WMATA 8000 Series Rail Cars

Do these contracts have a mechanism to account for inflation since they were signed well before the inflation spike we had from the pandemic?

drwho9437 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 15, 2024 4:16 am Do these contracts have a mechanism to account for inflation since they were signed well before the inflation spike we had from the pandemic?

I don't have the contract in front of me - I am not even sure it's publicly available - but I believe it was a set contract of X amount of money for Y amount of railcars. If costs go up, then the manufacturer eats it.

davinp wrote: ↑Tue May 23, 2023 6:59 am They should already have started building them last year as we need them next year because the 2000/3000 series are too old and need to be retired by 2024.

The 3000s seemed to be the backbone of WMATA for years and even outlasted newer cars.

The new 8000 series, in the recent prototype sample, resembles the R211.

R36 Combine Coach wrote: ↑Thu Apr 18, 2024 2:06 pm

davinp wrote: ↑Tue May 23, 2023 6:59 am They should already have started building them last year as we need them next year because the 2000/3000 series are too old and need to be retired by 2024.

The 3000s seemed to be the backbone of WMATA for years and even outlasted newer cars.

The new 8000 series, in the recent prototype sample, resembles the R211.

The 2000/3000 series were rehabbed 20 years ago
The 4000 series were never rehabbed which is why they became unreliable and a safety issue was discovered
The 5000 series were retired early because they were so unreliable. They were the first cars that a Spanish company made for a US transit agency.
The 6000 series are not 20 years old yet and are in good condition and working well.

All the cars in the fleet basically have recent Alstom guts or are 7ks right now.

With the 8ks it will switch to Hitachi or Kawasaki.

If as above it is a fixed price contract (with no cost of material adjustment), then I hope that the options can be used without putting Hitachi out of business (presuming they work well).

davinp wrote: ↑Thu Apr 18, 2024 7:39 pm The 6000 series are not 20 years old yet and are in good condition and working well.

Based on this, the 9000s will replace the 6000s around 2040 or later.

R36 Combine Coach

The new 8000 series, in the recent prototype sample, resembles the R211.

Not by a long shot, as the car bodies will be made of extruded aluminum, not stainless steel, and will be assembled in a manner similar to the legacy aluminum rolling stock.

In time the patina of the car bodies will look like the legacy rolling stock.