First of 40 New Locomotives Arrive in Boston

Photo Courtesy: MBTA 

For years, Boston commuters have had to deal with old equipment, an aging infrastructure, and of course, delays. Something could soon be giving commuters a little bit of hope, however.

After 3 years of production, the first of 40 new commuter rail locomotives arrived in Boston on Thursday, October 24.

In July of 2010 the MBTA board of directors approved the initial purchase of 20 new locomotives from Idaho based Motive Power Inc. (MPI). Under the $115 million order, MPI was tasked with designing a unique locomotive specifically for the T, while also meeting the EPA's tier-3 emissions guidelines. Their result was the HSP-46 locomotive.

Under the order, which has since been increased to 40 locomotives, MPI was supposed to ship one of the first 3 production units here to Boston back in June. Unfortunately, with every new order comes delays. According to MBTA spokesperson Joe Pesaturo the order ended up being about 2 months behind schedule due to "design modifications and improvements".

When all 40 locomotives are in active service they will be replacing locomotives that have been in operation since the late 70's and early 80's. These new trains will not only increase reliability for commuters but they will also decrease the T's hefty carbon footprint. According to GE, they will reduce the T's diesel fuel consumption by 1,730,000 gallons, saving around $5.2 million a year. A grant from Federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality program will be funding part of the order.

Although the locomotive is now here in Boston it may still be a while until it enters service. According to Pesaturo "It will now be subjected to rigorous testing and inspections before it is introduced to passenger service next year,".

Overall, these new locomotives are a win for both the T and their commuters. Lets just hope this order doesn't end up having more setbacks like the Rotem bi-level coaches order.

New Coaches Seem to Make Mark

It's been about four months since the first of 75 new Hyundai-Rotem bi-level coach entered revenue service here in Boston. Although their arrival has been a long time coming they now seem to be a true asset to the commuter rail system. 

Despite positive reviews from riders, the Rotem cars are no stranger to controversy. Production setbacks at the Hyundai-Rotem plant have caused a series of delays in the $190 Million order. The problems with Rotem became such an issue that then acting MBTA General Manager John Davis had to take a trip to Korea last September to set things straight. 

Currently there are 26 coaches that have arrived on MBTA property since November  2012 and 12 of them are in constant revenue service. According to MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo the rest of the coaches are now arriving in Boston on a "revised schedule". 

As for the other 14 cars on T property, they are currently going through an extensive testing program. 4 of them are going through the final stages of testing and should be in service very soon.

With new equipment comes more reliable service, modern amenities, and increased capacity, and it seems that these coaches will surely bring that to MBTA commuters. 

UPDATE: The MBTA's New Locomotive Order

As a follow up to a story we first reported on June 4^th Boston To a T can now confirm that the MBTA’s order for 40 new locomotives is about two months behind schedule.

Last year the MBTA released a statement stating that the first of 3 pilot locomotives would be arriving in Boston this month. According to MBTA spokesperson Joe Pesaturo the first pilot unit will not be shipped out of the Motive Power Industries plant in Boise, Idaho until the end of July.

Pesaturo blames the delay on "design modifications and improvements". 

Currently, all 3 pilot units are out of production and are being prepped for testing. One of them will be sent to GE's Transportation Division in Erie, Pennsylvania for testing and the other will be sent to the TTCI test track in Pueblo, Colorado where it will undergo dynamic testing.

When the third unit arrives here in Boston it will undergo acceptance testing and training will take place. 

If all goes according to plan we might see the first pilot unit in service by years end. 

New MBTA locomotives: Is the order on track?

Rendering of MPI HSP-46
Courtesy: MBTA

In July of 2010 the MBTA board of directors approved the purchase of 20 new locomotives. The $115 million order was placed with Idaho based Motive Power Inc. (MPI) . Under the contract, MPI was tasked with designing a unique locomotive specifically for the T,  while also meeting the EPA's tier-3 emissions guidelines. Their result was the HSP-46 locomotive.


Over the past three years the T's order with MPI has been changed quite a bit. In July 2011 a new paint scheme was voted on by the public, the MBTA then added 7 more locomotives to the order in July 2012, and most recently this past April, thirteen more units were added. These changes bring the total order up to 40 locomotives.

Back in 2010, when the contract was granted to MPI , they were given two and a half years to produce a prototype unit and have it sent here to Boston for testing. That date was later pushed back to June of this year.

Well it's June, and the MBTA has yet to sent out any updates on the status of the order.

The T has not released any official statements saying the order is delayed, but sometimes delays do happen with orders like this. Look what happened with the Rotem bi-level order.

F-40 #1004 built in 1978

These new locomotives are vital if the T wants to maintain reliable transportation for Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Currently the MBTA's oldest in-service locomotives date back to 1978. They are loud, unreliable, and highly inefficient. When the 40 new HSP-46 locomotives replace the oldest units in the MBTA's fleet they will be reducing diesel fuel consumption by over 1,700,000 gallons per year, according to GE.

I guess we shall see what the month of June brings. Hopefully we find out that the order is on track and we will see a prototype here in Boston within the next few months.

Rotem Coaches Arrive in Boston

Courtesy: MassDOT

It took almost a year, but the four prototype Hyundai-Rotem bi-level coaches have finally arrived at the Boston Engine Terminal (BET) the MBTA's commuter rail maintenance facility. The coaches, which arrived by barge in New Bedford in January, have seen little to no use since their arrival, other than some static testing and a trip to Middleboro.

Now that they have finally made their way up to the BET, the MBTA can start their own testing process on the cars. The MBTA has said that after the coaches arrival at the BET on Wednesday, they will be inspected by Commuter Rail personnel and the testing process will begin thereafter.

The Rotem cars have come under a bit of controversy over the past few months. Setbacks by the Hyundai-Rotem company have caused the a big delay in the $190 Million order of 75 cars that the MBTA has with the company. It became such an issue that acting MBTA General Manager John Davis had to take a trip to Korea this past September to talk with executives at the company. It now looks as if everything is on track for the order and if there are no more hiccups, GM Davis says that the agency hopes to have the first of the coaches in revenue service by January of 2013. Davis also noted that the last coaches in the order should arrive in Boston by July of 2014.

One of the four prototypes being lifted off of a barge
in New Bedford MA.
Courtesy: City of New Bedford

It is rumored that these coaches will primarily serve the North Side commuter rail lines once in service. If the rumors are true, passengers on commuter rail trains leaving North Station should expect to see an increase in capacity, which will mean less over crowding during rush hours. The coaches will be fully equipped with electronic LED destination signs, pre-installed Wi-Fi (unlike the retrofitted aftermarket Wi-Fi that the MBTA installed on most of its coaches) and bathrooms.

It has also been rumored that once all of the Rotem coaches are in service the older 500 and 1500 series coaches will begin to be retired from revenue service. These coaches, which were built by Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm (MBB), were put into revenue service between 1987-88. The coaches have never seen a mid life overhaul and are steadily showing signs of their age. The MBTA did institute an in house re-building program for the cars (replacing floors and seating upholstery) so they would last until all of the Rotem Coaches enter service and the Kawasaki Bi-level overhaul is finished.

The first four prototype cars were built and assembled at Hyundai-Rotem's South Korean manufacturing facility. The remaining 71 coaches of the order , however, will be built at the company's new facility in Philadelphia. 

With new equipment comes more reliable service, modern amenities, and increased capacity, in a win-win situation for both the MBTA and its passengers.