38 replies to this topic

[Sloan]

 

 

First Boston Orange Line CRRC cars on test

 

MASSACHUSETTS Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) released video footage on October 10 showing the first CRRC vehicles for Boston’s Orange Line undergoing dynamic tests at the CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles plant in China.

http://www.railjourn...tml?channel=535

 

Sorry, no video in the link.    Sloan

 

 

Related topic:  MBTA/CRRC USA to break ground in Massachusetts

Edited by CNJRoss, 13 October 2017 - 09:42 AM.
Relocated to this forum; added related topic

[CNJRoss]

Railway Age, 10/11/17:
 

Testing under way on prototype CRRC MBTA Orange Line cars

 

The prototype Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Orange Line trainset for Boston’s rail transit system built by CRRC (China Railway Rolling Stock Corp.) is undergoing dynamic tests at the CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles plant in China. MBTA released a short video of testing on Oct. 10.

 

 

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

The Boston Globe, 5/15/18:
 

Here’s an inside look at the new Orange Line cars

 

MEDFORD — State officials got a look at a new Orange Line train Tuesday, stepping aboard one of four cars the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is testing at Wellington Yard.

 

 

The first new train is expected to enter passenger service late this year, with more trains following until the fleet is fully replaced by 2021. In the meantime, the new trains will add to the existing fleet, which should boost capacity by increasing the frequency of rush-hour service.

 

“It’s pretty clear they’ll be a terrific addition to the fleet,” said Governor Charlie Baker, who inspected the new cars.  .  .  .   

 

Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff

A look inside a new Orange Line car at Wellington Station.

 

Continue here w/additional photos.

[KevinKorell]

Gov. Charlie Baker, MBTA Interim GM Jeffrey Gonneville, and other dignitaries gathered at CRRC MA’s manufacturing facility to mark the on-time completion of the first pair of Orange Line vehicles, a significant milestone in the delivery of new subway cars to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA).

CRRC MA is underway with manufacturing 404 subway cars for the MBTA, including 152 new Orange Line and 252 Red Line vehicles. Located in Springfield, CRRC MA employs approximately 200 people, making its facility a major North American manufacturing hub. CRRC MA’s workforce receives instruction and training on state-of-the-art tools and equipment necessary to build the next generation of new railcars.

All production vehicles will be assembled and tested in the CRRC MA Rail Car Assembly Facility. The vehicles for the MBTA are representative of all the modern workmanship, materials, and technologies that form the basis of the design standards for modern day heavy-rail vehicles.

The safety and customer amenities include stainless steel vehicles car shells that incorporate laser-welding technology for better exterior finish, crash-energy management for enhanced customer and operator safety, LCD monitors for customer information, and train-to-wayside communications via a wireless network for monitoring and detection of potential maintenance needs.

The new vehicles incorporate designs that accommodate improved passenger comfort, new technology that provides important customer-facing information, and cutting-edge accessibility features, such as platform gap-mitigation devices.

Keywords

CRRC MA   Gov. Charlie Baker   Jeffrey Gonneville   MBTA   passenger rail   railcars   vehicle production   

 

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[CNJRoss]

The Boston Globe, 1/14/19:

We took a test-ride of the new Orange Line cars. Here’s how they look

 

 

Within a few weeks, riders on the Orange Line are expected to receive a long-awaited treat: the first of the line’s new subway cars will begin regular service.

 

For now, though, the cars resemble a rolling office for a tech startup in some old factory or garage. Blue plastic sheeting is taped around the interior to protect seats and finishes, the floor is covered with brown construction paper, and on a large table in the aisle, computers have wires running every which way.

 

This is a time for late-night test drives of the new cars. Just after 2 a.m. on a mid-December day, as the rest of the subway system was mostly quiet, two engineers sat hunched over the computers, analyzing data that track wheel alignment and stability at speed as a new train swept through a tunnel under the streets of Boston.

 

Continue here w/video.

[CNJRoss]

WCVB-TV Boston, MA 2/8/19:
 

MBTA riders, did you see new train rolling through Boston today?

 

 

BOSTON — New trains are one step closer to entering service on the MBTA's Orange Line.

 

For the first time Friday, the agency tested one of its new cars during regular service hours. Passengers at stations in Boston may have noticed the shiny, new cars rolling past with the "Out Of Service" message on their digital signs.

 

The new cars were originally expected to enter service in January, but that was delayed to "early spring" to allow for additional required testing.

 

Continue here w/video.

[CNJRoss]

The Boston Globe, 8/12/19

New Orange Line train cars expected to hit the tracks on Wednesday

 

 

 

Riders on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Orange Line can soon expect to see something different rumbling down the tracks during their commute. New and improved — and long-awaited — subway cars are arriving this week.

 

Steve Poftak, the MBTA’s general manager, announced during the T’s Fiscal and Management Control Board meeting Monday that the first of the new Orange Line trains are slated to enter passenger service by midday Wednesday, with more to follow “in succession.”

 

According to a report that Poftak delivered to the board, a set of six train cars will be introduced to the system. The next new set, he said, is to launch at some point in September.

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

The Boston Globe, 8/13/19

This website lets you track down — and hop on — the new Orange Line cars

 

 

 

If you’re hoping to ride to work or home on the gleaming new Orange Line train cars slated to hit the tracks Wednesday, Preston Mueller has got you covered.

 

The 23-year-old software engineer has built a simple website, called “Where are Boston’s new trains today?,” that allows riders to track the real-time location of the new train, as it rolls through the transit system.

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

The Boston Globe, 8/14/19

That ‘new car smell’: Here are the new Orange Line trains

 

The new Orange Line train pulled out of Wellington station on its first day of service Wednesday.(Lane Turner/Globe Staff)

 

 

MEDFORD — Instead of grungy trains marred by dents and rust, with sticky floors and stale odor, some lucky Orange Line riders were greeted Wednesday morning by clean and sleek silver vehicles with orange trimming that glided through stations.

 

“I felt like I was in the future,” said Max Augustin, 20, who boarded the first new Orange Line cars to go into service at Roxbury Crossing. “The youth is definitely going to dig it.”

 

The six new cars — the first of 152 that will by 2022 replace the fleet of decaying, decades-old cars still plying the Orange Line  .  .  .

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

The Boston Globe, 8/17/19

Editorial

An investment in future pays off with new Orange Line cars

 

 

 

Antoinette Carter of Roxbury captures the moment on the new Orange Line train on its first day.(Lane Turner/Globe Staff)

 

 

It’s true: They really do have a new-subway smell.

 

The shiny new Orange Line train that pulled into stations Wednesday was, quite literally, a breath of fresh air for a beleaguered subway system that desperately needed a shot of good news after a summer of derailments. It was also a timely reminder for Beacon Hill that, yes, investing in public transit does pay off.

 

Judging by the first few days, the T’s long-suffering customers like what they see — and what they don’t.  .  .  .

 

SNIP

 

Yes, it goes without saying that the T should also continue to seek savings and efficiencies. But the arrival of the new Orange Line trains is a reminder of what report after report, commission after commission, has found: If the state wants anything resembling (or smelling like) a world-class transportation system, it’s going to have to pony up the money for it.

 

More here.