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METRO Delays Next Two Lines To 2015

Slick Vik

By Slick Vik
in Transit

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Moore713

Moore713

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Posted

THIS IS THE KIND OF CRAP THAT GIVE FUEL TO THE ANTI RAIL FOLKS..YET ANOTHER THING THEY CAN POINT AT AND SAY SEE(WASTES)...WHO WANTS TO BET 50 BUCKS COULSON WILL BRING THIS UP AT HIS 22 SEP TOWN HALL..IF ASKED ABOUT RAIL(..HELL HE WOULD,NT Even HAVE TO BE ASKED SINCE THE MEETING WILL DEAL WITH SPENDING AND WASTE. I USE TO BE A PARKER SUPPORTER BUT SHE HAS BECOME A LAME DUCK MAYOR ALL SHE DOES IS MEETING AND RIBBON CUTTING..IN The BIGINING HEADS WOULD BE ROLLING AT METRO

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Howard Huge

Howard Huge

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Well if they do bring this up as more fuel for their anti-rail hatred, then it's a total red herring argument, which is actually comforting.

It lets me know that SOME of those people aren't actually against the rail, they're against the incompetent, dunderhead organization in charge of building the rail.

Which means we have something in common. :)

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Howard Huge

Howard Huge

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Let us count the screw ups

..The over/under pass mess on the East line

...The rail car delivery mess

...multiple design flaws that were not found till well in the project

Houston transit takes a $168M hit for useless projects

Metro admits it blew a large fortune

Ill-advised plans to the tune of $168 million to be written off

February 21, 2011

The Metropolitan Transit Authority is preparing to declare that it has spent $168 million on what have turned out to be useless assets.

Most of it was spent over several years on rail expansion projects that never will be built or will have to be started over.

For example, Metro has given up on what it calls an intermodal terminal just north of downtown at Main and Burnett streets on the planned North rail line despite having spent $41 million on it.

"We're not going to put the public's money into monuments. We're going to put it into transit services," Metro President and CEO George Greanias said.

The design for the terminal included bus bays, a kiss-and-ride area, light rail, commuter rail and possibly a Metro RideStore, restrooms, food service, newsstands and gift shops.

Greanias said there will be a light rail stop at Main and Burnett, but it has not been determined whether the station will serve other modes of transit. He added that the now-shelved design called for a facility that would have cost far too much to maintain and operate.

An additional $28 million went to a Spanish rail car firm for a now-canceled deal that never produced a single car. Metro actually spent $42 million on a contract with the firm, but recently persuaded the company to return $14 million.

Metro ran afoul of federal rules requiring the transit agency to buy American-made rail cars, so it had to eat the money it sent to the Spanish firm and rebid the rail cars or forfeit eligibility for $900 million in Federal Transit Administration grant money.

'Unrealized assets'

Metro lists another $61 million in what it calls "unrealized assets" for rail expansion in addition to the terminal and rail car spending, including:

· $17 million: A result of switching contractors to do design work.

· $7 million: Redundant development work by a third contractor.

· $9 million: Related to Metro's switch from a light rail plan to a bus rapid transit plan, and back to light rail.

· $16 million: From repeated design changes that occurred after laborious review and negotiation.

In addition to the $130 million on projects for which Metro has nothing to show, it also is wiping from its books $38 million in operating expenses that had been listed incorrectly as capital expenses.

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mollusk

mollusk

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There is no question that METRO has had some serious management issues.

 

However, this is most assuredly not one of them.  As Vic pointed out (and as is clear in the article from the fishwrap), whatever private contractor is digging out the Marriott Marquis is the culprit on the severed chilled water line, which I'm betting is the major source of the delay.  Had that particular incident occurred six months from now, they'd have to be running a shuttle from the GRB station to the central station.  I imagine that if the (also privately sourced) axle counters were the only impediment, they'd find an interim workaround - if nothing else, sitting some poor schmuck on a stool at whatever point the axle counter would be with a hand clicker and a radio.

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mollusk

mollusk

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Sooner or later we're going to have to hit a reset button concerning METRO management.  I'll acknowledge that I had some doubts when Lambert was promoted from chief of the METRO police, but so far he hasn't seemed to create any new issues of his own.  Regardless, I don't find a 3-1/2 year old article about a previous METRO chairman discussing how he was dealing with the errors of his own predecessor as particularly persuasive concerning current issues and those going forward.

 

No matter how good or bad METRO's current management may be, they don't have the super powers to change the past, or to control the actions of other entities that they don't have any jurisdiction over.  The current board did not approve a contract that a first year law student could see failed   METRO didn't cut the chilled water line.  Likewise, the last time I looked, CenterPoint was in charge of where power poles are located.

 

If I was King of Houston I'd probably try to find some way to put all of the entities moving people around the metropolitan area under one umbrella, along with anyone else messing with infrastructure.  That way could coordinate with one another better than separate fiefdoms do.  I'd also have that entity's governing body be elected.  But I'm not the king, or even a junior minister without portfolio.  

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august948

august948

Posted
Posted

Houston transit takes a $168M hit for useless projects

Metro admits it blew a large fortune

Ill-advised plans to the tune of $168 million to be written off

February 21, 2011

The Metropolitan Transit Authority is preparing to declare that it has spent $168 million on what have turned out to be useless assets.

Most of it was spent over several years on rail expansion projects that never will be built or will have to be started over.

For example, Metro has given up on what it calls an intermodal terminal just north of downtown at Main and Burnett streets on the planned North rail line despite having spent $41 million on it.

"We're not going to put the public's money into monuments. We're going to put it into transit services," Metro President and CEO George Greanias said.

The design for the terminal included bus bays, a kiss-and-ride area, light rail, commuter rail and possibly a Metro RideStore, restrooms, food service, newsstands and gift shops.

Greanias said there will be a light rail stop at Main and Burnett, but it has not been determined whether the station will serve other modes of transit. He added that the now-shelved design called for a facility that would have cost far too much to maintain and operate.

An additional $28 million went to a Spanish rail car firm for a now-canceled deal that never produced a single car. Metro actually spent $42 million on a contract with the firm, but recently persuaded the company to return $14 million.

Metro ran afoul of federal rules requiring the transit agency to buy American-made rail cars, so it had to eat the money it sent to the Spanish firm and rebid the rail cars or forfeit eligibility for $900 million in Federal Transit Administration grant money.

'Unrealized assets'

Metro lists another $61 million in what it calls "unrealized assets" for rail expansion in addition to the terminal and rail car spending, including:

· $17 million: A result of switching contractors to do design work.

· $7 million: Redundant development work by a third contractor.

· $9 million: Related to Metro's switch from a light rail plan to a bus rapid transit plan, and back to light rail.

· $16 million: From repeated design changes that occurred after laborious review and negotiation.

In addition to the $130 million on projects for which Metro has nothing to show, it also is wiping from its books $38 million in operating expenses that had been listed incorrectly as capital expenses.

 

The list should also include any and all monies paid to Frank Wilson.  Or are they already included in the $130 million not accounted for?

 

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august948

august948

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If I was King of Houston I'd probably try to find some way to put all of the entities moving people around the metropolitan area under one umbrella, along with anyone else messing with infrastructure.  That way could coordinate with one another better than separate fiefdoms do.  I'd also have that entity's governing body be elected.  But I'm not the king, or even a junior minister without portfolio.  

 

Maybe we need this guy running Metro...

 

mussolini%2Bcopy%2Bcopy.jpg

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mollusk

mollusk

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What article did you pick this up in?

 

The expansion on the reasons for the delay was in the dead trees version.

 

The first link is behind a paywall, leading me to believe that it's the same article that landed on my front yard.

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BigFootsSocks

BigFootsSocks

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Posted
Meanwhile, after acknowledging delays in opening the new Green and Purple light rail lines, Metro officials said they expect both new lines will open April 4. The  delay was caused by downtown hotel construction that severed a chilled water line that required repairs to the rail system, and problems with axle counters along the lines caused by a manufacturer’s defect.

http://blog.chron.com/thehighwayman/2014/09/metro-inches-forward-on-bus-system-uptown-new-rail-lines/

 

So it looks like the severed line was because of hotel construction? I wonder which hotel...looking at you Marriot...

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kylejack

kylejack

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Posted

http://blog.chron.com/thehighwayman/2014/09/metro-inches-forward-on-bus-system-uptown-new-rail-lines/

 

So it looks like the severed line was because of hotel construction? I wonder which hotel...looking at you Marriot...

 

No reason to believe it's the JW Marriott. As I said upthread, a brand new hotel is being built between Minutemaid and Discovery Green. It's a more likely culprit.

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Sparrow

Sparrow

Posted
Posted

April 4th, 2015 is the new date for beginning service. Anyone think this date will hold?

 

I'm not sure I understand why a broken pipe will lead to a four month delay. I know they have said that reconstruction of the rails and roadway were necessary because of this issue, but is it really the case that if this had happened after the lines were opened that they would have been out of commission for months? Did the broken pipe wash out the roadway? Has anyone published pictures of this massive damage? Surely the repairs won't take months to complete. I understand a minimum amount of testing is necessary for the trains before the go ahead can be given to initiate service, but I'm astounded that something as simple as a broken pipe can bring two rail lines to a screeching halt.

 

If the plan was to be running by December, and so much testing is required, shouldn't everything except this one piece of track damaged by the broken chilled water pipe be able to pass testing? Can they not complete testing all of the line save this one small segment now, and just test the repaired segment over and over again by itself?

 

Sounds like a scape goat argument to me.  

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JamesL

JamesL

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Posted

Apparently the testing of the communications system is a lengthy process and has to start over because a fiber line was also cut. In addition, there are tests that have to occur during a Red Line outage which can only happen on particular weekends (no Texans game, etc.). They also don't want to open during the rodeo because it's such a resource-intensive time for them and the convention center garage will necessitate some nighttime service interruptions.

 

At the same time I'm sure they're glad to have some breathing room considering the ongoing axle counter and vehicle delivery issues.

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