Construction/trackwork of the SMART system in No. Calif.

[bikkuri bahn]

Interesting drone views. Very Northern Californian suburban scenes.

[railsquid]

Aha, not the high speed rail line thingy but Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART), "a voter-approved passenger rail and bicycle-pedestrian pathway project located in Marin and Sonoma counties. It will serve a 70-mile corridor from Larkspur to Cloverdale, with a first phase from San Rafael to Santa Rosa."

 

(railsquid is not terribly au fait with California).

[kvp]

Nice developement, but stations seems to lack the high capacity park and ride facilities or the feeder bus/trolleybus/streetcar lines required for a commuter line to be really successful.

[bikkuri bahn]

It's a low capacity system.  Single track most of its length, and the services will be mainly concentrated in the morning and evening peaks, like most commuter operations in the U.S.- i.e. geared toward upper middle class outer suburban dwellers who work in the CBD.

 

*edit/add: according to wikipedia, headways will be 30 min (!), with a single midday service between the peak hours services.  At least they are planning weekend services. 

Edited June 15, 2015 by bikkuri bahn

[bikkuri bahn]

recent developments:

Barreling along a track south of Petaluma at a top speed of 79 mph this week, a two-car Sonoma- Marin Area Rail Transit train moved with surprising grace for machinery weighing 160 tons.

Outside picture windows in the passenger cabins, an autumn evening enveloped the landscape, the setting sun casting a fading glow on marshlands east of the tracks.

Nearing Novato, where the rail line pulls alongside Highway 101, the gray-and-green train cars whizzed by vehicles inching along in rush-hour traffic.

 

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/4647527-181/house-highway-bill-maintains-funding?gallery=4714605?artslide=3

 

Edited November 7, 2015 by bikkuri bahn

[katoftw]

Surprized to hear 2 cars weight 160 ton.  It is made from 15mm mild steel?

[bikkuri bahn]

Surprized to hear 2 cars weight 160 ton.  It is made from 15mm mild steel?

FRA regs, I suppose.  They're pretty sluggish compared to typical DMUs in Europe or Japan.

[katoftw]

That is because they weigh twice the weight of Japanese/Euro DMUs.