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Enabling Shared-Track: Technology, Command, and Control 47
reduces time spent blocking a highway crossing, which reduces driver impatience. To reiterate,
the incidence and risk of a grade crossing collision is independent of shared-track operations,
and is a hazard for all rail movements at a grade crossing.
· EPA emissions compliance is met by most new diesel propulsion units configured to conform
to the latest EPA emission requirements.
Vehicle Cost Drivers
In any system, vehicles are a significant capital cost element and a major operating and
maintenance expense throughout their life cycle. Research indicates that the car body is the
most expensive element (average 28%), and the propulsion system is next (average 22%) in the
magnitude of vehicle costs. Regulators tend to prefer more structural mass. The incremental cost
of adding more material may not be all that significant based on the proportions above, but
adding more weight to the car body negatively impacts propulsion system design and perform-
ance, requiring added braking capability and more robust trucks and suspension elements, in
addition to increasing operating costs. A table showing vehicle cost drivers by percentage of total
cost is in Appendix 6.
A vehicle procurement should budget additional funds of approximately 20% of the vehicle
hard cost for associated soft costs (for example warranty, field support, training, tools, spare
parts). Spare parts and special tools combine for 7% of overall vehicle procurement cost.
Standardization of vehicles, components, and manufacture and assembly methods provides
an opportunity to effect a noticeable savings and puts downward pressure on these soft costs, as
well. Appendix 5 provides tables of the relative average cost contribution of various components,
systems and soft costs.
Train controls average only 3% of the total cost of the vehicle (the bulk of train control costs
resides in infrastructure elements), so for a relatively small expense, adding mass to the vehicle
structure may be avoidable. Train control features may be more compatible with the regulatory
goal of fail-safe train separation.
Not surprisingly, a second significant factor that affects cost is quantity. The unit procurement
cost goes down as quantities go up. A recent survey for the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC)
lists unit prices of rail passenger vehicles (subway type cars) and compares them to the quantity
purchased.
· Car orders between 100 to 150 vehicles ranged between $2.2 to $2.5 million per unit
· Car orders exceeding 200 vehicles ranged between $1.7 and $2.2 million per unit
The same study listed benchmark prices of $2.3 million for new electric multiple unit type
vehicles and $2.5 million for new diesel multiple unit vehicles. In contrast, recent acquisitions of
shared-track vehicles have cost approximately $4.0 million per vehicle for very small orders.
The data reflect acquisitions by different agencies, and varying technical requirements. The
lack of a standard light passenger rail car contributes to higher costs. If each system specifies a
different car or selects unique systems and components, controlling costs incurred by a single
agency becomes more difficult. The result is that an individual agency bears the front-end and
startup costs, rather than spreading them out over a larger number of vehicles. Joint procure-
ment and piggy-backing orders can address this issue.
Vehicles for Shared-Track Applications
Full compliance with FRA requirements for passenger equipment is unlikely. However, to off-
set their structural limitations, vehicles for shared-track generally have improved braking rates and
energy absorption devices and operate at lower speeds than traditional FRA-compliant passenger
