Oren’s Reading List: A Train Ride Back to the Old Israel

Posted on October 21, 2018 by Oren

About one month ago, after many delays and some fanfare, Israel Railways inaugurated service on the new Tel Aviv-Jerusalem High Speed Rail line, the first time that Israel’s capital city is connected to the rest of the country by a train line that is actually competitive with driving. However, for reasons that can only be explained as politicking, the line is open despite not being ready for full operations just yet. Trains are operating every half hour on weekdays between Jerusalem and Ben Gurion Airport, at which point passengers must transfer to another train in order to continue the rest of the way to Tel Aviv. The power substations along the line are temporary, and several trains have gotten stuck along the line with passengers on board when the temporary electrical system is extended beyond its capabilities. The line does not operate evenings and weekends so crews can finish the line and bring it to full operational status, which will take longer than it would if the crews could work 24/6 instead of needing to clear the tracks for revenue service each weekday. Eventually, the trip between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv will take 35 minutes and not require a change of trains.

One question I’ve often received over the past few years while this new line is being constructed is what does the future hold for the old Tel Aviv-Jerusalem train line? This line was constructed by the Ottomans and opened in 1892, and despite the fact it takes well over 90 minutes to travel between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and carries few passengers, it has been in operation ever since the line was reopened following extensive repairs and the construction of a new terminal at Malha in Jerusalem in 2005. While this train route may not be the fastest way to get between these cities, it is quite pretty, as the train winds its way through the hills. However, the beautiful scenery along the route will not be enough to save the line; the segment between Beit Shemesh and Jerusalem is likely to be closed at some point in the future after the new high speed line is fully operational.

Last week in the New York Times, Matti Friedman wrote about why he prefers the old Ottoman era train route over the new high speed route. You can read his piece here. And if you find yourself in Israel with enough time to take the scenic train route on your way to or from Jerusalem, do so. You won’t have the chance for too much longer…

New Photos from the Land of Enchantment (& More)

Posted on October 8, 2018 by Oren

In August, I visited New Mexico for the first time (unless you count passing through on Amtrak’s Southwest Chief back in 2014). Although I was only there for four full days, I did have some opportunities to photograph the transit available in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and in between. Both cities have sizable bus networks, though the latter is larger than that of the former. In addition, the Rail Runner Express operates commuter rail service between those same cities. Unfortunately, for such a short stay and due to other logistical constraints, I didn’t actually ride any of these systems, though photographing them while trying to capture the local architectural styles in some of my photographs while doing so was fun!

This update also includes photos from around the DC area, including photos of MARC’s newest diesel locomotives, the DC Circulator’s new Proterra electric buses, and more!

Here is the complete list of pages with new photos in this update:

Rail Photo of the Month: October 2018

Posted on October 2, 2018 by Oren

LHB Series M2 13

LHB Series M2 13

Location: Bijlmer ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Operator of Vehicle: Gemeentelijk Vervoerbedrijf (GVB)
Date of Photo: June 3, 2008

Sometimes, it takes so long for a transit line to open, the rolling stock you expect to see on that line at some point is retired beforehand. If you thought the M1, M2, or M3 rolling stock (pictured here) in Amsterdam would appear on that network’s Line 52 (also known as the North-South Line) when it opened, it was probably a reasonable assumption. After all, these cars were built starting in 1977, and Line 52 was expected to open in 2011, well within the expected lifetime of most heavy rail subway cars. However, Line 52 encountered years of construction delays, ultimately opening this past July after 16 years of construction. The line was built primarily using a deep bore under the IJ, through the area of the Centraal Station, and then through the center of Amsterdam. However, despite having the line follow the street grid as much as possible, groundwater seeped in to the tunnels and some buildings collapsed, leading to those delays. Ultimately, the M1, M2, and M3 stock was retired in 2015, so these cars never operated on Line 52, though there is one pair of this equipment that was preserved so perhaps it can be used on this route for a heritage trip sometime.

For more photos of the Amsterdam Metro, please click here.

Bus Photo of the Month: October 2018

Posted on October 1, 2018 by Oren

Orion V 70

Location: South Eads Street at South Rotary Road, Arlington, VA
Operator of Vehicle: Alexandria Transit Company
Date of Photo: July 19, 2018

For those of you who know the DC area well, your first reaction to seeing this photo is that one isn’t supposed to be taking photographs at this location. It is a reasonable first reaction, as this photo was taken on the Pentagon Reservation, and photography is generally prohibited there. But notice my use of the word generally. Photography is allowed at the September 11th Memorial adjacent to the Pentagon (though the DoD was reluctant to permit this when the memorial opened). However, this isn’t where the photo was taken. So what’s the secret? I did have authorization to be taking photos at the Pentagon that morning, and there were Pentagon police officers nearby at the time. However, like many things that go on at the Pentagon, I can’t really reveal how I got this authorization or how one might go about doing so (other than to say the circumstances were somewhat unique, so anyone else trying to replicate them is likely to be unsuccessful).

As for the bus itself, as rare as photos of DASH buses of any sort at the Pentagon might be, photos of Orion V DASH buses are becoming a rarity as well. This specific unit is about 16 years old, is among the last high floor buses remaining in the DASH fleet. Catch these while you can anywhere in the DASH service area, because they are due to be reassigned to the “big bus garage in the sky” in the very near future as newer Gillig Advantages arrive.

For more photos of DASH, please click here.

Bus Photo of the Month: September 2018

Posted on September 2, 2018 by Oren

Gillig Advantage 3710

Location: Campus Drive at Union Drive, College Park, MD
Operator of Vehicle: University of Maryland Department of Transportation Services
Date of Photo: March 30, 2017

The University of Maryland Athletics Department isn’t only making news because of issues regardings its football team. Recently, the Athletics Department announced it would help to fund some weekend services on campus that would otherwise have been discontinued this fall due to budget shortfalls. The University of Maryland has one of the largest student operated bus systems in the United States, with nearly 3 million trips annually on board a fleet of about 60 buses. While the system is overseen by professional staff, many system functions including dispatching, training, and operating are carried out by students most of the time. How many of those student operators might be transit fans?

For more photos of Shuttle-UM, please click here.

Rail Photo of the Month: September 2018

Posted on September 1, 2018 by Oren

Kawasaki B-IV 510

Location: Pattison (NRG) Station, Philadelphia, PA
Operator of Vehicle: Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority
Date of Photo: June 21, 2003

Since 2010, the southern terminal of Philadelphia’s Broad Street Line has been more than just a subway station. In that year, SEPTA sold the naming rights to Pattison Station to AT&T for five years for five million dollars. Almost instantaneously, signed references to Pattison were replaced with AT&T, which certainly makes for an odd station name in my opinion. Making it even stranger is the fact that to my knowledge, AT&T’s only connection (no pun intended) to that station or any other SEPTA station is that the company was the only one with coverage along the underground portions of the Broad Street Line and Market-Frankford Line. Last month, the naming rights were sold to NRG Energy for 5.25 million dollars and five years, and once again the signage has been changed to reflect the new name.

I believe that station names should have some connection (whether current or historic) with where they are located. SEPTA has sold the naming rights to one other station, Market East, which is now known as “Jefferson Station.” At least Jefferson Station is near its namesake, the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, though I wouldn’t have minded the naming rights addition to the name had it been something along the line of Jefferson Station at Market East, thereby still raising revenue while retaining the old name. Pattison Station is surrounded by sports stadiums and parking lots, and to my knowledge, neither AT&T nor NRG has ever had a physical presence in the area.

What do you think of selling the naming rights for transit stations? Leave a comment below. Meanwhile, I still think of the southern stop on the Broad Street Line as Pattison, so there’s my answer to that question.

For more photos of the Broad Street Line, please click here.

Rail Photo of the Month: August 2018

Posted on August 2, 2018 by Oren

Kawasaki 7028

Location: Columbia Heights Station, Washington, DC
Operator of Vehicle: Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
Date of Photo: August 30, 2015

If you happen to have been on the Washington Metro in recent weeks, you’ve probably heard a train declare “This is a 7000 Series train” as its doors open at each station. This is being done as a safety initiative for passengers with vision impairments, the merits of which will not be discussed here at this time. However, transit fans and frequent Metrorail riders probably do not need to be told when they are boarding a 7000 Series train, as these cars are quite different than any others that have operated on “America’s subway.” The cars are made of stainless steel. They feature the new “disco ball logo” rather than the traditional brown stripe along the sides. The trains have a new interior color scheme, automated announcements, multiple interior LED and LCD displays, an updated cab layout, and numerous other features. Personally, I’m a much bigger fan of the “legacy fleet” than the 7000 Series as the former is what I grew up riding and am most familiar with. However, the 7000 Series cars are certainly recognizable by many riders, not just transit fans, and anecdotally, the riding public has enjoyed riding these cars since they entered service in 2015.

For more photos of WMATA’s Kawasaki 7000 Series cars, please click here.

Bus Photo of the Month: August 2018

Posted on August 1, 2018 by Oren

Yutong ZK6121HQ

Location: Sheva Hayim at Sderot Golda, Jerusalem, Israel
Operator of Vehicle: Afikim
Date of Photo: May 25, 2018

For many years, the Israeli bus scene has been dominated by European manufacturers. For much of the 21st century, this has meant that most buses are built by companies such as Mercedes-Benz, MAN, Volvo, and VDL. However, this is starting to change. In recent years, Israeli bus companies have begun ordering buses from two Chinese manufacturers. Yutong, which was founded in 1963, makes buses such as the one seen here. Golden Dragon, another Chinese manufacturer founded in 1992, has also delivered units to Israeli companies. Chinese buses aren’t new to the Middle East, as many of Israel’s neighbors have been ordering Chinese buses for some time. However, they are new to Israel and part of a rapidly diversifying bus scene as other companies such as Solaris break in to this market as well.

For more photos of Jerusalem area Afikim buses, please click here.

Photographing the Same Train on Two Continents

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Oren

Over the years I’ve managed some neat feats in terms of fleets and/or vehicles that I’ve photographed. At one time, I had a photo of every vehicle in the active TCAT fleet in Ithaca, NY. I have photos of most (but not all) of the 46 Jerusalem Light Rail Alstom Citadis 302s. However, back in January, I accomplished a feat that I don’t think I ever expected to do: photographing the same train car on two different continents. And just to be clear, this wasn’t accomplished in Istanbul.

In 1998, the Madrid Metro accepted delivery of its 6000 Series cars from CAF for operation on that system’s Line 9. The 6000 Series were the first Madrid subway cars to feature exterior destination signs and an articulated joint between each pair of cars, and were designed with the needs of Line 9 in mind. I rode and photographed these cars in Madrid each time that I was in that city, first in 2005 and then again in 2008.

In 2013, most of the 6000 Series cars were sold to the Buenos Aires Underground for about 32.6 million Euro, a purchase that has since been derided as the worst rolling stock acquisition in the hundred-plus year history of the Buenos Aires system. Buenos Aires purchased these cars to operate on their Line B, despite some significant differences between the specifications of Buenos Aires Line B and the wide profile Madrid Metro lines. Most notably, the Madrid Metro powers its trains using overhead catenary, as does Buenos Aires for five of its six subway lines, but Line B is the lone Buenos Aires Subte line that uses third rail power. In other words, Buenos Aires officials ordered a fleet of subway cars with the intention of using them on the one line in their network where there was no way to power the cars without significant modifications being made to both the tunnels and the 6000 Series cars themselves. The 6000 Series cars were also narrower the other cars that had historically operated on Line B, requiring “skirts” to be added to the cars in order to close the gap between the train and the station platforms. The 6000 Series trains ultimately entered service in Buenos Aires starting in 2014.

I traveled to Buenos Aires in January 2018 and explored the city’s subway network, so naturally, I re-encountered the 6000 Series cars in their new home. I don’t have logs of which cars I rode in Madrid and which cars I rode in Buenos Aires, but after my trip, I compared the unit numbers in the photos I took in Madrid with those I took in Buenos Aires. Through that process, I discovered that I photographed car 6006 at the Avenida de America station in Madrid on June 11, 2008, and photographed the same car at Carlos Pellegrini, station in Buenos Aires on January 10, 2018.

Here are the aforementioned photos:

New Photos from Israel & Washington, DC Added

Posted on July 25, 2018 by Oren

The summer travel season is well underway, and photos from my adventures in May and June are now available for your viewing pleasure here on Oren’s Transit Page.

Most of the new content can be found in the Israel section, where you will find new photos of the Jerusalem Light Rail, Egged buses in Jerusalem (including the Solaris Urbino 18 unit currently on trial), Egged Ta’avura buses in Jerusalem, Afikim buses in Jerusalem, Kavim buses in Jerusalem, and Superbus buses in both Jerusalem and Tiberias. If you haven’t been to Israel lately, with the entry of the Golden Dragon and Yutong bus models from China and Solaris buses from Poland in to the Israeli market, there is quite a bit of diversity in Israeli operators’ fleets beyond the typical MAN and Mercedes-Benz buses that have dominated the scene for years. You can also find photos of the exterior of the new Jerusalem High Speed Railway station (the interior of the much delayed station will be open to the public this fall if you believe the latest rumors).

In addition, new photos of various WMATA equipment types have been added as well.