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What are you on about. American cities and states do keep their fleets up to date. Its a bit of a bell curve, but replacement after a median of 40 years is fair

What are you on about. American cities and states do keep their fleets up to date. Its a bit of a bell curve, but replacement after a median of 40 years is fairly typical. Just the other day in the news. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYBQVB8H1Mw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYBQVB8H1Mw BART also got a bunch of new cars in the past few years.

jeffbee 4y ago
And yet the majority of the BART trains in actual service right now are not new. They still have 1968 rolling stock in regular service.
Kon-Peki 4y ago
Hey, I saw a brand new BART rail car in Omaha a few weeks ago! It was heading west on interstate 80, on a trailer, being pulled by a semi truck... I couldn’t help but feel like there was something wrong with that situation. A few years ago, I saw a big line of brand new VIA rail locomotives (the Canadian version of Amtrak) heading east in Chicago. But at least they were on CN railroad tracks under their own power…
- IIAOPSW 4y ago
  That has to do with FRA rules. In short, mainline passenger railcars are held to a certain standard of crash-worthiness with freight trains. An excessive standard many will say but none the less its a rule. Subways and metro trains, provided they don't share track with the national network, aren't held to that standard. That's why your BART car is shipped on a flatbed and not under its own wheels.
  - jeffbee 4y ago
    Uh, isn't it also because BART uses a wide gauge?
    - IIAOPSW 4y ago
      shit you're right. I forgot that part. But, if it used standard gauge, you'd still see it being transported in non-train-like ways.
burntwater 4y ago
I think a median of 40 years is exactly the problem - I would expect a median of 20-30, with 40 being at the tail end.
- IIAOPSW 4y ago
  Why though? Barring some huge technical advance that makes upgrading worth it, wouldn't we want to get the longest possible useful life out of our public expenditures? What problem is solved by replacing them more often?

jeffbee 4y ago

And yet the majority of the BART trains in actual service right now are not new. They still have 1968 rolling stock in regular service.

Kon-Peki 4y ago

Hey, I saw a brand new BART rail car in Omaha a few weeks ago! It was heading west on interstate 80, on a trailer, being pulled by a semi truck... I couldn’t help but feel like there was something wrong with that situation. A few years ago, I saw a big line of brand new VIA rail locomotives (the Canadian version of Amtrak) heading east in Chicago. But at least they were on CN railroad tracks under their own power…

IIAOPSW 4y ago
That has to do with FRA rules. In short, mainline passenger railcars are held to a certain standard of crash-worthiness with freight trains. An excessive standard many will say but none the less its a rule. Subways and metro trains, provided they don't share track with the national network, aren't held to that standard. That's why your BART car is shipped on a flatbed and not under its own wheels.
- jeffbee 4y ago
  Uh, isn't it also because BART uses a wide gauge?
  - IIAOPSW 4y ago
    shit you're right. I forgot that part. But, if it used standard gauge, you'd still see it being transported in non-train-like ways.

burntwater 4y ago

I think a median of 40 years is exactly the problem - I would expect a median of 20-30, with 40 being at the tail end.

IIAOPSW 4y ago
Why though? Barring some huge technical advance that makes upgrading worth it, wouldn't we want to get the longest possible useful life out of our public expenditures? What problem is solved by replacing them more often?