

No. It's the . The sets are not long enough for the .

[Guest Lance]

Interesting. If, and I do mean if, the R179s go to Pitkin, that would mean the R46s not Staten Island-bound would most likely wind up on the . The would still be running R46s since the order isn't that big, which would also be interesting as the line would be using both the oldest and newest fleets simultaneously.

[Brighton Express]

Just corrected that...

 

So this means the is getting new cars?

 

 

 

No. It's the . The sets are not long enough for the .

 

 

Even if the was getting them, they could only go to Lefferts. There is a problem with the 3rd out in Rockaway. When they were using the R160s to test run on the , they literally sucked out all the juice.

[East New York]

Interesting. If, and I do mean if, the R179s go to Pitkin, that would mean the R46s not Staten Island-bound would most likely wind up on the . The would still be running R46s since the order isn't that big, which would also be interesting as the line would be using both the oldest and newest fleets simultaneously.

 

 

Trains aren't my specialty, so none of it makes any sense to me anyway. Plus, that info has yet to be confirmed.

 

Even if the was getting them, they could only go to Lefferts. There is a problem with the 3rd out in Rockaway. When they were using the R160s to test run on the , they literally sucked out all the juice.

 

 

That problem out in the Rockaways was fixed some time ago in anticipation of the R179 order being 75 foot cars.

[KeystoneRegional]

Even if the was getting them, they could only go to Lefferts. There is a problem with the 3rd out in Rockaway. When they were using the R160s to test run on the , they literally sucked out all the juice.

 

That problem out in the Rockaways was fixed some time ago in anticipation of the R179 order being 75 foot cars.

 

 

The problem is if I remember correctly, LIPA's problems. The power is not enough to feed 10 cars, only 8 cars, similar to the situation with LIRR/MNCRR car amount per consist problems.

Edited April 12, 2012 by KeystoneRegional

[LTA1992]

But you'd think that by now, aka 6 years later since they were tested there, that the problem would have been fixed?

[KeystoneRegional]

I don't think the has any choice with the problem, but hopefully it's fixed over the rehab but the discussions show it is not fixed, that means, it's still LIPA's task to fix the power issue.

[Guest Lance]

Well, I know one thing, if it isn't fixed, they better fix this problem sooner rather than later or the Rockaways will suffer from a complete lack of service, especially when the R211s are ordered and start replacing the R46s. Not unless they (the ) plan to use the R68/R68As for the .

[Fan Railer]

Well, I know one thing, if it isn't fixed, they better fix this problem sooner rather than later or the Rockaways will suffer from a complete lack of service, especially when the R211s are ordered and start replacing the R46s. Not unless they (the ) plan to use the R68/R68As for the .

 

 

If that is the case, we may see a mixed fleet for the . Now that would be interesting.

[CDTA]

I need "receipts" cause I'm reading this http://mta.info/mta/..._March_2012.pdf and it doesn't say nothing about most of the R179's being 4-car sets.

 

 

Woah woah woah, they're using SPARE cars for the extension to 2nd ave? That will ceartinly be fun to see.

[East New York]

Interesting. If, and I do mean if, the R179s go to Pitkin, that would mean the R46s not Staten Island-bound would most likely wind up on the . The would still be running R46s since the order isn't that big, which would also be interesting as the line would be using both the oldest and newest fleets simultaneously.

 

 

I did a little investigating. That Pitkin information led to a stop on the train I never saw coming!!! You are 100% right! This is very interesting.

 

The story unfolds here!!

http://nyctransitfor...-express-train/

[Brighton Express]

Well, I know one thing, if it isn't fixed, they better fix this problem sooner rather than later or the Rockaways will suffer from a complete lack of service, especially when the R211s are ordered and start replacing the R46s. Not unless they (the ) plan to use the R68/R68As for the .

 

 

R211s, quite a bump ahead.

 

They put R68s on the , so I would not be surprised about them going to the . I also heard that they are going to upgrade the R68 side signs. I saw a picture of what they are supposed to look like if they come, they were BETA tested on the R46.

[East New York]

R179 Preliminary Yard Assignments

 

207

East New York

Pitkin

[mark1447]

Heres something:

 

MTA subway contest: North Country 1, Yonkers 0

 

 

Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials have delivered a load of steady work and jobs over the next five years to an upstate city and a major manufacturer there with a nearly $600 million contract that left Yonkers and its rail car manufacturer waiting at the station.

 

The MTA’s move left Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano steamed.

 

MTA directors March 28 unanimously awarded a $599.47 million contract to Bombardier Transit Corp. in Plattsburgh for the purchase of 300 New York City Transit subway cars. The cars, to be delivered in 2016, will replace the city’s C Line cars that made their subterranean debut in 1964 with the New York World’s Fair.

 

A supplier of subway and commuter rail cars to metropolitan lines since 1981, Bombardier outbid its long-time competitor for the MTA’s lucrative capital-program business, Kawasaki Rail Car Inc. in Yonkers. MTA officials a year ago said the Kawasaki plant has turned out more than 1,900 subway and rail cars for New York City Transit and the Long Island Rail Road, totaling more than $2.78 billion in contracts.

 

With the MTA budgeting $748 million for subway car purchases in its current five-year capital program, Kawasaki two years ago partnered with the French conglomerate Alstom, an international builder of high-speed trains, power generation plants and electrical transmission grids, to bid on the contract. In February, ALSKAW L.L.C. submitted a best and final offer to the MTA of approximately $657 million.

 

Though an MTA selection committee ranked the Kawasaki proposal higher in technical merit, Bombardier’s lower price – about $57.5 million, or 8.8 percent, below ALSKAW’s bid – and its “acceptable” technical proposal won out. Bombardier’s and Kawasaki’s final prices were 18.5 percent and 5.7 percent, respectively, below New York City Transit’s in-house estimates.

 

The cars will be financed by $306 million in federal funds included in the MTA’s new capital plan and by other pending and future federal grants, according to state officials.

 

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo hailed the MTA choice as “a major win for the North Country and the entire region’s economy.” Bombardier executives said the 300-car order will keep 300 jobs at the company’s Plattsburgh plant and another 200 jobs for area suppliers. The contract will allow the company to consolidate its manufacturing and assembly operations in the city on the shore of Lake Champlain.

 

Led by French-Canadian executives, Bombardier is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, where it began operations in the 1930s as a snowmobile manufacturer.

 

“We are one state and this shows how different regions of our state can support each other,” Cuomo said of the award.

 

At Yonkers City Hall, though, the Democratic mayor said he was “disappointed” by the MTA’s choice. The Adirondack region’s gain is a loss for the Hudson Valley region, where municipalities “pay millions of dollars in MTA taxes in support of its services,” Spano said in a press release.

 

“A Kawasaki procurement would have led to the creation of hundreds of jobs for Yonkers and tristate residents,” he said. “Instead, the MTA decided to go outside its own regional footprint for those jobs, which, in the end, is wrong.”

 

“The MTA would have done better by the taxpayers of this region if it had selected Kawasaki, which is not only the leading producer in the international railway car industry, but also a regional jobs engine.”

 

Kawasaki officials in Yonkers did not respond to a call for comment.

 

Kawasaki Rail Car, whose 100-year-old parent company, Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., is based on Kobe, Japan, has had its U.S. corporate headquarters at the former Otis Elevator plant in Yonkers since 1985. The company a year ago announced a $25 million investment in its Yonkers facility at i.park Hudson, where as of last year it employed 375 full-time manufacturing workers producing about 180 rail cars each year.

 

Kawasaki Rail Car Inc. CEO Hiroji Iwasaki said the company considered several locations as a permanent base for its U.S. operations, but chose to stay in Yonkers because its location at the center of the Northeast passenger rail corridor proved most cost-effective.

 

(404 on the website, but got it cached: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwestfaironline.com%2F2012%2F20927-mta-subway-contest-north-country-1-yonkers-0%2F&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Edited April 15, 2012 by mark1447

[Guest Lance]

Maybe if Alstom-Kawasaki didn't want so much more than Bombardier, they would've gotten the order. Besides, aren't they building the R188s and converting the R142As?

[Grand Concourse]

I get the MTA wanting to go with the lowest bidder, but I just hope it doesn't mean trains more prone to breakdowns or other 'issues'. imo, sometimes buying low is more expensive in the long run.

[Guest Lance]

That is a concern, but seeing as the has a pretty good history with Bombardier with the R110B test trains, the massive R62A and R142 orders for the subway and the M7 order for Metro-North and the LIRR, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Outside of various teething issues with some of the cars, they all handle pretty damn well overall.

[LTA1992]

Agreed. The only thing I'll find odd about these cars are seeing Bombardier trucks on a R160/R143s brother.

[Brighton Express]

trainguy97: Can you post up the picture on what the new side signs for the R68 will look like.

 

 

I combed through the 2247 images of R46, no luck. First page of the R44, bam. This is what they are supposed to look like. Make that my mistake, beta tested on the R44.

 

 

Edited April 15, 2012 by trainguy97

[KeystoneRegional]

Well, Kawasaki already got plenty from the - The M8's and R188, it would be unfair to give Kawasaki another contract. Yonker's mayor is just playing politics. In my opinion - North Country - 1, Yonkers - 2.

[Grand Concourse]

Exactly, plus despite this being a 'small' order, Kawasaki generally doesn't do 'large' scale projects (wouldn't surprise me if they subcontracted parts of the building to another company). So in this case Kawasaki isn't exactly 'unemployed', they have the M8 and R188s.

[KeystoneRegional]

Exactly, plus despite this being a 'small' order, Kawasaki generally doesn't do 'large' scale projects (wouldn't surprise me if they subcontracted parts of the building to another company). So in this case Kawasaki isn't exactly 'unemployed', they have the M8 and R188s.

 

 

Meaning not employed by the and in Yonkers, still Kawasaki has plenty of projects world wide, and in Nebraska. Yonkers is doing stuff so the Mayor should shush up.

Edited April 15, 2012 by KeystoneRegional