NABIs Pulled from Service

[trainman8119]

IMO, the NABI junk would be perfect for this service.

[chitowndude84]

Wouldn't be surprised if these some how showed up in some 3rd world dump

[sw4400]

IMO, the NABI junk would be perfect for this service.

Wouldn't it be the Jeffrey Junk then, instead of the Jeffrey Jump...

[Kimball401]

Wouldn't it be the Jeffrey Junk then, instead of the Jeffrey Jump...

True lol but at least they'll die the natural.

[trainman8119]

Wouldn't it be the Jeffrey Junk then, instead of the Jeffrey Jump...

That is exactly where I was going with this !

[Busjack]

On my cruising down south, it still looked like there were a lot of NABIs in the 77th and Perry dead lot. I wonder if they have made much of any progress scrapping them?

Also, there seemed to be a decent number of 500s outside the South Shops heavy maintenance facility (79th near Vincennes).

[sw4400]

On my cruising down south, it still looked like there were a lot of NABIs in the 77th and Perry dead lot. I wonder if they have made much of any progress scrapping them?

Also, there seemed to be a decent number of 500s outside the South Shops heavy maintenance facility (79th near Vincennes).

Sounds like they are getting ready to retire them. It's kind of sad, because even though the Optimas are capacity-challenged, they are good buses. I've rode them several times on the Lincoln route when they used them for Sunday service.

[mkohut]

If they are going to retire then .I hope Pace would buy then.They are going to need if they are adding moew service.

[Busjack]

Sounds like they are getting ready to retire them. It's kind of sad, because even though the Optimas are capacity-challenged, they are good buses. I've rode them several times on the Lincoln route when they used them for Sunday service.

If they were going to retire them, more likely they would have been in the dead lot, not heavy maintenance. There were several 4000s around that area, too.*

__________

*I looked in that direction to see if any 4300s were around, but no luck.

If they are going to retire then .I hope Pace would buy then.They are going to need if they are adding moew service.

Why would Pace need them? They already have 229 30 foot buses. The expansion is supposed to be OTR. Do you have somewhere to use them?

I suppose that Hammond could use them, if it had a bus system.

[mkohut]

You can free up buses that are too big for the amount of passengers like 209,234,423,319,332 .The buses worth some money.

[artthouwill]

You can free up buses that are too big for the amount of passengers like 209,234,423,319,332 .The buses worth some money.

The 423 already uses the 30ft Eldorados.

The 332 has a significant ridership between AMC (O'Hare Cargo Area) and Rosemont Blue Line.

West used to have an Eldorado or two for the 319, but I haven't seen it.

I don't think Pace needs any more 30 ft buses at all.

[Busjack]

You can free up buses that are too big for the amount of passengers like 209,234,423,319,332 .The buses worth some money.

Also 209 and 234 are mostly ElDo, and also interlined.

So, as art points out, you basically either selected routes that already have them, or West Division routes that rejected them.

West used to have an Eldorado or two for the 319, but I haven't seen it.

2665-2666 went to Naperville after the Elmhurst feeders were canceled.

[Busjack]

On my cruising down south, it still looked like there were a lot of NABIs in the 77th and Perry dead lot. I wonder if they have made much of any progress scrapping them?

According to the posted Committee on Finance, Audit and Budget agenda (Word doc) they are just presenting to the Board:

103634

Scrap sale of up to 226 NABI buses.

$1,107,890.00

Revenue Generating

So, I guess that is why the junk is still in the yards, and that indicates the amount of damages being mitigated.

[renardo870]

Pardon me but will CTA ever get reimbursed for the FAILED NABI buses since the average bus in service is 12 years but they barely made it 6 years? I remembered hearing about a lawsuit and a counter lawsuit blaming each other about the defects. I know under previous CTA management (KRUESI) the taxpayers were failed miserably and stuck with bad 225 60 ft buses which helped out big time especially at 77th garage routes 3/4/6*(back at 103rd)/79/87. Whats is going on with that?

[Busjack]

Pardon me but will CTA ever get reimbursed for the FAILED NABI buses since the average bus in service is 12 years but they barely made it 6 years? I remembered hearing about a lawsuit and a counter lawsuit blaming each other about the defects. I know under previous CTA management (KRUESI) the taxpayers were failed miserably and stuck with bad 225 60 ft buses which helped out big time especially at 77th garage routes 3/4/6*(back at 103rd)/79/87. Whats is going on with that?

According to the docket, the lawsuit is still pending.

All this means is that this is $1.1 million less that NABI would have to pay in damages, should CTA prevail, as the salvage value had been realized by CTA.

[sw4400]

I wonder if this trial is ever going to be done with...

Going from the beginning of the link when the motions began on 9/5/08 to 11/5/12, I have looked for all the times the case has been continued and who requested the continuance. This is the figure of how many times each of the parties have continued the case for one reason or another...

CTA has had the case continued 37 times

NABI has had the case continued 18 times

Detroit Diesel has had the case continued 11 times

Cerberus Capital Manangement has had the case continued 1 time

American Casualty have not had the case continued

The Traxis Group have not had the case continued

This case is already four years old.... As Judge Mills Lane used to say... "Let's get it on and get it decided!!!"

[Busjack]

I wonder if this trial is ever going to be done with...

Personal injury cases used to take at least 7 years.

The docket indicates that somehow this got sidetracked by the side issue between NABI and Detroit Diesel.* I thought that things would get going with the motion for summary judgment, but they didn't.

It was previously reported that Traxis (and Cerberus) were dismissed from the case. If you search for "appeal" within the document, apparently CTA is appealing that, but that isn't holding up the remaining case.

__________

*Remember CTA's claim that the particulate filters clogged up, causing increased maintenance expenses.

[mkohut]

Personal injury cases used to take at least 7 years.

The docket indicates that somehow this got sidetracked by the side issue between NABI and Detroit Diesel.* I thought that things would get going with the motion for summary judgment, but they didn't.

It was previously reported that Traxis (and Cerberus) were dismissed from the case. If you search for "appeal" within the document, apparently CTA is appealing that, but that isn't holding up the remaining case.

__________

*Remember CTA's claim that the particulate filters clogged up, causing increased maintenance expenses.

It seens to me the only people winning the case are the lawyers collecting the fees.

[Busjack]

It seens to me the only people winning the case are the lawyers collecting the fees.

That's generally the case. However, I figure that this case is still worth $50 million to the principals.

[Busjack]

...I saw a group of buses lined up in the back of 103rd where the old NABI's were today and I was wondering were they starting the rehab on them yet.....

Does that mean that 103rd's share of NABIs has all been towed out of 103rd's yard?

[Mr.cta85]

Does that mean that 103rd's share of NABIs has all been towed out of 103rd's yard?

Yeah all of the NABI's are gone from 103rd, they been gone for a few weeks now. But I drove past 77th garage and can still see they still have a gang of NABI's sitting in the back.

[DevalDragon]

But fewer and fewer of them. They've taken off the license plates and have started draining the fluids. They are all being prepared for their final trip (tow) to the scrap yard.

[Busjack]

Just saw in the Tribune that the NABI lawsuit was settled.

It is a little short of what I thought, but not as short as Hilkevitch first implied in the article, given the statement in the article that:

While the CTA will not be repaid in full, it did use the buses for up to six years and some of the buses logged more than 250,000 miles, Steele said.

Also, saying that CTA had paid $87.7 million gives it credit off the $102 million price for the approximately $13 million CTA reportedly withheld from the final payment in 2005.

And remember CTA recovered $1 million on the scrap contract.

So, finally good riddens to what turned out to be bad rubbish.

[BusHunter]

Just saw in the Tribune that the NABI lawsuit was settled.

It is a little short of what I thought, but not as short as Hilkevitch first implied in the article, given the statement in the article that:

While the CTA will not be repaid in full, it did use the buses for up to six years and some of the buses logged more than 250,000 miles, Steele said.

Also, saying that CTA had paid $87.7 million gives it credit off the $102 million price for the approximately $13 million CTA reportedly withheld from the final payment in 2005.

And remember CTA recovered $1 million on the scrap contract.

So, finally good riddens to what turned out to be bad rubbish.

Yeah, I thought CTA should be entitled to at least half of what the contract stipulates, around 51.5 million, considering they only got half of the FTA service life, 6 out of 12 years, out of the buses. One has to wonder if this will bankrupt NABI. 36 million is alot of money for a company to swallow. I wonder would it be feasable to plead bankruptcy and just regroup as another company? ( might not be possible if their assets were frozen) Obviously there's probably going to be a appeal motion filed by NABI if that's possible. (sorry I'm not a lawyer) So it might be a few more years still. If this is the final judgement, one has to wonder how CTA will spend the money on it's infrastructure (more likely) or the purchase of new equipment which is usually funded through the federal government. (again legalities might restrict their decision)

[artthouwill]

Just saw in the Tribune that the NABI lawsuit was settled.

It is a little short of what I thought, but not as short as Hilkevitch first implied in the article, given the statement in the article that:

While the CTA will not be repaid in full, it did use the buses for up to six years and some of the buses logged more than 250,000 miles, Steele said.

Also, saying that CTA had paid $87.7 million gives it credit off the $102 million price for the approximately $13 million CTA reportedly withheld from the final payment in 2005.

And remember CTA recovered $1 million on the scrap contract.

So, finally good riddens to what turned out to be bad rubbish.

I found this part of the article interesting, if not disturbing:

Under the settlement announced Monday, the CTA will receive between $31.25 million and $36.25 million over five years. The actual payment amount will depend on a separate agreement the CTA has with NABI to provide spare parts for other buses in the CTA fleet. In addition to manufacturing buses, NABI is in the after-market parts business.

NABI is providing spare parts for New Flyer , Nova, and Optima buses? I expect Optima, as they are owned by NABI, but I certainly hope they are not providing spare parts for the other two makes.

It would also be nice to put up an actual picture of an NABI articulated bus along with the article as opposed to the Novas. The Trib always puts up the same 2400 series car picture entering a curve when it runs a story concerning the L.