DMU Performs Flawlessly on
Tri-Rail Service Test
Pulls Two Bi-Level Commuter Coaches Under
Actual Service Route Conditions

Colorado Railcar’s DMU was recently invited by Tri-Rail – now known as the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) – for a test simulating their system’s requirements. The test was conducted on Sunday, September 21 on a 72-mile route from Miami International Airport to Mangonia, just north of West Palm Beach, with 18 station stops. Tri-Rail currently runs this route with a locomotive-hauled train set.

The test was conducted by Brad Barkman, Tri-Rail’s Chief Mechanical Officer. “We wanted to know if the DMU would perform on our system,” commented Barkman, “so we closely duplicated service conditions. We had the DMU pull two of our bi-level cars, one being a full unit control cab car, running one of our regular routes including station dwell times of 30 seconds and one minute at every other stop – we even opened and shut the doors. We were interested in the generator set performance, so we ran with the air conditioning at maximum cooling with all the lights on. We ran acceleration tests in pull mode north and push mode south, tested the airbrakes and measured the fuel consumption and sound levels. The DMU met the schedule and all of our requirements. In fact, it was one of the best test runs I’ve been on in my career.”

“Pulling two bi-levels on the 144-mile round trip, the DMU used 128 gallons of fuel. Our locomotives use about 325 gallons,” observed Barkman. “We ran the sound test about 100 feet from the track, and the DMU was 20 decibels quieter than the Tri-Rail locomotive-hauled train set, which came by five minutes later. (Editors note: The DMU was 2 1/2 times more fuel efficient, and more than 4 times quieter than the locomotive while meeting the schedule for the round trip.) The DMU’s emissions are definitely lower – it runs tier 2 compliant, 4-stroke engines. Our locomotives are 2-stroke and exempt from compliance. On the last leg of the trip, we shut down one of the DMU engines and had it pull the two bi-levels in “limp home” mode. This DMU performed much better than the old RDCs that I cut my teeth on at the B&O. I was not disappointed with any aspect of the DMU. I am anxious to see how it fits into our commuter rail system in the future.”

The following day, the DMU ran a 36-mile route from Miami International Airport to Pompano Beach for APTA’s Chief Transportation Officers (CTO) meeting. On this VIP trip, the DMU hit 79 mph and drew positive reviews from the agency chiefs