New State-Of-The-Art Railcars

[artthouwill]

1 hour ago, strictures said:

"Nippon Shapiro"???

It's Nippon Sharyo.

My smart phone autocorrected to Shapiro.   

[NewFlyerMCI]

2 hours ago, artthouwill said:

I watched both videos.  It's the exact same script, except replacing VRE  with Metra.  Ugly livery aside, I can't wait to ride them in Metra service 

 

I guess this means Nippon Shapiro is about done in the U.S.   They have closed the Rochelle plant a fee years ago 

  The design is totally outdated as the design is a minimum of 70 years old.  Somehow I think Metra will try to make the interior as bland as possible. 

Well, they aren't the only ones in that regard lol. MARC's & NJTransit's MultiLevels are bland on the inside as well, and I believe their upcoming orders will be as well. In regards to Nippon Sharyo, I believes this leaves Bombardier (now Alstom), Siemens, Hyundai-Rotem and now Stadler as the only companies left producing commuter rail rolling stock. At least it's more competitive than heavy rail rolling stock. So much for Buy America tho (in the strictest sense of the term).

[twyztdmynd]

 

Amsted Rail Transit announced it will partner with Alstom to supply 200 new multilevel railcars for Metra, according to the company’s press release.

https://www.metro-magazine.com/10152286/amsted-rail-alstom-partner-to-supply-200-commuter-railcars

[NewFlyerMCI]

6 hours ago, twyztdmynd said:

 

Amsted Rail Transit announced it will partner with Alstom to supply 200 new multilevel railcars for Metra, according to the company’s press release.

https://www.metro-magazine.com/10152286/amsted-rail-alstom-partner-to-supply-200-commuter-railcars

TL;DR - Amsted is just building the bogies for Alstom to use on the train.

[artthouwill]

On 5/5/2021 at 4:46 PM, NewFlyerMCI said:

Well, they aren't the only ones in that regard lol. MARC's & NJTransit's MultiLevels are bland on the inside as well, and I believe their upcoming orders will be as well. In regards to Nippon Sharyo, I believes this leaves Bombardier (now Alstom), Siemens, Hyundai-Rotem and now Stadler as the only companies left producing commuter rail rolling stock. At least it's more competitive than heavy rail rolling stock. So much for Buy America tho (in the strictest sense of the term).

By my calculations   200 cars divided by 10 diesel lines is 20 per line.  Heritage Corridor only runs 9 cars total so they might get 3 to 6 cars, if any  That might bump some UP and BNSF lines up to 22 new cars.  I'm not sure if NCS or SWS needs that many new cars.   I wonder when Metra will decide to replace the cab cars?  Metra Electric will be stuck with their rolling stock for at least another 25 to 30 years.

[artthouwill]

CTA is receiving delivery of its 8350 series buses and is now starting to receive 7000 series cars.  Now we are waiting on Metra to see when we will see at least a pilot car. 

[Busjack]

9 hours ago, artthouwill said:

CTA is receiving delivery of its 8350 series buses and is now starting to receive 7000 series cars.  Now we are waiting on Metra to see when we will see at least a pilot car. 

RTAMS says:

Current Status

A Notice to Proceed for the base order of 200 cars has been issued in April 2021. Project Management Plan has been developed and approved. Design activities are ongoing with intermediate design review as well as performing carbody shells. These are expected to continue through to Q3-2022. The first 3 cars are projected to be delievered in September 2024.

Last Updated 04.22.2022

 

[Busjack]

On 5/4/2021 at 7:48 PM, NewFlyerMCI said:

Looks like VRE is also getting the same railcars (looks like they even just reskinned the metra video lol).

Searching around for "Coradia Multilevel" (because most Coradias are single-level streamliners, except for Duplex)  turned up this memo from VRE staff, stating that VRE joined the Metra procurement because they run the same equipment.

[Busjack]

Report that Metra received $100 million of federal car replacement money for 50 cars.

[wayfaringrob]

On 1/14/2021 at 4:20 PM, BusHunter said:

Are the liveries gonna match the locos?

 

On 1/14/2021 at 6:18 PM, NewFlyerMCI said:

Hopefully they look like the ones in the video. And I really hope they don't look anything like the refurbished, repainted ones with the painted black top, those deserve to be scrapped.

 

On 5/4/2021 at 7:48 PM, NewFlyerMCI said:

I will also say once again, having now seen both Metra's & VRE's mock-ups, the livery is just going to look terrible on stainless steel or whatever that material is. Metrolink's also looks terrible and NJTransit & MARC just barely made it not look bad. Especially considereding some of Metra's recent choices for passenger car livery (that awful gallery car with the black and blue) they just really just stick the logo on it and call it a day.

Spotted in the most recent Citizen's Advisory Board meeting - I am sure these are still conceptual, but quite nice if it turns out well. 43:20 here.

[Rail Introvert]

22 hours ago, wayfaringrob said:

 

 

Spotted in the most recent Citizen's Advisory Board meeting - I am sure these are still conceptual, but quite nice if it turns out well. 43:20 here.

Wow! These look really nice!! 4 doors per car rather than 2.

[wayfaringrob]

Here is a slightly higher resolution screen clipping from the October meeting. Aside from some minor changes to the body shape and door styles since the original announcement, I'm also seeing what appear to be destination or route displays between the doors (reading "welcome").

[strictures]

5 hours ago, wayfaringrob said:

Here is a slightly higher resolution screen clipping from the October meeting. Aside from some minor changes to the body shape and door styles since the original announcement, I'm also seeing what appear to be destination or route displays between the doors (reading "welcome").

I would prefer the train number on those signs. During rush hour, some trains are skip/stop & if it's running late, you must find a conductor to make sure you're getting on the correct train outside of Downtown.

[wayfaringrob]

4 hours ago, strictures said:

I would prefer the train number on those signs. During rush hour, some trains are skip/stop & if it's running late, you must find a conductor to make sure you're getting on the correct train outside of Downtown.

Good point. Does your station not have the “X train number XXX is now arriving” announcements and / or screens? Agree that putting it on the train itself would be more helpful but you shouldn’t need to flag down a conductor.

[artthouwill]

4 hours ago, strictures said:

I would prefer the train number on those signs. During rush hour, some trains are skip/stop & if it's running late, you must find a conductor to make sure you're getting on the correct train outside of Downtown.

I remember when the first IC ( Metra Electric) Highliners had destination signs by the middle doors.  But they disappeared from future sets.

I usually never look at the train number but study the schedule enough to know what time the trains I need arrive and their stopping pattern.   That works for me whether I board downtown or not regardless of what line I use.

 

[MetroShadow]

If Metra can have something (less clunky?) than Metrolink in LA, I think everyone wins...(Keep in mind, their bombardiers had flipdot signs)

IMG_6096.heif

[wayfaringrob]

On 2/20/2025 at 10:09 PM, MetroShadow said:

If Metra can have something (less clunky?) than Metrolink in LA, I think everyone wins...(Keep in mind, their bombardiers had flipdot signs)

IMG_6096.heif 1 MB · 20 downloads

Maybe something that keeps the run number on the left side of the screen constant while alternating between line and destination on the right would work. It'll be important to provide this feedback to Metra once they enter service and we see how the displays are actually used.

[Sam92]

21 hours ago, wayfaringrob said:

Maybe something that keeps the run number on the left side of the screen constant while alternating between line and destination on the right would work. It'll be important to provide this feedback to Metra once they enter service and we see how the displays are actually used.

I'd display the express zone instead of the line. Would help remember which trains to avoid if you're looking for a certain stop

[Busjack]

4 hours ago, Sam92 said:

I'd display the express zone instead of the line. Would help remember which trains to avoid if you're looking for a certain stop

I don't think that works on other than the ME, and there the express zone depends on whether it is a South Chicago, Blue Island, Kensington, Homewood, or University Park train. For instance, on the UPN, all rush hour trains stop at Winnetka, Wilmette, and Davis, and then all stops from Rogers Park south, but skip intermediate stops served by the locals.

[Sam92]

2 hours ago, Busjack said:

I don't think that works on other than the ME, and there the express zone depends on whether it is a South Chicago, Blue Island, Kensington, Homewood, or University Park train. For instance, on the UPN, all rush hour trains stop at Winnetka, Wilmette, and Davis, and then all stops from Rogers Park south, but skip intermediate stops served by the locals.

UPN seems pretty simple compared to other lines. Other lines like say RI can have the expresses to blue island, but some even go further than that to like Tinley so I was thinking maybe "307 express to Tinley" might help for people in a rush when so many different zones pop up in the peak 

[NewFlyerMCI]

2 hours ago, Sam92 said:

UPN seems pretty simple compared to other lines. Other lines like say RI can have the expresses to blue island, but some even go further than that to like Tinley so I was thinking maybe "307 express to Tinley" might help for people in a rush when so many different zones pop up in the peak 

It might be better for train numbers to be reorganized for the other lines to match an express zone/service pattern, similar to the MED and then just use the train number. Looking at the UPNW for example, they just count up from 603, but "local to Des Plaines", "express to Des Plaines", "express to Palatine" and "local full stop" should all probably be grouped differently. But, to your example, I can see the benefit of "641 express to Palatine" or "643 express to Des Plaines", I just think it might also be too much information to read quickly.

[Sam92]

35 minutes ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

It might be better for train numbers to be reorganized for the other lines to match an express zone/service pattern, similar to the MED and then just use the train number. Looking at the UPNW for example, they just count up from 603, but "local to Des Plaines", "express to Des Plaines", "express to Palatine" and "local full stop" should all probably be grouped differently. But, to your example, I can see the benefit of "641 express to Palatine" or "643 express to Des Plaines", I just think it might also be too much information to read quickly.

Yeah I noticed the train numbers can be kinda wild but reorganizing numbers might cause overlap at terminals which they might be avoiding. I don't know how big the signs are in person but to someone who would hypothetically know what line/train they need but don't know the platform in a pinch for time could just take a peep at the train instead of having to stop and read the screens. The tricky part in this case is unlike cta where you'd at most have to put in signs for short turns but otherwise trains all stop at every stop in between metra on top of turning trains early in the line also has to convey that AND varying service patterns lol

[Busjack]

50 minutes ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

It might be better for train numbers to be reorganized for the other lines to match an express zone/service pattern, similar to the MED and then just use the train number. Looking at the UPNW for example, they just count up from 603, but "local to Des Plaines", "express to Des Plaines", "express to Palatine" and "local full stop" should all probably be grouped differently. But, to your example, I can see the benefit of "641 express to Palatine" or "643 express to Des Plaines", I just think it might also be too much information to read quickly.

Train numbers: Probability of conflict with the railroad that's operating it, especially UP and BNSF.

Express trains: Probably works better on UPNW than UPN, as the express trains use the central track and bypass a zone of stations. MDN trains used to, but have a more skip*stop pattern after the Lake-Cook and North Glenview stations were added.

9 minutes ago, Sam92 said:

Yeah I noticed the train numbers can be kinda wild but reorganizing numbers might cause overlap at terminals which they might be avoiding. I don't know how big the signs are in person but to someone who would hypothetically know what line/train they need but don't know the platform in a pinch for time could just take a peep at the train instead of having to stop and read the screens. The tricky part in this case is unlike cta where you'd at most have to put in signs for short turns but otherwise trains all stop at every stop in between metra on top of turning trains early in the line also has to convey that AND varying service patterns lol

Downtown stations have electronic schedule boards with this information. Outlying stations have announcements and scrolling signs, at least with the next train expected arrival time and destination.