The full press release is below. In three bullet points, here’s the news:
•This is the 50th new light rail vehicle of the base order 0f 78 of the P-3010 light rail vehicles manufactured by Kinkisharyo. The total contract — including four options — calls for 235 new light rail vehicles that will be used on Metro’s light rail lines.
•The new vehicles have allowed Expo Line to run every six minutes during most weekday hours — an improvement over the every 12-minute frequencies in place until today. Metro will also add more three-car trains to the Gold Line as new light rail vehicles arrive.
•Kinkisharyo International, based in El Segundo, delivers four new light rail vehicles per month, according to its contract with Metro. Since beginning operations in Palmdale as part of its work for Metro, the company has hired 404 full time workers locally and added another 146 workers on contract. The minimum wage earned at the facility is $17 per hour with an average wage of $21 per hour.
And here’s the full release:
Additional rail vehicles mean less waiting for passengers
Celebrating a milestone and an enhancement for rider convenience, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) today took delivery of the 50th Kinkisharyo International (KI) Model P3010 Light Rail Vehicle (LRV) and announced reduced headways on the Metro Expo Line from 12 minutes to six minutes.
“With delivery of the 50th light rail vehicle of our total order of 235, Metro is keeping its promise of bringing modern, efficient and economical rail transit to areas where alternatives to traffic are badly needed,” said Metro Board Chair John Fasana. “The additional light rail vehicles allowed Metro to this week reduce the time between trains to six minutes from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m. on weekdays.”
“We’re making excellent progress getting more vehicles into service and riders will have relief from crowded conditions,” said Los Angeles Mayor and Metro Board First Vice Chair Eric Garcetti. “Since opening two new rail extensions, the Gold Line to Azusa in March and the Expo Line to Santa Monica in May, we’ve seen pent up demand for this service.”
The Model P3010 is assembled at the KI facility in Palmdale under a contract approved by the Metro Board of Directors in August 2012. The base order for 78 LRVs was subsequently expanded when the Board exercised options for an additional 157 of the quiet and smooth-riding trains.
KI, based in El Segundo, Calif., delivers four Model P-3010 LRVs per month, according to its contract with Metro. Since beginning operations in Palmdale, the company has hired 404 full time workers locally and added another 146 workers on contract. The minimum wage earned at the facility is $17 per hour with an average wage of $21 per hour.
“The size of Metro’s order created a sea change for Kinkisharyo in Palmdale,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor and Metro Board member Michael D. Antonovich. “At first, the facility merely assembled rail vehicles and now the facility partially manufactures car shells, creating jobs for local workers and positioning the region as a location of choice for transit vehicle manufacturing and business investment.”
“We are as pleased as Metro is to celebrate the delivery of our 50th light rail car this month,” said Akiyoshi Oba, president of Kinkisharyo International, LLC. “We knew when we were awarded this contract in mid-2012 that the challenge of delivering the 50th car barely four years later could only be met by hard work and much collaboration with Metro, FTA, and our many subcontractors. And just as impressive as our speed of delivery is that we are adhering to our commitment to delivering the highest quality vehicles in the industry.”
After KI delivers a rail vehicle to Metro, it goes through a commissioning process that includes 1,000 miles of non-revenue operation and California Public Utilities Commission approval. Preparing the vehicle for revenue service can take about 45 days. Currently, there are 38 Model P-3010 vehicles in service and the 50th car should be ready for revenue service by mid-December.
“The taxpayers entrusted us with a great responsibility and the arrival of Kinkisharyo’s milestone 50th rail vehicle shows that Metro continues to deliver on the promise to build and maintain a world class transportation system in Los Angeles County,” said Metro CEO Phillip Washington.
Categories: Policy & Funding, Projects
Now that the Expo fleet has been expanded to allow 6-minute headways, what is the next priority for these new light rail vehicles? Is Metro going to use the next 20-25 vehicles to lengthen the Gold Line trains? Or are they going to increase the service frequency on the Gold Line to 6 minutes?
See the second bullet point in the article above.
“1,000 miles of non-revenue operation” is a Lot of break in time to find infant mortality failures, wonder how that number was arrived at.
As for “CPUC approval”, some holy water from the Vatican would be more effective than oversight from that opaque and often corrupt body.
Please replace all the Red Line cars too. They are dirty and ugly and break down way too often.
There are two projects to this effect: one would do a mid-life renovation of existing cars and the other seeks to purchase new cars that will be needed when the Purple Line Extension opens.
Steve Hymon
Editor, The Source
Mid life renovation should have been done 15 years ago if Metro keep with JR regime (E231 manufactured in 1998 and refurbed 2006), and 6 years ago for HKMTR (M-Train). And we’re talking about clean trains that does not smell like feces and that doors are not rattling.
The subway cars are fine in my opinion. The dirt is from the riders, especially those in the inner city where throwing trash around is just part of the culture. Even the new cars on Expo are getting scuffed up pretty badly.
The new cars are nice.