SMART: Cost of engine repair, delay unknown

Top officials at the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit District on Wednesday weighed in for the first time on the ramifications of a monthslong service delay announced last week, including whether repairs on 14 faulty train engines ultimately will work.

“What kind of assurances do we have on the fix?” Sonoma County supervisor and SMART Director David Rabbitt asked Husani Longstreet, the agency’s superintendent of vehicle maintenance, during Wednesday’s board of directors meeting in Petaluma.

“At this time, to be honest, we don’t know,” Longstreet replied. “They say it’s a good fix.”

In addition to the faulty engines, SMART still must get warning signals at crossings to work properly, a problem officials on Wednesday said is related to rust along the 43-mile rail line running from North Santa Rosa to downtown San Rafael.

SMART staff, who until recently publicly maintained confidence in starting passenger service by the end of the year, on Wednesday made a coordinated effort to convince directors to delay that service, at least until late spring.

“A few months of delay, instead of taking the chance and rolling the dice and hope nothing else happens, that’s why we have the target of next spring,” Farhad Mansourian, the agency’s general manager, told directors.

The board appeared generally to accept Mansourian’s rationale for the delay, with several directors praising the decision. But some directors expressed concerns about the potential long-term impacts of pushing the date back.

SMART director Gary Phillips, who also serves as San Rafael’s mayor, pressed Mansourian on whether SMART will seek to recoup money from the manufacturer of the rail cars or the engines should delays in service translate into lower fare revenue.

Mansourian demurred, saying the question amounted to a “hypothetical” situation that might trigger negotiations and could tip the agency’s hand.

“I would suggest this is not a hypothetical. This is actual,” Phillips said. “We are not starting operations when we thought we were.”

Eric Lucan, a Novato city councilman and SMART director, also asked Mansourian about the financial implications of a delay, particularly with regard to fare revenue and operational costs.

Mansourian said he would have to meet with the rail agency’s financial officer to gain a clearer understanding of what a delay will cost SMART.

Concerns about SMART’s rail cars were triggered by a July 6 engine failure on a functionally identical car running on a new 14.5-mile rail line serving Toronto’s airport. The car was ferrying passengers when a piston rod penetrated the engine block and caused the train to lose power. No injuries were reported.

SMART officials said the engine problem was not diagnosed until Sept. 7. Mansourian last week referenced that timeline in defending his decision to not alert directors about the problem earlier.

Wednesday’s meeting included a detailed presentation on the crankshaft problem affecting SMART’s rail cars - called Diesel Multiple Units - and the effect a breakdown potentially might have on the entire rail line, which mostly operates along a single track.

Cummins Inc., the engine manufacturer, will rebuild SMART’s engines in Indiana before swapping them out in Sonoma County. SMART staff said the work will occur over weekends, beginning in November and lasting through April.

The work is timed to keep trains running on the tracks as much as possible, in part to help remove rust that has exacerbated problems with warning signals. The agency also has been scrubbing the tracks to improve connectivity.

Aaron Parkes, who oversees signals and grade crossings for SMART, outlined a schedule for the next several months that includes starting high-speed tests at grade crossings in Marin County and continuing north, followed by tests on a cutting-edge safety technology called Positive Train Control starting in December. He said “pre-revenue” operations are targeted for early next year.

Such simulated passenger service is slated to run “approximately three months,” according to SMART’s website.

Mansourian on Wednesday promised directors monthly updates on the agency’s progress toward meeting the revised date for the start of passenger service.

“It is good to have a target,” he said. “That gives the regulatory agencies and staff and everyone else working toward that date. We’re going to work even harder to try to make that a reality.”

You can reach Staff Writer Derek Moore at 707-521-5336 or derek.moore@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @deadlinederek.