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| Re: LIRR & Metro-North on M-9/M-9A ''early stage'' RFP information (1126625) | |||
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Re: LIRR & Metro-North on M-9/M-9A ''early stage'' RFP information |
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Posted by WillD on Fri Dec 23 02:35:29 2011, in response to Re: LIRR & Metro-North on M-9/M-9A ''early stage'' RFP information, posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Wed Dec 21 12:41:51 2011. The LIRR already has hundreds of miles of third rail powered track and nearly 1000 third rail only MU's.Yes, and those thousand third rail only MUs would still be fully utilized on those hundreds of (track) miles of third rail powered track. Nothing would change west of the current ends of the electrification, except that multisystem EMUs would allow for much greater flexibility in scheduling trains that originate on the east end. It's possible that if the M9s were equipped for AC pickup and used to replace both the M3s and some C3s then they'd find some use on DC-only runs, but other than a marginal increase in weight there really isn't a major impediment to that operation. Eventually the M7s would be replaced with another AC/DC EMU and the entire LIRR fleet would be capable of operating anywhere on the railroad's track. It's not about choice. There is no choice. There's always a choice. The LIRR can choose to go about the electrification of their eastern end in a piecemeal fashion, a choice which is guaranteed to result in abandonments of the most marginal segments as the shrinking diesel operations consume more and more money per passenger. The LIRR can also choose to spend much more money than is strictly required, somewhere between twice and three times the cost of an AC electrification simply to retain their technological status quo when a more efficient alternative has existed for nearly a century. Or the LIRR can choose to electrify their entire diesel network with efficient AC OHLE for about the same cost as a half-assed piecemeal extension of their third rail to Speonk, Port Jeff, and Medford. In retrospect, using overhead wire would have been the better choice to power the railroad. But the LIRR has to operate with the infrastructure it was given. The LIRR was 'given' third rail to Ronkonkoma? No, they built it. They chose to spend more money (although admittedly a smaller deficit than today given current copper prices), and maintain a technological status quo when an alternative offered the capability to provide more track-miles at the same price. Today the economics behind this decision are even more lopsided in the favor of catenary, to the point where it'd be almost criminally negligent to discount the leaps and bounds made by multisystem rolling stock in the past decade if the LIRR opts to extend their electrification. |
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