@@mrbrainbob5320 Because of dumb american regulations / laws, stadler had to move at least 50% of their buisness to the states in order to sell trains here. Stadler Rail was 100% Swiss made before and still is 100% swiss
What do you bet they blare that horn more in the first year of service there than the same Stadler train would blare its' horn in Europe during its' entire lifespan :)
Would that have anything to do with the fact that the North American public is generally stunned when it comes to observing such warnings as gates, bells, flashing lights and signage?
@@greggormick5255 I sincerely hope that is not the case, would be very sad! But why is that so? Is that because self discipline is not embedded in the US psyche, nor discipline?
@@johannesslobbe6854A lot of it has to do with self-entitlement and an inflated feeling of self-confidence. I've worked for several Canadian railways and I've seen the stupid chances people take around trains. They act as if it's their right to be on railway property and they can pretty much do as they please. They constantly under=estimate the speed and the raw power of the trains, too. If they viewed trespassers and those who try to beat trains at grade crossings from the cab of a freight locomotive that's doing 60 mph with 10,000 tons behind it or a passenger locomotive barrelling along at 100 mph, they might develop a different perspective. Trains are big, powerful and very unforgiving beasts that need to be treated with respect. "La-de-da" doesn't cut it around an active railway line if you want to go home alive.
@@greggormick5255 It is, nowadays, getting the same in Europe. I have been a railwayman for years, in various functions, and I have seen what trains can do to a car, truck and most of all to a human being. I have the idea that many people lost the urge for self preservation, but most of all self discipline. You must be a complete idiot to think you can win from a train......
@@hans2406And your trains run much faster than ours, Hans. Thanks to my wonderful high school German teacher in Toronto, I'm thinking of a good German word right now that we can apply to those who want to play chicken with trains: dummkopfen!
These are the first one to operate in the US, and yes, the first impression was very good. I know there's another passenger line in the works that will be using them too in the next couple of years.
I'm a train driver in Germany driving the same train type (Stadler Flirt 3). It amazes me to see the sort-of-same train type operating at the other side of the world.
Yeah it’s about time for the US to find out, that only European style commuter trains can be cheap enough to lower the funding needs for public rail services. The current aluminum monster cars are just much too expensive to maintain.
@@onkelfabs6408 i wish this company would make a full trainsit train. NYC is having major trouble with the new fleet of Bombardier fleet. Mosf of the 100 that are in are sidelined for on reason or another. The rest of the fleet is on hold from delivery.
I agree. European style trains are much better and more attractive for US rail transport!!!! And it's great to see Stadler building its FLIRT and KISS trains for USA Transport!
You wanna join those quiet zone idiots, go ahead, I don't care, but if you see people die thanks to the train not sounding its horn, not my fucking problem, you should get arrested for these murders
Last time I was in Texas was Labor Day weekend 2015. This is the eighth DMU line I'm seeing in operation. The others are Sprinter, SMART, E-BART in California, UP line in Toronto, Austin Red Line, Denton A-Train in Texas, and River Line in New Jersey.
I have many a photo and watched these being built in our shop here in Salt Lake City. I think 103 was one that I was even able to move in our yard. They’re great trains and hope texrail does well! Awesome vid by the way
Looks like we both recorded each other in our videos. I'm at 0:50 doing who knows what to my camera, and at 4:19 just above the logo staring at you. I got off WB 217 at Grapevine Station, ate breakfast, and got on the next train (the one you recorded at Iron Horse) an hour later. EDIT: How did you manage to keep going throughout the day? By the time I got off the train and drove home (before sunrise), I was exhausted.
Kudos, great news for the residents of the DFW area. I have always wondered why Houston has not made any serious inroads with regards to commuter rail, they are really lagging far behind.
Yeah, they are very European-reminiscent. Stadler doesn’t tend to change the design of their trains between countries, which I think makes them more distinguishable and constant. The first European-looking commuter rail trains in the USA that I can think of are the Stadler GTWs on the Capital MetroRail in Austin, Texas. They were bought in 2005 and have been in service since 2010. Next came the almost-identical DCTA GTWs for the A-Train in Denton, Texas in 2011, then eBART in San Francisco, California. Next came these FLIRTs, and then some KISSes for CalTrain, also in California. Next came an order for 127 METRO subway cars for MARTA in Atlanta, Georgia, which was Stadler’s largest order for railcars in its history. Next will be more FLIRTs for the Cotton Belt Line in Dallas, Texas. Texas, believe it or not, has the most Stadler trains in the USA. They have trains in Austin, Denton, Fort Worth, and Dallas.
They used the horn alot during testing of the new crossings and to get the residents used to being aware of this NEW service, After the first 2 weeks they declared the line a quiet zone and horn use has been greatly curtailed. Now it's the operator's call if he sees a person,animal or vehicle on the track.
Nice acronym (FLIRT = Fast Light Innovative Regional Train). Apparently, Stadler Rail also makes "KISS" EMU's. Never knew that a rail equipment manufacturer could have such a "dirty mind". 🤣
The horn is still required on half of the line but that will change eventually. When that happens three crossing will remain non-quiet zones. The three crossing are the two in the airport and then the one just north of the Trinity river.
Well now I’m not wondering any more why the train cannot use its potential maximum speed of at least 100 mph / 160 km/h.... because the railway crossings aren’t technically secured. Well ironically the situation is the same here in Germany. Diesels are mostly bound to non-electrified branch lines, where the maximum speed is also only 50 mph / 80 km/h
Federal law. When GWR sent their new King class loco King George V to the US for the B&O's centennial, the B&O gifted her a silver bell for her to run on US tracks legally. KGV still wears her silver bell on her buffer beam at the British Railway Museum. I recall hearing that bell when she pulled into Paddington.
This is actually what it came with from the manufacturer. If I'm not mistaken, just about all Stadler produced trains in the US have this type of horn and bell.
Just GORGEOUS!! Unlike Florida, Texas is with the 21st century and it looks grand! Congratulations to all involved in it’s becoming a reality, and to those who’ll use it enjoy it!
Robert M. Like that guy from Six Flags Over Georgia where he lost his hat on Batman the Ride and got it only to be hit and killed by the ride despite the obvious gates saying that was a restricted area?
@@robertm.4516 I agree with you, too bad the stuipidass locals made the crossings fucking quiet zones now, the locals should get arrested for commiting all of these murders, think about it, they were the ones who gave our railroads the idea of quiet zones! Those people getting murdered from the train not sounding its horn due to the crossing being a quiet zone is their fault
@@JAML1875 one of the master transit plans for Tarrant county includes creating a light rail system for fort worth similar to Dallas but significantly smaller
Great video! I'm surprised at no fanfare though - opening a new line at 3am in the morning without any kind of huge public celebration seems like a missed opportunity.
Thank you! Not shown in this video are the ribbon cutting ceremonies they had a week prior to the planned opening date. The actual opening was postponed by a few weeks due to failed final inspections and only announced two days before.
They built a railroad from scratch and could have made it as good as they wanted but instead they built a single track railway with tiny 3 car stations, 1 hour headways and gimped the speed to boot. Wow. Almost seems like they're intentionally trying to set it up to fail.
What I am mainly wanting to see is how easy or hard it is to transition from DART to TexRail/TRE. Can someone please make a video showing that? Is it a long walk to make the transition?
The walk is not long at all, maybe a 2-3 minute walk depending on how fast you walk. I don't know of any videos showing it but I do know it's not long at all. It's also well lit and sidewalk the whole way.
You're thinking of Austin's Cap[ital] Metro system, and no it doesn't run that far west anyway. Although that old Southern Pacific/TNO track IS now owned by Cap Metro all the way to Llano.
@@floridianrailauto9032 They'll expand east to Elgin first (Cap Metro already owns that track also). Llano county is republican (79% trump in 2016) so they'll never support public transportation until there is no other possible alternative.
Well that's shit. I went to Kingsland when I was in the 3rd grade and we stayed at the Antlers Inn. I was a bit disappointed when I found out the tracks weren't in use, and it sucks they still won't be in use@@spamvoid78758
Go Fort Worth, Go Texas! It appears as if Texas is surely the 'Place to be' in America as well as the best place to do business. Less rules than Cali anyway ;) This Texrail seems very Fort Worth focused. Are there any proposals to connect it with downtown Dallas? I haven't yet been to Texas except in transit from Brisbane Australia to Mexico City, Mexico. You have a dynamic powerhouse south of the border in Mexico with great people - just remember that. As an Australian I tend to look outwards and have an international view of the world. Mexico is more important than most American's would think and it's vital that Texas connect more economically with it's southern behemoth in order to attain future prosperity. Great railway by the way.
Why would it not be Fort Worth focus ? But to jump to your question. DART " Light rail" goes from downtown Dallas to DFW. Texrail goes from Downtown Fort Worth to DFW. So no TexRail will never go to Downtown Dallas. Dallas light rail system started in 1996. And they already have a jump start that goes all over the city now. This "Commuter Rail" is the first part of a longterm plan for Fort Worth and Tarrant County. Having said that cities between Fort Worth and Dallas like Arlington and Grand Prairie would one day want to have some rail one day. Would those cities want a Light Rail or a Commuter rail system ? So many questions yet to be answered about that part of the DFW area ?
It's the same on US military personnel, on the right arm. Both sides have the stars to the front. Like how the flag turns in the wind when going ahead.
Here is another video, shot on another day. Note only two passengers are on the train. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ipFonAd2WIQ.html
Wow: Civilization arrives in Texas! The train is a beauty! I also say: less horns/bells. And I'm surprised in this age to see new trains without electrification in urban areas.
Dallas has electric lightrail i think trinty metro kept texrail dissel in fort worth to save money and i believe it also shares trackage with freight trains that would interfere with electric wiring
Tickets can be purchased at each station from ticket vending machines before you get to the platform at each station. Once you find a vending machine there should be onscreen prompts to help you purchase the correct ticket.
Any other country in the world, given a new track for an urban train, would have gone electric straightaway, and not fitted stinking diesel engines. It makes it just a lash up.@@sadams12345678
Robert Rich Well apparently in Houston it’s major news that we’re getting a BUS RAPID TRANSIT in Post Oak all because Houston can’t get it’s act together.
Bence Ludvig the Bell is required at all crossings as well as at the stations. At drone crossing and stations they are required to blow the horn as well
@@TexasTrainProductions I find it really interesting as a European tranport engineer. Here (Hungary, Eu) trains horn where its required by a sign or the crossing has no singaling for traffic usually... there are some other operational reasons too , and in case of danger situations but i think thats everywhere.
Why do American trains use their horn so much more often than in Europe? Even with steam locomotives on excursions they spend like 50% of the time on the whistle.
You Americans cannot build modern Trains? This is German/Swiss Product from Stadler, it was produced just a few km from my Home. In northern Germany they recently introduced Fuel Cell driven Trains. And by the Way, stop that annoying Honking and Dingle-dang, it's Noicepolution. Streetlevel Crossings, no way!!!!! Our Trains go really fast! 160 km/h for Commuters, up to 350 km/h for Highspeed Trains.
And our cargo trains make yours look pathetic. How many cars do you guys hook up? 10, 15? What you Europhiles can't understand is that rail serves different purposes in North America vs. Europe.
Owen Major Cargo Trains have the same Purpose, here, but due to historical development the Trains aren’t that high, but they are soft in Sound, you can barley hear them. BTW, I AM an European. We do not have problems being criticized, you should get use to it in comparison. English is just a Germanic based Dialect for me as a German.
@@TexasTrainProductions yeah smaller the engine quieter it is....heavy freight haulers have big long stroke engines, that make quite a noise. and add to it MUed operation of 2 or more locomotives...
@@MrAronymous yeah these units are not dual traction, engine is a couple of V8 short strokers driving the alternators separately. and the engine is placed in the middle articulated car. If required only 1 engine can be shut off to save fuel and make operations quieter
It's certainly no Europe or even new york but DFW has a decent public transportation system you can't quite live without a car but if you're close enough to a bus or rail stop you'll probably get away with rarely using it especially if you're in downtown Dallas or downtown fort worth
Practically everywhere in the USA is doing this. Look at Caltrain in California. Currently a classic American style commuter rail train, in a few years time it will become another European standard railway line!!! Even better, it will be electrified!
Not obvious in the video is that most of the $1 billion line is single tracked, greatly limiting potential ridership. $1 billion would buy a lot of Uber rides and employ a lot of people
@@TexasTrainProductions the station platforms in the featured video are virtually empty. Where are the videos and photos of crowded trains? We can see in many shots very few passengers aboard the train. Was the first day of operations a free fair day? Was this line not actually scheduled to have opened some time ago? What is the rate of projected fair box recovey of this line? Both the capital cost and operating cost recovery rates? Should fair box recovery rates fail to meet projections, where and how will shortfalls be covered? Who will pay those bills?
Here is a video from day two operations: notice, tens of people are using the train. Many cars are shown to be completely empty. The concept of mass transit requires masses of people to desire, demand, and actually use the service. It appears they have failed. Train enthusiasts seem to be the primary riders. Not commuters. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4jd2uJHuj2Q.html
Do you expect it to be an instant success? Ridership like what the NYC subway has on day one? It takes time. People need to try it. The opening day had to be postponed and was in the middle of the week, so yeah, riderships gonna be low. I’ve ridden several times since and again, I had a hard time find a seat because it was so full. Also, by any chance would you know a guy name Chris Putman?
Just because they don't have a lot of riders now doesn't mean they wont in the future, when Seattle's light rail first opened it had a light commute, ten years later the trains are now packed every time i ride them, just give it time
Oh no, dont tell me that these sh*tty Stadler EMUs really came to america o.O you have much greater train manufactures in the USA, why Stadler? A Stadler KISS driver from germany
