I recently ran across a 5 page TRE report, much of which has no relevance to SMART, but two paragraphs contain information SMART supporters may find interesting.
http://www.apta.com/mc/rail/previous/20 ... -Costs.pdf
"The shift from DMU to locomotive hauled equipment provided a major cost savings. In addition to the significantly lower capital cost per seat, the staffing requirements for a train of either type of equipment are similar. Each train requires one train operator and one train attendant. Fuel consumption is equivalent at two gallons per mile.
The savings are realized when the ridership demand exceeds approximately 280 seats on a train. This is the seating capacity of either a two car bi- level consist or a three car RDC set. To provide a seat costs approximately $0.064 per seat mile (one seat traveling one mile).
The expansion west created peak period passenger demands which required the TRE to commence operating consists of three and four bi- levels. These loads greatly exceeded the carrying capacity of the earlier RDC trains. A three car bi- level train costs $0.048 per seat mile to operate. Adding the fourth car to the train decreases the costs to $0.042 per seat mile. In the future, the TRE plans to operate five car trains at a cost estimated to be $0.037 per seat mile."
There's the data that shows RDCs (DMUs) are cheaper to operate up to three DMUs on a train. Of course, this report suggest the opposite is true, that DMUs are more expensive to operate when you have more than three DMUs on a train. Both statements are true.
What's relevant to SMART supporters is that SMART will be operationing trains with just two DMUs initially, and expanding train consists to a maximum of three DMUs later. Therefore, DMUs should be cheaper to operate than conventional bi-level trains for SMART.
http://www.apta.com/mc/rail/previous/20 ... -Costs.pdf
"The shift from DMU to locomotive hauled equipment provided a major cost savings. In addition to the significantly lower capital cost per seat, the staffing requirements for a train of either type of equipment are similar. Each train requires one train operator and one train attendant. Fuel consumption is equivalent at two gallons per mile.
The savings are realized when the ridership demand exceeds approximately 280 seats on a train. This is the seating capacity of either a two car bi- level consist or a three car RDC set. To provide a seat costs approximately $0.064 per seat mile (one seat traveling one mile).
The expansion west created peak period passenger demands which required the TRE to commence operating consists of three and four bi- levels. These loads greatly exceeded the carrying capacity of the earlier RDC trains. A three car bi- level train costs $0.048 per seat mile to operate. Adding the fourth car to the train decreases the costs to $0.042 per seat mile. In the future, the TRE plans to operate five car trains at a cost estimated to be $0.037 per seat mile."
There's the data that shows RDCs (DMUs) are cheaper to operate up to three DMUs on a train. Of course, this report suggest the opposite is true, that DMUs are more expensive to operate when you have more than three DMUs on a train. Both statements are true.
What's relevant to SMART supporters is that SMART will be operationing trains with just two DMUs initially, and expanding train consists to a maximum of three DMUs later. Therefore, DMUs should be cheaper to operate than conventional bi-level trains for SMART.