Add Houston to the list for delays of cars and issues by others suppliers
HOUSTON Metro transit has ordered new LRVs from Spain-based C.A.F. but there is a problem with design changes and production delays, The Houston Chronicle reports:
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"Metro hassles with rail-car builder continue
Rail-car builder, transit officials differ on responsibility for design change
By
Dug Begley
August 18, 2015
Updated: August 18, 2015 9:04pm
Photo: Cody Duty, Houston Chronicle
The METRO rail is seen along Scott Street near the University of Houston, Wednesday, May 13, 2015, in Houston.
Metro and the maker of its newest light rail cars have had many costly and time-consuming conflicts. The latest is forcing the transit agency to spend $1 million so its mechanics can lift the vehicles.
The $153 million contract with CAF U.S.A., the American wing of a Spanish firm, has been problematic for the Metropolitan Transit Authority during its expansion of Houston's light rail network. The company ran into problems complying with requirements for American-made products in 2010. Then in late 2013, Metro and CAF engaged in a dispute over timely delivery of the 39 light rail cars included in the contract, the last of which still has not been delivered to Houston.
Now transit officials and the rail-car builder disagree on who is responsible for a design deviation that prevents Metro's lifts - which raise the train for mechanical work, much like a lift in an auto mechanic's garage - from raising CAF's cars.
"To be blunt, the question is, is it a breach of contract," Metro CEO Tom Lambert said.
CAF officials did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.
Metro to pay to retrofit
To do routine maintenance on the vehicles and get the work completed, Metro will pay to retrofit its lifts so they can hoist the CAF cars. Lambert said Metro will seek to recover some or all of the $1 million from CAF.
Before work on the rail cars even began in earnest, the Federal Transit Administration determined the contract violated a law requiring U.S. transit agencies to use American-made components for projects that receive federal funds. In response, CAF moved work from Spain to its Elmira, N.Y., plant, but the problem delayed delivery of the cars by months and cost Metro millions.
To open an extension of the Red Line in December 2013 and the new Purple and Green Lines, which began service May 23, Metro needed about a dozen of the trains in addition to the 37 that have been in service since 2013. As ridership on the new rail lines grew, the remainder of the trains would be needed to operate all the lines and have trains in reserve to cycle in so the fleet could be maintained.
Major purchases such as rail cars typically have a closeout period when the work is finished to clear up design issues or production delays. What could make the CAF contract difficult to resolve, Lambert said, is the issues that led to the initial delays as well the new disagreement. Those include delays in when trains could enter service, as well as the weight of the new trains exceeding the 100,300 pounds specified by more than 4 tons.
More electrical costs
A heavier train means Metro must pay more in electrical costs to propel them, just as a heavier car uses more gasoline.
Metro officials have said for more than a year they are confident in the quality of the rail cars. But the procurement process has been chaotic, they say.
Lambert said Metro will hold CAF responsible where practical, while acknowledging the contract has been troublesome.
"There are a lot of lessons learned in this process that will be valuable moving forward," Lambert said. "We know, and I think there is an acknowledgement from CAF now, that you can't build a rail car in 24 months. But that's what they said they could do."
Dug Begley
Transportation Writer, Houston Chronicle
