The proponents of the Leander to Austin commuter railway dubbed it an urban commuter rail service. Because it will run on the Austin & Western, which is a regional freight carrier operated by Capital Metro, and will use DMUs; the Capital Metro Board of Directors argued that it is an urban commuter railway line. Therefore, it comes under the jurisdiction of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).
Whoops, the FRA has some stringent rules about mixing passenger and freight train operations. The equipment purchased by Capital Metro does not meet all the requirements to operate in a mixed environment. Capital Metro has sought 10 waivers for it and its planned operations, pointing out along the way that the passenger and freight operations will be scheduled at different times, i.e. passenger during the day and freight at night. But the feds are not easily persuaded. And the proposed operation has run into a bit of a regulatory jam. Not to worry.
The proposed solution would make any double dealer proud. Now the operator is proposing to call it light rail. If they pull it off, it will regulated by the Federal Transit Administration, which supposedly has looser regulations.
The line had been scheduled to open in late 2008. But thanks to the regulatory hair splitting, amongst other things, it probably will not begin service until the first quarter of 2009.
I raised this question about 4 years ago in this forum. The responders generally said that there was no issue getting the waiver and running exclusive freight and passenger time windows. NJT has a similar example but I think that recent events have made the various regulatory agencies nervous.
Now if they had purchased Colorado DMU's they wouldn't need waivers but Siemans could finance and Colorado could not.
dd
The start date for the Leander to Austin commuter rail or light rail line has been postponed from the last quarter of 2008 to March 2009. Capital Metro will not be able to complete all the planned stations, track work, and signal up grades for a December 2008 start up. The original plan was to begin operations during March 2008. Assuming there are no further delays, the project will be a year late in getting started.
The biggest problem Austin Capitol Metro will have is passenger capacity. I have no doubt there will be passengers willing to ride commuter rail service in Austin, but so far they only have 6 trains.
They have done a very good job of rebuilding and upgrading the ROW for commuter rail service between Leander and downtown Austin, and they haven't ignored the West subdivision which has quite a bit of freight service for a branch line. It's a big job and they probably shouldn't have been too optimistic about the start up date, since they have a lot of railroad to upgrade. It's a good long-term investment for the area - hopefully there won't be too many more problems.
They are still behind schedule and the final station is still not completed.
For many reasons, Cap Metro never planned on having all the stations completed before start of operations. IIRC initial plans showed at least 3 temporary stations at startup. Station completion delay was designed to spread the investment over several budget years.
sunbeam The biggest problem Austin Capitol Metro will have is passenger capacity. I have no doubt there will be passengers willing to ride commuter rail service in Austin, but so far they only have 6 trains. They have done a very good job of rebuilding and upgrading the ROW for commuter rail service between Leander and downtown Austin, and they haven't ignored the West subdivision which has quite a bit of freight service for a branch line. It's a big job and they probably shouldn't have been too optimistic about the start up date, since they have a lot of railroad to upgrade. It's a good long-term investment for the area - hopefully there won't be too many more problems.
The last word I read and understood,was they will only run at rush hrs am,pm..see www.allsystemsgo.capmetro.org/capital-metrorail.shtml for the info.read the first paragragh...
the Nov 3rd Update from Cap Metro states: "
FRA Waiver
A few weeks ago, I received a letter from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) with an update on the status of our ongoing work with the agency that has federal oversight of our rail system. The letter acknowledges our consensus with the FRA on how to address each of its stringent requirements. The FRA safety regulations are based on larger, heavier, locomotive-hauled trains typically used for freight operations. Since Capital Metro is using lighter trains for MetroRail service, we are submitting documentation that demonstrates that our rail cars have equivalent safety measures.
In the letter, the FRA recognizes our construction and revenue service milestones and confirms there are no concerns that could potentially delay a successful startup."
dldance the Nov 3rd Update from Cap Metro states: " FRA Waiver A few weeks ago, I received a letter from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) with an update on the status of our ongoing work with the agency that has federal oversight of our rail system. The letter acknowledges our consensus with the FRA on how to address each of its stringent requirements. The FRA safety regulations are based on larger, heavier, locomotive-hauled trains typically used for freight operations. Since Capital Metro is using lighter trains for MetroRail service, we are submitting documentation that demonstrates that our rail cars have equivalent safety measures. In the letter, the FRA recognizes our construction and revenue service milestones and confirms there are no concerns that could potentially delay a successful startup."
This IS GREAT NEWS ! I will be there to ride on opening day !
Good. Then be there on Feb 7, 2009 at Leander. Apparently there will be some kind of open house, etc. for MetroRail. Other stations to follow. Also, the website fot MetroRail has information regarding proposed schedules.
Capital Metro trains will begin full scale testing along the entire 32 mile route beginning on February 12, and that is the date that all daylight freight operations will allegedly be suspended to run only at night.
See Capital Metro's website under MetroRail for more info:
http://allsystemsgo.capmetro.org/capital-metrorail.shtml
4merroad4man Good. Then be there on Feb 7, 2009 at Leander. Apparently there will be some kind of open house, etc. for MetroRail. Other stations to follow. Also, the website fot MetroRail has information regarding proposed schedules. Capital Metro trains will begin full scale testing along the entire 32 mile route beginning on February 12, and that is the date that all daylight freight operations will allegedly be suspended to run only at night. See Capital Metro's website under MetroRail for more info: http://allsystemsgo.capmetro.org/capital-metrorail.shtml
4merrroad4man,
I will be the guy with BNSF swetshirt and cap on, hopefully I will be there around noonish or before...
Would love to meet some of you folks I talk to on these forums...
Thanks for the headsup !
Next Month is opening day!
Yep,
And guess who's signed on to be an Ambassador
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.