Metrolink looking for 12 new Tier 4 diesel locomotives

Apologies if this was noted elsewhere on a thread I have not yet seen
https://www.masstransitmag.com/rail/veh ... tate-grant

The South Coast Air Quality Management District (South Coast AQMD) Governing Board has approved up to $59.3 million in funding through the Carl Moyer Program for Metrolink to purchase two zero-emission rail vehicles. The board also approved up to $87.4 million from South Coast AQMD’s contingency grant award list to replace 12 earlier-generation Metrolink locomotives with lower-emission Tier 4 locomotives. Both awards of funding will advance Metrolink’s ambitious emission-reduction goals outlined in the organization’s 2021 Climate Action Plan.

Is this another victory lap for Siemens - is anyone else even offering at this point?

My recollection is that F125 introduction was not happy, but perhaps things have improved since. I had been wondering if EMD had given up on any more sales, whether Alstom would offer a diesel-only ALP45 to the various systems who for whatever reason preferred not to go with Siemens/Cummins.

Those MP36PHs will be around 20 years old when replaced, depending on delivery timeframe (15-16 now). I wonder what their fate will be.

Nah, I'd expect Metra will exercise options on newer SD70MACHs before they buy any more second-hand California units. The 21 F59PHI's were an opportunity to help bridge the gap until the 27 MACHs arrived (that RFP had already been well underway when the Amtrak purchase opportunity came up in 2018).

The existing Metra MP36s are weight restricted as to where they can operate, so that's already a non-starter.

As for Metrolink... did they not have options on more F125's? I know the rollout was problematic but most new types are, and I've heard little more about them since pre-COVID...

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I think they are all out of options. Technically the original contract was for 10 units with an option for 10 more. But ultimately they ordered 40.

Odd that they'd do another RFP, but I'd think EMD has a bit of a leg up on a commonality standpoint. If they offered to honor the last agreement's option pricing, it would be a slam dunk.

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Looks like the contract was actually amended from the original announcement.

The Board awarded a contract EP181-13 to Progress Rail on Dec. 14, 2012 for 20 Tier 4 Locomotives for $129,400,000 plus a contingency of $8,000,000. The Board exercised an Option for an additional 20 Units on July 24, 2015.

On August 27, 2021, all 40 units have been Conditionally Accepted. As of March 11, 2022, only 6 units received final acceptance. Final acceptance for the entire order was achieved by September 2022. They were able to get another year of warranty on these units plus $1.5M worth of spare parts negotiated as a result of the huge delays. Regardless, the final warranty extensions on these units are set to end in August 2024.

I have no idea why they'd want to buy any more of these. A decade to close out a 40-unit contract with a 3-year warranty? What a terrible deal.

As far as cost, these things cost nearly $7 million a pop and will probably have no parts available for them in a decade. That cost was based on a contract signed in 2012/2015, so equivalent today would be about 9M. Amtrak's original contract for the ALC-42 was for about 11M per unit but includes a 20-year maintenance and parts supply contract. ACE bought just 4 chargers for only 7.5M each in 2018 without the maintenance contract and had them delivered in 2 years.

I can't say the State of California or any of its local transit agencies are exactly known for negotiating great deals for anyone except the supplier.

Didn't ACE order their Chargers before the larger orders from Amtrak, VIA and other agencies?

No? The first SC-44 order was placed in 2014, 4 years before ACE ordered theirs. Brightline also ordered theirs in 2014.

Via and Amtrak ordered theirs in 2018, though the Amtrak order was for the ALC-42 variant.