Marcus Nelson

Page 39 defines the locomotive as able to use battery or catenary for propulsion.

"We looked pretty extensively" and "it wasn't the best fit" sounds like they met whatever BCA requirements would have existed if they don't already exist.
bsky.app/profile/mdot...

As you just noted, if the government then wants something to turn out a certain way then they'll make sure of that. Big benefits for Maryland to "investing into jobs in Maryland" and not Germany!
bsky.app/profile/alon...

Hi! We looked pretty extensively at EMUs & it wasn't the best fit for our service. We are partnering with MBTA on a procurement for dual mode locos. It was advertised today.

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Is rolling stock replacement a megaproject? If these were state-level procurements that the state itself is directing for political reasons (to secure in-state manufacturing) outside of federal funding (and the related oversight) why would they constrain themselves like that?

I'm not sure there's anything obligating a BCA to that end, states make financially unwise decisions all the time and provided a balanced budget they're mostly allowed to. If Wes Moore and Bill Ferguson want to spend that $1m per job and have the votes to put it in MARC's budget then that's the law.

I would not expect people like Governors or legislative leadership who have to approve the funding for these railcar purchases to care much about computing relative costs. They want domestic jobs, here's a lever they can pull for those, that's the computation. Like I said, it's a political problem.

They… quite regularly decide that. To the relevant deciders, that cost is usually worth it. They might be wrong for it but that doesn't stop them.

There are some exceptions (CTRail's coaches, NJT's dual-modes) but in most cases they need the federal funding anyway and would love in-state to boot.

I don't disagree, but that is still a relevant incentive for the people who get to decide these things, good idea or not.

If they're to forego federal funding at all, it's more likely than not to mandate in-state like NY than regularly import from elsewhere. That's just the political problem here.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore, touring the Hitachi Rail factory in his state, which he would later tout for its 500 domestic jobs and $350 million in regional wages.

Don't think many agencies outside New York can afford to regularly backfill that gap themselves, and it'd be unwise to assume no future federal funding for railcars. On top of that, state officials are unlikely to regularly accept not trying to create jobs in their states or at least domestically.

VII. CONCLUSION There is an old adage among lawyers. If you have the facts on your side, pound the facts. If you have the law on your side, pound the law. If you have neither, pound the table. Secretary Noem, the record to-date shows, does not have the facts on her side or at least has ignored them. Does not have the law on her side or at least has ignored it. Having neither and bringing the adage into the 21st century, she pounds X (f/k/a Twitter). Kristi Noem has a First Amendment right to call immigrants killers, leeches, entitlement junkies, and any other inapt name she wants. Secretary Noem, however, is constrained by both our Constitution and the APA to apply faithfully the facts to the law in implementing the TPS program. The record to-date shows she has yet to do that. By accompanying Order, the Court GRANTS Plaintiffs' Renewed Motion for a Stay Under 5 U.S.C. § 705. Ara C. Regr

Haiti’s TPS continues for now!!!!! And zowie: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.283214/gov.uscourts.dcd.283214.124.0_1.pdf

I know all eyes are on Minneapolis, but there's a fast-approaching nightmare in Springfield, Ohio.

Trump is revoking protected status for tens of thousands of Haitians living there on Feb. 3.

Reportedly, on Feb. 4, 1000 ICE agents are arriving to remove this population. Ethnic cleansing.

Speed matters Of time, life and space. Or why transit speed matters.

Speed Matters.

Some thoughts about transit and speed, life, space and time.

open.substack.com/pub/marcochi...

Florida DOT, like the current US DOT, is doing what it can to reverse the very feeble efforts US cities have made to dedicate road space to users other than drivers.

FDOT study used to scrap SunRunner lane ‘incomplete,’ ‘unfair’, experts say The dedicated bus lane on Pasadena Avenue was removed after the state said there was a rise in crashes.

WOW: It appears that the Florida Department of Transportation and state Republicans used a flawed study to illegally dismantle dedicated bus lanes along a federally funded BRT project that was completed on time and under budget

www.tampabay.com/news/transpo...

A General Motors Canada GF6C

One of the arguments the Class Is and AAR put up any time anyone talks about freight rail electrification is that there's no electric locomotives designed for US/NA freight service. While on the surface this claim is true, it's also not a big deal

To prove it, let's talk about this fucking thing

Just this year they put out another "independent analysis" claiming that electrification isn't practically feasible despite the number of places and cases in which it obviously is.
www.aar.org/news/study-c...

Not since 2017.

Freight Rail Electrification | AAR A proposed nationwide overhead catenary system ignores key challenges, high costs, and freight rail's ongoing decarbonization efforts.

FEC Railway, full member of the Association of American Railroads, which has expressed for some time now opposition to electrification. www.aar.org/issue/freigh...

FEC are the ones who decided to build an LNG plant in Brevard County and then buy LNG tanks to power trains with instead of electrifying, they seem committed.

Almost certainly some form of the first. The issue with commuter service plans right now is actually building the expanded infrastructure and satisfying all the players involved, one of which is strongly opposed to electrification. I'd imagine this is about refinancing debt and building expertise.

The final score of a US football game played between the Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, September 21, 2025. The Jaguars defeated the Texans by a score of 17 to 10 points.

Wonder why you said this…

I'd rather bulldoze the EEOB and NEOB and build a new office complex on that west side (including whatever state dining facilities are needed) that connect to the West Wing and keep the President in the Executive Residence, raze the silly ballroom though.

Probably not besides portions of the Empire Connection, if you want to count that as Hudson Line.

Joe Biden - Wikipedia

Well…
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Bid...

I've found them fine, is something wrong with yours?

VRE already ordered the bilevels from Alstom with Metra, they don't appear to want any MUs. Lots of their added capacity will probably go to more dual-mode Northeast Regional trains instead of being service they have to run.

I doubt Youngkin cares much about Stadler's former CEO's political career.

For whatever reason, VRE's rolling stock decision-makers are joined at the hip with Metra's so they've committed to buying bilevels that require low platforms. The politicians in charge have also decided their long-term plans should remain primarily commuter-focused, though somewhat more frequent.

Taylor from Billions?