deathtopumpkins wrote:SouthernRailway wrote:Surprising to see old MBTA (Boston) coaches used for this.
I thought the plan was to use the existing SLE fleet? None of those cars are ex-MBTA as far as I'm aware. Wikipedia lists the Mafersa coaches as being ex-VRE, and the Shoreliners have never run in Boston.
Correct. They have more Mafersas than needed for SLE service right now, so the meager starter schedule for the Hartford Line won't even crunch SLE while it's still all-diesel. They mainly have to make sure that their power assignments are all set with enough GP40's and P40's back from rebuild.
CDOT's never going to touch the MBTA's dispersals. When Metro North cues up its MLV order to go all bi-level, all 105 Shoreliner III's and IV's will be up for grabs for CDOT to consolidate under its own ownership by transacting for the MTA's units at scrap prices then giving them a light refresh. That's enough to retire all CDOT-owned Shoreliner I's & II's if they don't opt into the MLV order for Danbury/Waterbury, and enough to retire rather than rebuild the Mafersas because their undercarriages won't clear GCT third rail like a Shoreliner's will. And then have like 40 units they won't know what to do with except put into storage for future expansion or maybe cannibalize for parts on the rebuild program to lower the program costs. Not only is using their MNRR presence to transact for MTA coach dispersals at extreme discount far less expensive than going out-of-state for any other agencies' extras, but the Shoreliner III's/IV's the MTA will be getting rid of are flat-out newer and in better incumbent condition than anything else that'll be retired in the next 5 years meaning they'll be the least expensive acquisitions on the market to put through another life-extension overhaul. Less expensive even than a Mafersa refresh, since any further action on the current SLE/Hartford fleet would require moving lots of electrical crap on the underside to make them compatible with run-thru to GCT. Plus it would give the state a completely maintenance-uniform coach fleet, and a completely layout-uniform fleet as all III's/IV's are 3-door makes.
It's probably even less expensive for MassDOT to buy some of those excess Shoreliner III/IV's laundered through CDOT if they want to initiate Knowledge Corridor commuter rail than try to rehab their self-owned MBTA retirees since the condition of the 1996-98 -built IV's and '91-built III's are so much better than the T's mid-80's/unrebuilt MBB's and Bombardiers. Acquisition + overhaul cost on the freshest Shoreliners is probably less as a package than doing only an overhaul on any BTC-1A's, BTC/CTC-1B's, or BTC/CTC-3's.