TriMet TV Episode 25 · Jan. 19, 2009 · 3:20 · Download (32MB M4V)

Behind the Scenes: Testing WES Trains

TriMet's new WES Commuter Rail service is opening February 2, 2009. Over the last few months, we've been busy testing the new trains so you have a safe and smooth ride.

Text transcript of this episode

TriMet's new WES Commuter Rail line (Westside Express Service) is opening soon. Starting February 2nd, WES will begin carrying passengers between Wilsonville, Tualatin, Tigard and Beaverton. It will be a welcome alternative to I-5 and Highway 217, and, like many of you, we're excited to get WES trains rolling.

Over the last few months, we've been busy testing the new trains so you have a safe and smooth ride. Preparing a new rail line for service is a big job, with rigorous testing, safety certification and a lot of mechanical and electrical work. Darren Morris, the operations manager for WES, is responsible for getting the new trains up and running.

DARREN MORRIS: "The first thing that we need to do to get a WES train ready for service is obviously to make sure that it will move, and that it will stop… We instrument the cars, with some chart recorders and data graphs and we make sure that when we ask the train to stop that it meets its rate of deceleration and stops within a certain period of time… So we'll load the train with sand up to about 200,000 pounds to simulate passenger service. And make sure the train will accelerate properly under load, and more specifically and more importantly, decelerate properly under heavy load. So that when we give it the brake command that it stops within a prescribed amount of time. If it doesn’t then it's out of spec and we need to do some adjustments on the braking system in order to make it do that. Otherwise we can't haul passengers."

WES trains can go up to 60 miles per hour. But the average rate of speed will probably be around 30 miles per hour.

DARREN MORRIS: "Wherever we have flat enough track, where we don't have curves and we don't have platforms to stop at we'll go 60 miles an hour. (laughs)"

Unlike MAX, WES trains are actually diesel locomotives, and they will run along an existing freight train track. That means some aspects, such as the braking system, are a little different on WES.

(air brake sound)

DARREN MORRIS: "These are air brake systems, and so they use hydraulic brakes on the light rail side, and we use air. That's a federal requirement because locomotives use air brakes and all this equipment that's running on this railroad has to use air brakes."

Darren and his team are also busy getting the various on-board systems ready for prime time.
                 
DARREN MORRIS: "And then you have the peripheral equipment like doors, you got to make sure the doors open and close. And that the HVAC system works so that people get cool in the summer and get warm in the winter. And all the other peripheral stuff like the communication system so that automated stop announcements are made and things like that."

One new feature that WES riders will enjoy is free wireless internet on board the train.

DARREN MORRIS: "The cars weren't delivered with passenger wi-fi so we install that. Our IT people over at Center Street, Rick Jacobi, were instrumental in outfitting the cars with wi-fi equipment. So all that work has been done."

It takes a lot of coordination and teamwork to get WES Commuter Rail moving. And come February, you'll have a new way to commute in Clackamas and Washington counties. To learn more about WES, visit trimet.org/wes. We'll see you on board!

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