GO Transit Fleet Equipment and other

[lenaitch]

This is it. The Provincial Government was looking for a way to keep North Bay busy and those people employed, and giving them a contract from another Government Agency is a great way to do it. It isn't the first time, and it won't be the last.

I'm not sure what electronics you think that they are or aren't installing, however. The isn't much in terms of electronics in the cars, unless they have also decided to update them to Cat5 - which I don't believe they have.

Dan

And it makes complete sense to me. Why wouldn't they send publicly-funded work to publicly-funded employees? So long as the service and quality is there, the taxpayer would wonder why not. It's not like a division was created solely for this purpose - the refurb shops have been there for a long time. Besides, I recall a few years ago a refurbishing contract went to a Quebec company and it didn't go well.

 

[Willybru21]

These cab cars weren’t refurbished for no reason, GO doesn’t have enough cab cars right now to sustain future levels of service so old cab cars have to be rebuilt, just because they aren’t being used right now doesn’t mean they won’t in the future.

It’s not rocket science

 

[T3G]

These cab cars weren’t refurbished for no reason, GO doesn’t have enough cab cars right now to sustain future levels of service so old cab cars have to be rebuilt, just because they aren’t being used right now doesn’t mean they won’t in the future.

It’s not rocket science

And as I stated before, investing money into the refurbishment of old coaching stock and leaving it out of service until a murky, unknown day in the future when more service will be run, is a poor use of funds. Logic would dictate cycling them through into service, at first ensuring that they run well, that everything is above board, and thereafter paying for their own refurbishment.

The cars are still parked under the wide open sky, exposed to baking heat, freezing cold, snow, rain. It's been a year since the first refurbished car was delivered, and at the glacial pace anything gets done in this country I would anticipate it's going to be at least a few more before the service increases start coming on line en masse. They will not be in the same condition they were delivered in. Standing around and doing nothing is almost as bad for a vehicle as excessive overuse.

 

[Metroscapes]

What about smarttrack? Is that going to be using different rolling stock?

No it isn’t, it’s just 5 new GO stations now, honestly I’m surprised everyone doesn’t know that at this point, the original SmartTrack has been dead for years

SmartTrack was John Tory's campaign sticker. It's a word that needs to be incinerated.

 

[smallspy]

And it makes complete sense to me. Why wouldn't they send publicly-funded work to publicly-funded employees? So long as the service and quality is there, the taxpayer would wonder why not. It's not like a division was created solely for this purpose - the refurb shops have been there for a long time. Besides, I recall a few years ago a refurbishing contract went to a Quebec company and it didn't go well.

Well, no. Because it's not a zero-sum game.

GO has to pay ONR for their services here.

And while yes, the quality may be there, their schedules leave something to be desired. The Quebecois company that did the work - CAD - did excellent work, and on time and on schedule. The last time ONR did a similar job, they ran it 3 years longer than promised.

Dan

 

[lenaitch]

GO has to pay ONR for their services here.

True, but as a government policy, it keeps the money inside the tent.

When I was with the OPP, our fleet services did all sorts of equipping and fabrication for several other government ministry departments. The funding was moved around as a 'journal entry' because ultimately, all government money belongs to the Treasurer (although I'm not sure if it works the same way with Crown Corporations). It's been quite a while but I recall that such transactions were tax-free because it was considered internal accounting.

 

[smallspy]

True, but as a government policy, it keeps the money inside the tent.

Sure, you rob Peter to pay Paul.

But from the level of each operation, they also have to account for the money that is leaving their part of the tent. If the budget for a line item is X, and the ultimate outlay is 2X, then they have to account for it and as a result something else may have to be foregone. Which is what happened with that last rebuild contract to ONR.

Of course, that isn't the case with this contract - GO was told to give ONR the cars to be worked on - but with the contracts that have regularly won by CAD it has been for good reason.

Dan

 

[SkylineHorizons]

Will coach 2330 be repaired?

They probably will more pics of the interior post-flames;

While the interior will need to be gutted I'm sure the structural integrity of the car is just fine. I suppose it's simply a question of how much it will cost to replace everything, probably still cheaper than a new car.

 

[crs1026]

And as I stated before, investing money into the refurbishment of old coaching stock and leaving it out of service until a murky, unknown day in the future when more service will be run, is a poor use of funds. Logic would dictate cycling them through into service, at first ensuring that they run well, that everything is above board, and thereafter paying for their own refurbishment.

The cars are still parked under the wide open sky, exposed to baking heat, freezing cold, snow, rain. It's been a year since the first refurbished car was delivered, and at the glacial pace anything gets done in this country I would anticipate it's going to be at least a few more before the service increases start coming on line en masse. They will not be in the same condition they were delivered in. Standing around and doing nothing is almost as bad for a vehicle as excessive overuse.

Welcome to the world of how railways work.

One person's unattractive line of rusting, sitting-in-weeds hulks is a railway exec's dream parts warehouse. Didn't cost anything to erect, no need to heat, light, or fix the roof, pretty minimal property tax assessment compared to erecting a building and pulling all the equipment apart and shelving all the spare parts.

Unless the heat of the fire was sufficient to damage structural members, the car might be fixed one day. Letting it sit for five years and then reclaiming even the seats or handrails or some obscure fittings for other coaches (which by then may not be procurable at reasonable cost) may prove to be more valuable than x dollars in scrap aluminium invested today. If nothing else, wait until the price for scrap metal is optimal before cutting it up.

- Paul

 

[T3G]

Welcome to the world of how railways work.

One person's unattractive line of rusting, sitting-in-weeds hulks is a railway exec's dream parts warehouse. Didn't cost anything to erect, no need to heat, light, or fix the roof, pretty minimal property tax assessment compared to erecting a building and pulling all the equipment apart and shelving all the spare parts.

Unless the heat of the fire was sufficient to damage structural members, the car might be fixed one day. Letting it sit for five years and then reclaiming even the seats or handrails for other coaches (which by then may not be procurable at reasonable cost) may prove to be more valuable than x dollars in scrap aluminium invested today. If nothing else, wait until the price for scrap metal is optimal before cutting it up.

- Paul

I was referring to the refurbished cab cars, not to burned out 2330.

 

[crs1026]

I was referring to the refurbished cab cars, not to burned out 2330.

Ah - well, even there, it's pretty clear that ML is building its supply of cab cars for when they are needed. Fleet procurement is not a just-in-time proposition.

The line of never-used cab car refurbs reflects good fiscal management, in the sense that if not yet needed, why bother expending even five minutes' energy and labour to deploy them in service? They are ready enough for when ML runs short. In the meanwhile, they don't need to be inspected, cleaned, lit, heated, maintained. They just sit on the shelf so to speak.

Quite possibly, having those cars available for verification and inspection by OnCorr fulfils some commitment in the still-being-written contract. Isn't OnCorr doing a fleet assessment at the moment? ML's tender specs will have laid out what ML is delivering as the "opening day" fleet. Getting these cars refurb'd and delivered may be one bullet on ML's to-do list to prepare for OnCorr. Tying up capital for a year or two is just a cost of doing that business.

The amount of passion that some people expend on seeing those cars back on line is impressive, but not particularly aligned to looking over ML's shoulder as they operate.

- Paul

 

[RS3488]

I still wonder about the cab cars that Alstom is refurbishing at Thunder Bay (the Series VII cab cars numbered 242 - 250), there hasn't been any clear sign of what's been happening to them, and whether they would regain their cab control function or be permanently decommissioned to standard coaches.

 

[ryanandmagic]

I still wonder about the cab cars that Alstom is refurbishing at Thunder Bay (the Series VII cab cars numbered 242 - 250), there hasn't been any clear sign of what's been happening to them, and whether they would regain their cab control function or be permanently decommissioned to standard coaches.

It would be cool if they refurbish it with activated cab controls.

 

[Willybru21]

I assume all the former cab cars are going to be reactivated just because GO is going to need way more than what they have now in the future

 

[RS3488]

Celebrate Diwali with GO!

Planning on celebrating with family and friends across the region?

www.gotransit.com

Just curious, does anyone know which car is the one decorated with the Diwali festivities?