RTD & diesel commuter vehicles
The concerns of those persons who object to RTD’s planned use of diesel commuter vehicles are misplaced. Diesel Multiple Unit vehicles manufactured by Colorado Railcar at its Fort Lupton plant not only exceed the performance of locomotive-hauled commuter trains but also perform well against electric-only trains.
I am not employed by or own stock in Colorado Railcar. As a railfan I happened across the demonstration vehicle at Denver Union Station Thursday and dropped by. The 1,200-horsepower DMU burns about one gallon of fuel per mile but haul up to 188 passengers at speeds up to 79-mph. It can pull a 218-seat coach with a slight reduction in mileage. This means a better-than 300-passenger miles per gallon, a very significant figure, environmentally. The Detroit Diesel power plant is proven technology.
I am not going to recite the Colorado Railcar pamphlet chapter and verse. However what I did write shows that the car can perform with the electrics without the heavy expense of overhead wiring and without extensive realigning of the BNSF’s Front Range Subdivision on which they will operate.
Yes they will pollute but electric cars also pollute. Electricity is generated at local coal and gas-fired power plants.
The advantages of these units reweigh the expense of straight-electric equipment.
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Of course diesel pollutes. A neighbor on the next block starts up his high-powered diesel truck, and it can be heard on several surrounding blocks. When he finally drives off, he's left a heavy cloud of pollution that lingers. Railway fans may love that smell - but they're not living in it! Residents have been given a bait-and-switch, and they would be nuts not to try to protect their air and their ears.
Posted by Denise on September 29, 2007 03:21 PM