Quote:
Originally Posted by northbay
Wow. Talk about trolling. That's just your opinion, man. 
By real train, I mean it's not streetcar-like.
If you couldn't tell from the pictures, the train IS damn sexy, was designed by the Japanese, and is FRA-compliant (the trains you show aren't). This line is being shared with freight so that is a must.
It also goes 80mph, and is CHEAPER.
I've been to Japan several times and have ridden dozens if not hundreds of trains (including Shinkansens). I know what a real train is, and this is a real train.  |
When SMART and DCTA ordered their equipment the FRA split was still in effect. SMART went with the cheaper FRA compliant cars and DCTA went with Stadler GTWs which at the time required temporal separation as on New Jersey's Riverline and Austin's Capital Metro.
While the GTWs were on order, DCTA went to the FRA and received alternative certification as shown here.
http://www.progressiverailroading.co...thority--31230
For a brief time DCTA operated some trains with leased RDCs and their new GTWs.
The FLIRT3 train had better be FRA certified now since Fort Worth's TEXRAIL will share 3 miles of Union Pacific mainline between downtown Fort Worth and north Fort Worth.
I like the SMART trains and the GTWs and the FLIRT3s. But I am so old I like the RDCs, too.