Mixing Freight and Commuter Operations

[dldance]

Capital Metro, the Austin TX transit agency, will be balloting a request to add commuter rail operations to their current bus system in November. Their starter line will add commuter operations to an existing freight line owned by Capital Metro and operated by Austin Area Terminal Railroad. They plan to use non-FRA compliant diesel multi unit rail cars with the explanation that they plan to strictly segregate freight operating times and commuter operating times.

Does any know of a similar operation in the US where freight and non-FRA compliant DMU's are used on the same tracks?

dd

[dldance]

Thanks - I was afraid that Capital Metro's expectation of a waiver would make the commuter rail option a non-starter. [:)]

dd

[MP57313]

QUOTE: Originally posted by M.W. Hemphill
Not in the U.S., but light-rail and freight share track on NJT.

Also true in the San Diego area MTS (light rail) and SD&IV (freight), on both the line south to San Ysidro and the line east to Santee. The freights operate in the wee hours when no light rail trains are operating.
MP

[Junctionfan]

What is Chicago Metra than?

[Overmod]

Others will confirm this, I think, but I have never seen anything running on the Chicago lines that wasn't nominally FRA compliant.

One might have some doubts after seeing pictures of the Highliner v. heavyweight collision in the early 1970s, of course... but we're talking legal compliance, not ideal design.

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

Metra is indeed an FRA-compliant suburban operation in its entirety. The closest thing to the DMU's which operated on Metra was a Fiat railcar demonstrator (similar to those which ran on Chihuahua-Pacific) which ran in off-peak service on the Rock Island in the mid 1970's.

[MP57313]

On the VTA in the Mountain View, CA area, part of the light rail route is on a rebuilt spur [former SP, that diverges from the "CalTrain" line] that serves Moffett Naval Air Station. The freight spur looks like it has not been used in years, but it was still connected and had grade crossing signals in place when I was last there about 3 years ago.

In Sacramento, part of the light rail line was built on the remnant of the SP branch to Folsom. There was a scrapyard or steel firm that was still served by rail in the 90s, which was beyond the outer reaches of the light rail system at the time. The light rail line has since been extended east, and I don't know if UP still has freight operations out there. A different light rail extension parallels the ex-WP line in the area but IIRC that light rail is on entirely separate but parallel tracks there (similar to the MTA Blue Line and the UP south of L.A.)

[jchnhtfd]

one might add that all the stuff on the northeast corridor is FRA compliant, but that the idea of separating freight and passenger operations (including such hot shots as the Acela) works just fine. No reason not to think that Capital Metro should have a problem.

[oltmannd]

The NJT River Line is diesel light rail, not electric and, as you mentioned, uses the curfew system. The new light rail line thru Hoboken and the Weehawken tunnel is electric and doesn't share w/frt.