[PRCo] OT: MBTA Will Take 10 New Cars For Green Line

[Jim Holland]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	Fwd: MBTA Will Take 10 New Cars For Green Line
Date: 	Sun, 18 Nov 2007 01:26:56 -0000

	

	



T will take 10 new cars for its busy Green Line
By Noah Bierman

Globe Staff / November 12, 2007

After fighting for a decade with an Italian company that MBTA officials 
once accused of supplying defective Green Line trolleys, the T said 
yesterday that it has solved past problems and will take an additional 
10 cars from the company.

For riders on the T's most-crowded line, that will mean more trains 
available for service, resulting in fewer delays, said Daniel A. 
Grabauskas, general manager of the MBTA. "It's easily the largest fleet 
size in the last 25 years, maybe ever," Grabauskas said.

The first of the new trains went into service last week. Once the T gets 
the last of 10 new cars, by the middle of next year, it will have a 
total of 209 cars to carry the 200,000 passengers who ride the Green 
Line each weekday.

Green Line trains typically have two cars. The line's branches extend 
into Jamaica Plain, Brookline, and Newton.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority signed a $222 million 
contract in 1995 with an Italian company now known as AnsaldoBreda to 
provide the trains. The company was supposed to deliver 100 "Breda" 
cars, but T officials halted delivery of the trains in 2004 after 
frequent breakdowns and a $50 million lawsuit from AnsaldoBreda over the 
terms of the contract. T officials have fumed over the years that it was 
their worst purchase ever. The sides settled in 2005 and agreed to work 
together to put 85 trains back on the tracks, using the remaining train 
parts as spares. The cars are assembled in Littleton. Grabauskas said 
the Breda trains, which are lower to the ground and easier for disabled 
riders to use, have been performing well, and both sides agree they can 
use most of the spare parts to assemble more new trains. Grabauskas said 
the $222 million contract has not been paid off because Breda trains 
have not been in service long enough to determine whether they meet 
long-term performance standards specified in the 2005 settlement.

Grabauskas was out of the office yesterday, and T officials could not 
say how much the company is owed. The 10 newest cars will not cost the T 
more than it has already agreed to pay.

The T deploys 150 trains on the Green Line during rush hour; the rest of 
the fleet is used for spare cars during breakdowns and scheduled 
maintenance.

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Jim  Holland
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Studying Pittsburgh Railways Company (PRCo)
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..............................From 1930 -- 1950
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Pennsylvania  Trolley  Museum  (PTM)
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http://www.pa-trolley.org/
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N.M.R.A.
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http://www.nmra.org/