The Melbourne Metro Tunnel just opened. What are some other ongoing transit projects that you are excited about?
>>2060024I want to appreciate all these Chinese made trains around the world because they look slick, at the same time I don't know how true the stereotypes about their production quality are
>>2060055>I want to appreciate all these Chinese made trains around the worldLike what? The new Chicago L sets?
>>2060058Well there's that but OP is what got me thinking about it as well as all the other exports they've been making to the west in general as well as 3rd world countries. Their trains are aesthetically pleasing but part of me is still doubtful over their quality/reliability because of the stigma. The trains they build and operate domestically I know there isn't anything wrong with but part of me feels they cut corners compared to more renowned rolling stock manufacturers like Siemens or Alstom
>>2060024>What are some other ongoing transit projects that you are excited about?alp bankrupts victoria 2.0
my city has put in another 100ft bike lane that starts nowhere and ends nowhere, and is also at the top of a huge fucking hill that itself does not have a bike path
>>2060058I actually sat in one of the new L series and it was nice but all new trains are nice, as much as you want to gate the east, their manufacturing has exceeded ours since there rust belt gutted domestic manufacturing because of low cost Eastern manufacturing which is what have them the financing to improve beyond our capabilities. Short term thinking at its best
>>2060242 #Fuck I'm drunk>I actually sat in one of the new L series and it was nice but all new trains are nice, as much as you want to hate the east, their manufacturing has exceeded ours since the rust belt gutted domestic manufacturing in favor of low cost Eastern manufacturing which is what gave them the financing to improve beyond our capabilities. Short term thinking at its bestFixd
>>2060242>>2060243There's also a problem that Western transit agencies seem to want everything to be bespoke for their system, instead of just buying something off-the-shelf so to speak.
>>2060263>There's also a problem that Western transit agencies seem to want everything to be bespoke for their systemMost systems are built to different standards so a "one size fits all" subway car won't work.MBTA is having big problems with their Chinese railcars, or rather with the CRRC itself. They've waived millions of dollars in penalty late fees and had to spend $148 million more than planned to expedite delivery, which will still be a few years later than planned. It sounds like CRRC promised everything and took the usual Chinese attitude of not giving a shit after the ink's dry. It's been a shitshow and it would have probably been cheaper for the MBTA to have simply bought Japanese or European replacements to begin with. The MBTA can be faulted for delaying fleet replacement for so long, too.One driver posted a thread on reddit outlining a lot of complaints about the trains. Lots of small design problems that make it clear CRRC isn't in the same league as western builders: https://www.reddit.com/r/mbta/comments/1i1qxup/why_i_hate_the_crrc_trains_a_motormans_perspective/
>>2060267>Most systems are built to different standards so a "one size fits all" subway car won't work.I rather envy those systems that got to be built brand new from the ground up in the 21st century, like the Sydney metro. 21st century systems seem to avoid legacy problems, which makes sense. >MBTA is having big problems with their Chinese railcars, or rather with the CRRC itself.>https://www.reddit.com/r/mbta/comments/1i1qxup/why_i_hate_the_crrc_trains_a_motormans_perspective/Interesting read. A lot of what he bitched about seem to be "soft factors", which are valid complaints, but I wonder how much of that is due to insufficient communication from MBTA to CRRC.
>>2060269>I rather envy those systems that got to be built brand new from the ground up in the 21st century, like the Sydney metro. 21st century systems seem to avoid legacy problems, which makes sense.Oh yes, I'd say systems built from the 1970s onward have it easier than 'legacy' systems when it comes to buying new rolling stock and upgrading existing systems. But even those systems like Washington and Atlanta use DC powered trains and even newer systems will mostly be AC, so standards are still always changing.>but I wonder how much of that is due to insufficient communication from MBTA to CRRC.I think the MBTA just presumed they were going to get the same forethought and practical design experience that western manufacturers had already learned and incorporated into their designs years ago; accordingly, a lot of items they took for granted popped up. Not to say they can't be rectified, but fixing problems with physical assets within a public sector framework usually moves at a glacial pace if it even gets rectified at all, and that's presuming CRRC is cooperative in the first place.I think the cost overruns the MBTA had will haunt the CRRC's attempts to expand into the US. The trains ended up being built behind schedule for a much higher cost than originally planned and that kind of risk is a big strike against them. If CRRC had buckled down and really delivered a comparable product on time, other agencies would definitely consider their rolling stock for their future needs. However I also don't discount the power of corruption and outright ineptitude of transit agencies either.
>>2060267>Lots of small design problems that make it clear CRRC isn't in the same league as western builders:Define "western builders". The Swiss federal railways bought new tilting trains from Bombardier, these were delivered late and worked so badly that they had to deactivate the tilting mechanism for good and turn them into normal trains. Adding to that were countless other faults that required lots of downtime for repair. The trains now work, but their ride quality is significantly worse than the older trains.
>>2060282>Define "western builders".Not going to let you pilpul me
>>2060273Forgot to reply. >I think the cost overruns the MBTA had will haunt the CRRC's attempts to expand into the US. I think that Congress or at least the White House has pretty much banned China from being a rolling stock manufacturer in the US.>However I also don't discount the power of corruption and outright ineptitude of transit agencies either.While agency incompetence and soft corruption are definitely an issue in American transit agencies, I personally would place the majority of the blame with the state legislatures. Those fucking inbred dumbasses are allergic to spending a dollar this year to save ten dollars next year. Just look at the recent SEPTA crisis or all the shenanigans around the NYC MTA. I do have hope for the new Illinois NITA that starts operation in June.
>>2060189Fuck you guys
>>2060269I hate people on this site that think r*ddit is a good source of information and that there's nothing wrong with using it
>>2060055the build quality isn't really good at all, lots of panal gaps than a good'ol xtrap1Despite branded as modern, CRRC still decided to cheap out the in train speaker and display as crap as possible(stage 3 refurbished comeng has a WAY better PIDS speaker and UI though it sometimes being glitchy)while having a worse ride quality than a 20YO Siemens train and motor carriage comengMaybe the good thing is the seat layout is more capable as a modern commuter train than a subpar suburban train, with a lot of standing space by ditching lot of crossbench layout?
