For information about The Bulletin,
contact the Electric Railroaders’ Associ- ation Inc, P.O. Box 3323, New York, NY 10163-3323.
Good News from PATCO
In late May 2015, the Port Authority Transit Corp. began celebrating the re- turn of the rebuilt cars that had been providing service between New Jersey and Philadelphia since the railroad be- gan operations in the late 1960s and early 1970s. When opened, the PATCO service was in the same league as the Bay Area Rapid Transit District in the San Francisco region. However, in light of the cars’ age and need of upgrading, all 120 of the Budd-built cars will be refurbished. Every two weeks PATCO will send two cars for rehabilitation at Alston Transport in Hornell, N.Y. Sub- sequently, every two weeks two cars will be returned to PATCO, ready for service. Since PATCO has 120 cars it is sure to take awhile; the whole fleet is expected to take about 18 months to complete. The cars are some of the last large
fleet of Budd stainless steel cars still in service. In the refurbishment, the Budd bodies are to be cleaned and polished, but not replaced. The refurbished cars will have flip-up seats in order to handle wheelchairs and bicycles. The Budd cars already have automatic train control, but the cars will get an improved braking system as well as higher ceilings and seat backs; new and improved heating, venti- lating, and air conditioning systems; and automatic station announcements. The decision to rebuild rather than
replace the cars was an economic one, due to the costly replacement process. The upgrade is a $194 million project;
funds from the Federal Transit Admin- istration will contribute $85 million. Riders will probably be pleased by the increased comfort, safety, and reliabili- ty since PATCO is also making station improvements and is in the process of overhauling its track structure on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge between Philad elphia and Camden, N.J. There is speculation that the Franklin Square Station at the west end of the bridge will be reopened. Other stations in Phila- delphia need sprucing up since the old unreliable escalators must be replaced or undergo major rehabilitation. Many thanks to N.M. Seidelman, David Har- ris, Ferdinand Oehler, and Andy Dorish for the news.
South Shore Line Ridership Expands
There are many signs of economic re- surgence here in Indiana. For example, newspapers are growing much thick- er with ads and more people are back at work. Another sign of brighter days ahead is the increase in ridership on NICTD/South Shore Commuter Service in June, up 2.7 percent over a year ear- lier. Specifically, weekday travel was up 2.2 percent over 2014, averaging 13,084 passengers a day.
Information Please A reader contacted me to see if I
knew where the photo collection of Felix Reifschneider is located. I actually don’t have the faintest idea. Do any of you good readers know the location of Mr. Reifschneider’s collection? Please send me the information and I will pass it on.
Flashes In Philadelphia, SEPTA is planning to
spend $3.4 billion to restore the rail sys- tem to a state of good repair. Among other things, there will be extensive upgrades of electrical substations. Bridge replace- ment is an essential item on the mainte- nance docket, as well as station upgrad- ing and signal system improvements. Most of SEPTA’s rail infrastructure is old enough to collect social security. The im- provements are to be completed by 2020. Completion of the KANSAS CITY STREETCAR
PROJECT may be delayed by late delivery of streetcars by CAF, the Spanish car builders. Kansas City was supposed to get four streetcars, test them, and have two streetcar lines in operation by March 1, 2016, just in time for the Big 12 basketball tournament. The track has already been built and reaches from the River Market to near the Crown Center. The construction by CAF began in 2012, and the original delivery schedule was June 2015; the cars finally arrived in November. The cars are to be complet- ed by the CAF factory in Elmira, N.Y. The delay has been caused by the need to train American workers, along with slow delivery of parts from Spain. The Elmira facility is also putting the finish- ing touches on new streetcars for Cincin- nati. For the Kansas City cars, CAF is paying $1,000 per day for all delays after June 5, 2015. Kansas City interests hope the streetcar line will be in service before the Big 12 Tournament starts on March 9, 2016. Thanks to James Asplund for the news.
PLEASE SEND light rail, rapid transit, and commuter rail news items and correspondence to Prof. George M. Smerk, P.O. Box 486, Bloomington, IN 47402.
Denver RTD Commuter Live Test Runs
A two car test train of Rotem electric m.u. cars is inbound on the Denver RTD “A Line” after just crossing 40th Avenue on November 22, 2015. The A Line is a 22.8- mile commuter rail transit corridor that will operate between Denver Union Station and Denver International Airport. Part of the ambitious FasTracks project, the A Line is expected to open later in 2016, along with the B Line to Westminster and the G Line to Wheat Ridge, followed by the N Line to Thornton in 2018.
PHOTO BY BRYAN BECHTOLD
20 JANUARY 2016 •
RAILFAN.COM
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