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[quote user="oltmannd"][quote user="Sam1"] Capital Metro has announced that the start-up date for the commuter rail service from Leander to Austin has been delayed until at least the middle of September.  In addition, it said that the scheduled running time from Leander to Austin will be increased from 52 to 60 minutes, thereby reducing significantly the schedule spread between the current bus service and proposed rail service.  As if to add insult to injury, the number of trains scheduled to and from Leander will be reduced to accommodate expected greater passenger loads down the line.  Lastly, Capital Metro will use only four of the six train sets it bought because of unforseen operating constraints.  In other words, millions of dollars of equipment will sit idle.  Is this a first class operation or what?  [/quote] Sounds like this system has all the ingredients to be a "poster child" for how not to do rail transit. First, the plan fails to clear the Federal cost/benefit hurdle, so funding is all state/local. That might not have been all bad, but it should have raised some red flags... The system was built on the premise that getting an FRA waiver to do temporal seporation of freight and light rail was a slam dunk. It wasn't. Then, we have this ongoing comedy of getting the light rail equipment to reliably trip crossing circuits. Apparently, Veolia is delivering their usual, fine "low bidder" performance. (Veolia is our local bus operator. They sure don't sweat the details. They cut every corner they can find until the riders squeak loud enough.) If this was the first time any of this was done, these errors might be excusable. But, it isn't. The RiverLine from Trenton to Camden NJ is doing EXACTLY what the Austin - Leander service is trying to do. I think the difference is that NJT did a build-operate-maintain contract with Bombardier, and that really cut down on opportunities to pass the buck. Bombardier pretty much nailed it on the first pass. Did Austin mess up by subbing out the work (including the design work) to a collection of lowest bidders who weren't "best value" bidders? (because they obviously don't know what they are doing....)[/quote] Like most projects that go wrong, there are many causes for this debacle.  Near the top of the list is an agency (Capital Metro) that is run by a guy who spent his career managing bus operations.  Moreover, the board of overseers did not have anyone on it who understands rail.  Most of them are lawyers or double speakers of another stripe who were appointed for political favors done.  A key criterion for being a transit board member in Texas is to have worked on or donated to the political campaign of the mayor or city council person.    Subsequent to the decision to upgrade the Austin and Western for commuter rail, after the project was well under way, Cap Metro realized that it was in trouble.  It brought in a good man from DART, but it was a clear case of the help arriving too late.
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