BART to Run Diesels

[Spades]

BART is definitely louder than Caltrain.

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Noise-on-BART-How-bad-is-it-and-is-it-harmful-3175757.php

After spending 1.5 + billion on the 8.7 mile BART extension to KSFO, I always thought it would be cheaper to just put a BART decal on whatever means of transportation Caltrains, SAMTRANS, MUNI etc. that connected with the BART system.

http://www.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/excess-baggage-the-forgotten-costs-of-the-bart-sfo-extension/Content?oid=2827620

BART is needed, just the expansions are so expensive.

[eric220]

That SFGate article had an interesting map of the sound levels. There's definitely a correlation between sound levels and what type of structure the train is operating in. The loudest are all enclosed tunnels, the quietest are at grade, and aerials are somewhere in between. That CalTrain is quieter really shouldn't be surprising. It's locomotive powered push-pull. BART is MU, so every car has a propulsion system that will whine and groan.

[jagged ben]

The tunnels are loudest for people riding the train, the aerials are loudest for those who are not.

[nkalanaga]

Eric:  Yes, that does qualify as interchange, every bit as much as a standard/narrow gauge connection, such as the D&RGW or EBT.  I was thinking of physically interchanging cars, without altering the cars, but "interchange" also covers goods transfers, and those where trucks were swapped to change the gauge.  BART could, in theory, put wide gauge trucks under incoming freight cars, and thus run cars from other roads.

[Blazeman]

Philadelphia has "PA Broad Gauge - 5'3" " for elevated, subway, and trolley lines. I'm not certain what gauge the Norristown High Speed Line uses. But it is different from the former PTC lines.

I recall during my commuting years the Brill Bullets were being retired and there was an equipment crunch on the Norristown (Red Arrow/ Phila & Western) Line. A couple sets of CTA cars were shipped in, then SEPTA converted some former El cars for use on the line. Gauge for the cars had to be changed as part of that effort.

[jagged ben]

I thought people might want to know about this as a follow up to the discussion about noise...

https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2016/news20160512

Apparently these were already installed a couple weeks ago between Daly City and Balboa Park when I came back from the airport with my family.  I can't say I noticed a huge difference from within the train.   That section is certainly really loud for the surrounding neighborhoods.

[ljudice]

What is exciting about this is brining DMU's back to the US...

There are a ton of potential places where these could be used to jump start passenger service.

[sirenwerks]

If only DMUs would solve WMATA's problems...