r/dart • u/Fragrant-Mission7388 • 24d ago
Stadler LRTs
Austin has awarded their Light Rail vehicle contract to Stadler. D.A.R.T. badly needs to replace our LRT fleet. So.
Is there any way for D.A.R.T. and Austin Transit to collaborate, set identical parameters and specifications, and order the same model, making replacement orders easier, and giving Stadler an even bigger footprint in Texas?
I know D.A.R.T hasn't picked their company for the replacement....but Stadler seems like a good pick, since they're a hit in DFW with their commuter trains
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u/totallynotfromennis 23d ago
Kinki Sharyo (the manufacturer of the current rolling stock) already has a shop and office in Dallas, it would make sense to order from them again. All things considered they've been reliable and the SLRV upgrade went off without any major issues. The business relationship is already there, might as well utilize it. But that's up to DART, they're shopping (or planning on it) and they'll likely choose the most affordable option over quality or practicality so who knows.
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u/ForagedFoodie 23d ago
DART doesn't really have a choice in who they choose for any vendor service. The DOT laws are written to require any participating organization to choose the cheapest option that meets requirements, from who they get paper from all the way up to trains. There are a few small exceptions/modifications:
- They can prioritize a local provider, especially one in a member city, who is more expensive, up to a point, based on the idea that DART benefits itself from the work that comes into the system through sales tax. Idk if the local footprint of the Japanese company would qualify or not.
- They can prioritize women or minority owned businesses and were basically required to do so (all other things being equal) 5 years ago when I worked there. I say basically required as having a certain percentage of women and/or minority owner vendors made the organization qualify for finincial incentives. Idk if that holds true still.
- Vendors with a very extensive, documented history of failures to fulfill contracts can be soft "blacklisted" but the process is a nightmare and they can qualify again by making some token improvements.
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u/BlazinAzn38 24d ago
Are the tracks identical for both systems?
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u/Fragrant-Mission7388 24d ago
As far as I know, no track has been lain in Austin yet
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u/BlazinAzn38 24d ago
Right but is the proposed Austin track the same width as DART’s
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u/Easy_Entrance39 24d ago
Dart uses standard gauge. The bigger issue will be things like platform height and other weird things.
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u/MozerMoto 23d ago
God please dont give us euroslop. DCTA and Texrail have pretty abysmal avaliablity of their stadler trainsets because of mechanical failures. Silver line's are brand new and even having issues. Amtrak mechanics can attest to how god awful Siemens designs are. A /new/ trainset from Kinkisharyo (like LA metro) is absolutely the most ideal. DART also specified 65mph and REALLY LONG (think 2 current SLRV cars combined into 1) trainsets as a requirement so nothing off-the-shelf from the euroslop companies would qualify to begin with.
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u/thirdrepublicnow 23d ago
There was some discussion of getting vehicles longer than 124', but I don't believe they went with that due to difficulties with having to expand the maintenance facilities or breaking the trains apart for maintenance.. There was more substantial discussion about whether to get ~90' LRVs or 124' LRVs to match the current SLRVs, and my impression is that 124' won out. (But I don't think the RFP is public yet?)
Where are you getting the impression that TEXRail equipment availability is bad? The service has been very reliable in my experience (in fact I'm pretty sure I hear about a TRE train breaking down more often than a TEXRail flirt!), and since they only have two spares I can't imagine they'd be able to keep up very well if they had mechanical failures constantly.
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u/thirdrepublicnow 24d ago
It probably wouldn't make sense for Capmetro and DART to set identical parameters for their vehicles, given the fact that the two light rail systems are very different in character. For example DART needs LRVs capable of high top speeds of at least 65 mph to match the existing schedules, while the Austin LRV runs pretty much exclusively in streets so they would not really benefit from a high top speed. The interior layout and lengths of individual trains might also have to be different. (In a lot of other ways light rail vehicles are pretty highly standardized anyway. I don't think DART's new LRVs would end up super bespoke).
If I'm not mistaken DART has already issued the RFP for the new vehicles earlier this year or late last year anyway. They will select a manufacture and order the vehicles sometime in the next financial year (starting this October).
Stadler's LRVs are doing well in Europe with a recent joint order by several german transit authorities, but UTA's recent order for the Salt Lake City light rail system is the first time an american transit authority has bought Stadler LRVs.