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[quote user="Railway Man"]Haven't seen the article but if they are talking about heavy rail (subway) and light rail, which use their own rights-of-way or are temporally separated from freight railroad, the carbodies are properly designed and not excessively heavy.  If they're talking about FRA-compliant vehicles, then they should read up on federal law. [/quote] I'm not sure from the article either, but it was in conjunction with something like a bike that can turn into something like a personal monorail, so it could mean either... [quote user="Railway Man"]That is highly unlikely because the market is far too small, far too unstandardized, and far too feast-and-famine to make it economically viable.  Even light-rail vehicles and subway vehicles are very poor business opportunities in this country, which is why Pullman-Standard, Budd, and ACF all exited the business.  The current players in the market are either heavily subsidized by a foreign government, or adapting designs for a foreign country for U.S. needs, or both.  Since FRA-compliant DMUs are not a product built for or needed for Europe, there's no technology already paid for by a European government to borrow for a U.S. railroad!  Now, if someone steps up and says, "We will guarantee, on a take-or-pay basis, a market for 100 DMUs per year for the next 20 years and they will all be identical except for the decals and the seat-cover colors no matter which commuter line is buying them," well, then there would be a market.  But I do not expect that will ever happen, it looks too much like socialism to some people, too much like a handout to big business to other people, and too much like federal government dictating local and state policy to just about everyone.  Democracy and common-sense don't necessarily go hand in hand.[/quote] Ah. That does seem to be a problem. I wonder what will happen when someone does want new equipment... Too often with startup commuter lines, the order gets delayed by some minor problem, costing the railcar company heavily to stop production, etc...I really wonder how the shortlines and regionals are going to pay for installing PTC. It might be manageable on a shorter route (I assume the costs are smaller on a shorter section of route, although there is definetely a minimum cost for installing such a system for electronics, training, equipping locomotives, etc) but I wonder about the regionals with long routes who aren't exactly rolling in cash. New England Central Railway (several hundred miles route hosting Amtrak's Vermonter) comes to mind...This should be an interesting show to watch as the deadline nears...
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