(The following article by David A. Michaels was posted on the Bergen Record website on February 27.)
BERGEN, N.J. — NJ Transit’s newest locomotive caused a record number of delays for North Jersey commuters last year because technical problems forced the engines to shut down suddenly.
Most of the failures were traced to a computer system that controls engine power, which occasionally turned off and then on again, much like a computer rebooting after a crash.
NJ Transit officials said the failures are the result of new equipment being broken in. The engines, known as PL42s, are being used only on the Main, Bergen and Pascack Valley lines, where they were put into service midway through 2005.
“No matter how much you test — especially with computers — you go through enough cycles and something is going to pop up,” said Rich Sarles, an assistant executive director at NJ Transit.
The bullet-shaped PL42 is NJ Transit’s most complex locomotive, but it is also quieter and more powerful than older diesel engines. Its 4,200-horsepower engine accelerates more quickly, allowing the PL42 to pull eight multi-level coaches, which weigh about 580 tons when loaded with passengers.
All of the locomotive’s functions — brakes, signals and throttle — are controlled by microprocessors that communicate with each other the way personal computers on a network communicate.
“Sometimes they get a message, but it’s not in the right order,” Sarles said. “It shuts down, then resets. That is what has been causing problems.”
In 2006, that amounted to 322 locomotive-related delays — a 67 percent jump from the 192 recorded in 2005, when fewer PL42s were in use.
Through January of this year, NJ Transit logged 28 delays, a slightly higher rate than in 2006.
John Mousaw, a spokesman for locomotive manufacturer Alstom, said the company is confident that commuters would come to rely on the PL42s for “years of good service.”
“Unfortunately, when you have bugs to work out, they translate into inconvenience,” Mousaw said.
New rail equipment is often so distinct from previous models that transit agencies cannot foresee all the potential snafus, several transit experts said. Some of NJ Transit’s newer railcars, known as Comet Vs, also experienced computer glitches that caused them to occasionally lose power.
“It’s not like an automobile where the auto company sells thousands or hundreds of thousands, and they get a real opportunity to wring out all the new technology before they put the automobile on the road,” said Tom Peacock, director of technical services for the American Public Transportation Association.
“You don’t build a test locomotive, because it is too expensive,” he said. “Quite frankly, the test prototype is the first one they sell to the railroad.”
Locomotive failures have historically been the top cause of delays on the rail lines that run through Bergen and Passaic counties.
Many of the PL42’s problems were repaired with software modifications covered by the manufacturer’s warranty, NJ Transit officials said. The remaining fix is scheduled for next month, Sarles said.
“That should solve it,” he said. “But I will tell you my experience with computers is that … we think we’ve gotten it, but you never know until you put it on and run it for several months.”
Power ‘blackouts’
The average delay lasted about 15 minutes, according to transit data. Riders described some of the failures as “blackouts” that occurred near Secaucus Junction.
“It gets into Secaucus and it seems to die,” said Pete Doe, a commuter from Ridgewood. “Sometimes it goes off and then it just comes back on. Sometimes they give up and put you on another train, and that is crowded and you can’t get a seat.”
NJ Transit spokeswoman Penny Bassett Hackett said the “blackouts” were caused by problems with a separate unit that controls heat, air conditioning and lighting. Those units have been replaced, she said.
Charles Woodworth, an investment banker from Mahwah who commutes to Manhattan, said the engine on his morning train died two weeks ago at the Ridgewood station, forcing passengers to board another train. Riders were delayed for about 30 minutes, he said.
“I hope it’s not a permanent condition,” Woodworth said.
NJ Transit paid Alstom, a French company, $175.3 million to build the fleet of 33 locomotives. It was NJ Transit’s first new diesel locomotive in 25 years.
The locomotives performed well at a Federal Railroad Administration site in Pueblo, Colo., officials said. They were moved to North Jersey in 2005, Sarles said.
The PL42s initially experienced problems with the Comet V passenger cars, which may be moved to North Jersey later this year.
“Apparently, when we first got them there were some compatibility issues, but we were able to resolve them,” Bassett Hackett said. “This is one of the software upgrades that was done.”
Transit consultants said the new locomotives are so novel that problems were bound to appear.
“They are a rather unusual beast,” said Alan Bing, a rail consultant with ICF Consulting of Lexington, Mass. “There is a fair amount of custom engineering in them, and almost invariably when you do that, you initially get some unreliability.”