Annnnnnnndddddd killed by the other Republicans in 3....2....1......

Big beam lift at the Belmont Flyover...
Good photos and drone video.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ3gX8ylsfU/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ6Z4VwhMtH/

Best Metra news I've seen in a long time:

Metra Board approves purchase of up to 500 modern railcars.

The Metra Board of Directors today approved the purchase of up to 500 state-of-the-art railcars from Alstom Transportation Inc., opting for new multilevel cars that will be more comfortable, accessible, reliable and safe than the outdated gallery cars they will replace.

• Video Link

https://metrarail.com/about-metra/ne...odern-railcars

Very cool. Looks like just barely enough clearance for a train, could just be the perspective of the shot though.

While the new cars are indeed excellent news, what in god's name does Metra have against a proper cab car, handsomely styled like the rest of the world enjoys? The headscratching doggedness of Metra's horrible 1980s logo as well...

OMG those look incredible! Huge improvement.

This is HUGE. Level (or near level) boarding will allow far more efficient and reliable operations. Proper bike storage is excellent news for reverse commuters, or even traditional commuters who work outside walking distance from the downtown terminals. No longer can Metra deny bike riders access on the whim of a conductor (it's no fun being stranded in the suburbs for 2 hours because the conductor doesn't feel like letting you on).

It's unfortunate that Metra has to be dragged kicking and screaming into a slightly more modern railcar design after zero manufacturers offered to continue building the 1950s style gallery cars. I was worried Metra would just sweeten the pot and offer to pay even more outrageous prices to somebody so they could cling to the gallery car. Looks like the reality check finally sank in.

Metra sometimes puts cab cars in the middle of a consist (two short mid-day trains roll into downtown, then they are linked into a longer outbound train for PM rush). An aerodynamic cab car would look awkward in the middle of a train, and potentially would not allow for a gangway connection.

I'm honestly excited this is Alstom. The railcars are nobody's idea of beautiful, but the interior looks pretty nice. Out of the major manufacturers, Alstom definitely has the edge on design, with a clean but not spartan French sensibility. AFAIK Metra will be the first railroad to use these cars, although they are broadly similar to the Hyundai Rotem bilevels used in Massachusetts and California.

It occurs to me that these cars are going to disgorge their passenger loads muuuch faster than the gallery cars. The narrow platforms at CUS don’t stand a chance. If Amtrak and Metra can ever resolve their feud perhaps they can convert the disused baggage platforms as previously envisioned.

WOW!!!!!!

Contemporary car design for chicago's dinosaur commuter rail system.

Who woulda thunk it?

Can't wait for these to come online. I plan to look up their schedule in order to make a special trip in the first weeks of their arrival.

Yeah that would be ideal. The baggage platforms are column free too.

Might be more complicated on the north side where they have the exit stairs to Madison though.

The key for level boarding is faster boarding/unboarding at station stops. Cumulatively this could cut several minutes off commutes. Trains have plenty of time to unload at the CUS/Ogilvie/LaSalle Terminals terminals. Big bonus for Ravenswood, Glenview, ArlHts, Elmhurst will function much better. And bikes will be much easier to load.

To clarify I'm all for (mostly) level boarding. My concern is limited to CUS where the passenger platforms are narrow and crowded with columns creates a safety issue next to active track. It's a relatively easy problem to fix though.

1) I've searched through both Metra's and Alstom's sites, and can't determine whether there will be a significant difference in capacity between the old gallery cars and the Coradia multilevels. Has anyone found any specs?

2) I noticed that the cab compartments on the Coradia cars are located at mid-level, as opposed to the upper level on the gallery cars. Potential hazard, with the decreased field of vision? Was it the price that had to be paid to provide easier access to the HVAC units?

3) Curious about gross weight of the car and whether the Coradia could have been the bi-level railcar the Midwest states were looking for from Nippon-Sharyo. Could this platform serve as a replacement for Amtrak's Superliner?

With a slight redesign, yes they could be a replacement for Superliners.
What would they need to redesign?
(a) move the vestibules between cars to the upper level.
(b) move the air conditioner and other auxiliaries down to the area below the upper level but above the trucks/wheels
(c) move the stairway between upper and lower levels towards the center of the car
(d) add more restrooms and tanks.

..

It's probably a wash. The lost seating on the lower deck from the 2nd vestibule and bike storage is offset by the increased seating on the upper deck. Also the theoretical capacity of the gallery cars is larger than the actual capacity - groups of 2 or 3 often take up 4 seats, the longitudinal bench seats are almost never filled up because of personal space, etc. The new seating style on the Coradias will probably allow for greater utilization.

I think the problem with the Midwest procurement was the ridiculously detailed, obsolete and highly flawed spec. Nippon Sharyo is a capable manufacturer, their failure to build the bi-level cars is a bigger indictment of the transpo officials who literally wrote the spec by committee.

Siemens got very lucky... their Venture cars meet none of the spec requirements (they're not even bilevels) but they had a production line already set up for Brightline and they were the only company who could supply new railcars quickly enough to avoid the states forfeiting their Federal funds.

I've heard the Coradias might be alt-compliance using the new FRA regs, if that's the case they might be lightweight cars. I'm not entirely clear on the conditions where lightweight cars can be used, I know there needs to be some kind of separation from heavyweight trains but maybe all the new PTC will provide enough margin of safety.

Just about all FRA Alternate Compliance train cars have some sort of engineered crush zones in front of the driver in the cab. I do not see a crush zone on these trains. Therefore, I do not think they will be alternate compliant with that one aspect of the FRA regulations. But time will tell.

^ Isnt this sort of an argument FOR a stylized cab car with a nose that contains crash absorption like most other bi-levels on the world market??

I would think so as well, and that's what MBTA, Caltrain, and SEPTA have started doing with their new procurements.

The past couple of months have made me really hopeful for Metra's future after the pandemic. The agency said during budget meetings that they want to run frequent 22-minute service from Union Station to O'Hare once the A2 flyover is built, the board is considering off-peak fare pricing, they have implemented Fair Transit South Cook and are still negotiating with the CTA to include fare transfers, new coach car procurements that aren't gallery cars, and now they want to adopt regional rail frequencies.

It's possible that over the next decade Metra fully adopts the regional rail model and provides true rapid transit in the city, similar to Paris' RER, the London Overground and Thameslink, and Toronto's GO modernization