Hey, there! Log in / Register

New Orange Line cars look to be seaworthy

Orange Line cars in Shanghai

The MBTA's Joe Pesaturo shows us the first four new Orange Line cars on a dock in Shanghai, awaiting shipment here for testing (earlier, on the way to the port, he passed a convoy of trucks hauling the cars to the dock).

The cars should arrive next month for extensive testing on the brand-new tracks the T has been laying alongside the active Orange Line north of Boston (seen here from the Wellington skyway):

Laying new tracks in Medford

Although the first four cars were built in China, the rest of the Orange Line cars will be assembled in a new plant in Springfield.

Topics: 
Free tagging: 


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Comments

What will be the numbers of these cars? Will these be renumbered (or removed) once the Springfield built cars are put into service?

up
Voting closed 0

The could number the Orange Line and Red Line cars seperately (OL in the 02000 series, RL in the 03000 series), use the 02 series for the entire fleet but separate the numbers (02000 for OL, 02500 for RL), or number all 418* the same way (02000-02417), splitting the order with 02152 being the final OL car and 02153 being the first RL car, similar to what they did with the Xcelsior buses where 1774 was the last CNG bus and 1775 is the first hybrid bus.

*The train order is for 404 cars (152 OL and 252 RL cars) with an option to deliver 14 additional cars, bringing the total order to 418 cars.

up
Voting closed 0

It would be a big step to go from 4 digit numbers to 5 digit ones, but it might work in this case.

Not that it matters to me. I never note the numbers.

up
Voting closed 0

Why? I understand T engineers who are experts with rolling stock in Shanghai. But why the T spokesperson? Can't he speak from Massachusetts anymore?

up
Voting closed 0

Joe is in MA. I think the company sends over this footage to the T to use as promotional materials. I doubt he was really in shanghai. (although he has traveled there personally before according to his page) And the title of his video on twitter is misleading thinking he went, but in reality it was a promo video they sent over.

up
Voting closed 0

I mean, how else could he keep the public semi-informed about the purchase of some new equipment unless the riders or taxpayers underwrote a trip to the other side of the world? I sincerely hope someone is FOIA-ing the travel records right now so we can find out, after maybe three years of court battles, how much we paid for this.

up
Voting closed 0

          ( but you're right, he's already quite skilled in that )

up
Voting closed 0

I don't think he went to Shanghai. CNR often sends over promo videos to the T of the progress. This is just another one.

I think his title and adam's usage are misleading like he was actually there. He wasn't there.. CNR send those videos to the T.

up
Voting closed 0

with the video of the car passing the convoy of trucks hauling the OL cars to the port, it's pretty easy to see how people might think he is actually in Shanghai.

up
Voting closed 0

In one of the tweets, Channel 7 asks to use the video and credit him. He said it was fine to use, but to credit the T, not him. He didn't take the video. Also, this Twitter account is his personal account, not the MBTA's.

up
Voting closed 0

Instead of Where's Waldo let's play where's Joe? Is he in China or Chinatown station? Does he punch a time clock or does he make his own hours?Joe is a master of T-speak.
"The moderate delays will last all day"
"Ridership is up,ridership is down"
" Crime is down, another victim groped and beaten on the subway"
"The weather will not be a factor until it gets cold and snows"
"The MBTA will conduct a million dollar study to examine why people cross the tracks after two years the study will show that people cross the tracks to get to the other side."

up
Voting closed 0

Can someone ask the extra 3-5 drivers on the bus to please take a seat instead of blocking the entrance to injured or handicapped riders. Thanks

up
Voting closed 0

These are subway cars.

up
Voting closed 0

The "express track" between Community and Wellington is mostly dead straight, except for the curve south of Sullivan, and is currently being completely rebuilt with new ties and rail. So, is that a realistic test bed for new equipment that will be operated on other parts of the Orange Line that aren't as exactly well groomed as the "test track" is?

Both the Boeing LRVs and the Breda cars revealed serious flaws in parts of the Green Line trackwork that were only revealed once the cars entered service. I just hope the T isn't setting themselves up for a similar scenario here.

up
Voting closed 0

I makes sense to test the trains first under ideal track conditions. Any problems discovered there can't be blamed by the manufacturer on the 's state of disrepair.

Once the trains are determined to function properly on the test track, I'm sure they'll undergo extensive testing on all of the real tracks before being accepted for service.

up
Voting closed 0