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·        PATCO’s 121 car fleet was purchased at two separate times.

·        The first seventy-five cars were manufactured by the Budd Company and went into service in 1969.

·        Twenty-five single cars (Car numbers 101 – 125)

·        Twenty-five married pairs (Car numbers 201-250)

·              (married pairs are two cars that are semi-permanently joined.)

·           The second forty-six cars are almost identical to the Budd cars but were manufactured by the Canadian Vickers Company and went into service in 1980.

·        Twenty-three married pairs (Car numbers 251 – 296)

 

·        The cars have been used such that mileage on all cars is approximately equal (Average 1.5 million miles).

 

·        In 1997, Car 116 was damaged by fire to the extent that it cannot be repaired and has been removed from the fleet.

 

·        Many of the PATCO Transit Car components and systems are no longer supported by the industry and PATCO manufactures many parts in-house, rebuilds other components, scavenges parts from cars that are no longer operational and/or purchases used parts from agencies retiring similar technology in order to keep the fleet operational.

 

·        In 2003/4, DRPA/PATCO had an in-depth study and inspection performed on the fleet by a transit car consulting firm to determine if overhaul was feasible or if PATCO would need to purchase new cars to replace its aging fleet.

·        The study determined that the cars were in good structural condition. 

·        They were well built and well maintained.

·        Most of the car systems were at the end of their useful life.

·         The car bodies and the trucks (wheel assemblies) could be retained.

·          Overhaul would be substantially less expensive than purchasing a new fleet.

 

·        Specifications for the overhaul of the PATCO Transit Cars were developed by DRPA/PATCO and its consulting firm, LTK Engineering.

·        Specifications include:

·              Reusing the car bodies

·              Reusing the truck assemblies which include the truck frames, wheels, motors  

          and gear boxes

·              Replacing or rehabilitating:

·     Propulsion Control Systems

·     HVAC systems

·     Automatic train controls

·     Floor panels

·     Brakes

·     Draft gear and couplers

·     Door operators

·     Low voltage supply system

·     Lighting systems

 

·              Providing:

·     All new modern interiors including new seating

·     Enclosed operators’ cabs

·     ADA accommodations

·     Improved passenger communication systems including flat screen

          monitors

 

·        DRPA/PATCO issued an invitation to Industry Car Rebuilders to review a 60% Draft Specification and Schedule in June 2008. Comments gathered from that Industry Review were used in developing the Final Specifications.

 

·        A Request For Proposal (RFP) was issued in 2009 inviting Transit Car firms to propose on the overhaul of the PATCO fleet.

 

·        Through several iterations of a competitive process, DRPA/PATCO selected the firm of Alstom Transportation Inc. to perform the overhaul of the PATCO fleet. (Contract awarded February, 2011)

·        Alstom will perform the overhaul work at their facility in Hornell, New York, which is approximately 300 miles from Lindenwold, New Jersey. The earliest shop at that location was opened in 1849 by the Erie Railroad.  More recently, the facility was converted to a car manufacturing and overhaul shop and has built or overhauled thousands of transit cars since the 1980’s.

·         The transit cars will be transported to Hornell over the road. The trucks will be removed from the cars at Lindenwold and rubber tire bogies will be placed under the cars. They will then be towed the 300 miles by a conventional over-the-road tractor. The cars are 67.5 feet long, 10 feet wide and weigh about 50,000 pounds.

·        Initially, Alstom will receive six cars; a Budd married pair, a Vickers married pair and two Budd singles. The first car is scheduled to leave Lindenwold on March 3, 2011.

 

·        These six cars will go through some testing and inspection at Hornell and then will receive the overhaul work and will comprise the prototype train. Design of the overhaul work, procuring components, performing the overhaul and testing of the prototype train is expected to take 18 – 24 months.

 

·        Once the prototype is accepted by DRPA/PATCO, Alstom will go into production mode and will perform the overhaul of the remaining 114 cars. This is expected to take another three years.

 

·        During overhaul production, approximately twenty cars will be off property at a time.

 

·        100 PATCO Cars will be left in operation. The current schedule requires 84 cars. The remaining 16 cars are required for spares and/or are involved in inspections and repairs.

 

·        Overhauled cars will be transported over the road back to Lindenwold, re-trucked, tested, commissioned and placed into service.

 

·        During the overhaul process, PATCO will be operating two fleets; the existing cars and the overhauled cars. Both types of cars can operate on the PATCO line but will not be able to be coupled to one and other. That is, exiting cars cannot be coupled to overhauled cars.