PAT news

[Fred W. Schneider III]

Do you think, John, that the parts stocks in Pittsburgh will be any better with
the new cars than the old, or will it still be convenient to blame the suppliers
for all  woes you suffer in not having parts last month that you forgot to order
until next month?  Isn't it nice that new cars come with warranties?  Don't you
think it would be even better, for a company with a proven inability to keep
cars running, to buy a 50 year maintenance contract?  Maybe even Sears could
figure out how to do it.

I've always been amazed at the amount of trouble PAT had with that was never
experienced in Frankfurt/Main, San Diego, Edmonton, or Calgary with their
virtually identical U2 cars, or a host of other cities that used other Duewag
models having the same monomotor propulsion system.

John Swindler wrote:

> Update on Pittsburgh, courtesy HHG for lead.
>
> JS
>
> Port Authority to get 28 new light-rail cars
> Saturday, August 05, 2000
> By Joe Grata, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
>
> After two years of studying proposals, the Port Authority plans to award a
> $151.3 million contract to purchase 28 new light-rail vehicles and overhaul
> the existing 55 models built in the early 1980s.
>
> The authority's engineering-construction committee yesterday recommended the
> agreement with Spain-based Construcciones Y Auxiliar De Ferrocarriles and
> CAF USA Inc., its United States affiliate.
>
> Adtranz, a West Mifflin-based manufacturer of people movers and mass transit
> systems owned by DaimlerChrysler, will build the propulsion and control
> systems, a subcontract worth an estimated $45 million. Adtranz is to produce
> the systems locally, although no decision has been made yet as to whether it
> may add facilities in the Mon Valley in order to do so.
>
> To comply with federal law requiring that at least 50 percent of the value
> of government-subsidized contracts adhere to "Buy America" provisions, CAF
> will assemble the vehicles in the United States -- tentatively at either CAF
> facilities in Elmira, N.Y., or Hunt Valley, Md.
>
> The CAF-Adtranz contract will be the single largest contract awarded in the
> authority's 36-year history.
>
> An option in the contract gives the Port Authority 20 months to decide
> whether to buy up to 15 additional light-rail vehicles for $2.3 million
> apiece, trolleys that would be needed if the authority expands the system to
> the North Shore and David L. Lawrence Convention Center as planned.
>
> The recommendation by the authority's engineer-construction committee means
> its full board is likely to formalize the contract at its regular meeting
> next week.
>
> The decision means more than 25,000 daily T riders should see delivery of
> the first all-new LRV within two years, and almost totally rebuilt existing
> cars even earlier. The contract calls for all production work to be finished
> in four years.
>
> The present LRVs were purchased from a Germany-based consortium,
> Siemens-Duewag, but they were assembled in Blawnox.
>
> Siemens was the only other transit vehicle manufacturer to submit a proposal
> for the authority's latest purchase of LRVs. CAF-Adtranz won out after
> dozens of meetings and evaluations that included qualifications, technical
> reviews, delivery schedules and price negotiations.
>
> Authority Chief Executive Officer Paul Skoutelas said two other big transit
> vehicle manufacturers, one in Japan and another in Italy, were reluctant to
> participate in the authority's contract because they're already operating at
> capacity with new LRV orders and didn't want to get involved with the
> overhaul aspect of old LRVs.
>
> "It was an intense process, but we think we're getting the best rail car and
> overhaul that are possible," said Henry Nutbrown, the authority's director
> of engineer-construction. "By choosing the same companies, we'll essentially
> end up with one fleet" with the same kind of mechanical and electronic
> components.
>
> Eighty percent of the $151.3 million contract will be paid by the Federal
> Transit Administration. The balance will come from the state (16 2/3
> percent) and county (3 1/3 percent).
>
> Nutbrown said prices compare favorably with other recent LRV purchases
> nationally. Cost of each new car will be about $2.3 million, while cost of
> overhauling the 55 existing LRVs is about $1.4 million each. The contract
> will include some spare parts and technical support.
>
> The 55 LRVs in service since the Downtown subway opened in 1984 have
> suffered numerous mechanical problems, especially with gearboxes and
> single-axle wheel drives, which only recently have been corrected to the
> point that the LRVS have been operating with reliability.
>
> The first two LRVs are to be taken out of service to begin the overhaul
> program about one month from now. No more than five LRVs are to be taken out
> of service at a time, however.
>
> Although DaimlerChrysler is in talks about selling Adtranz to Canada's
> Bombardier Inc., which specializes in transit vehicles and aerospace,
> Skoutelas said a deal wouldn't affect the authority's contract. "If it
> happens, I see it creating a stronger [Adtranz] organization locally," he
> said.
>
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