WEST COAST EXPRESS
Locomotives due for overhaul
Five of the six locomotives used to pull West Coast Express trains between Vancouver and Mission need immediate overhaul and refurbishment, according to an assessment conducted earlier this year.
TransLink contracted SNC-Lavalin, at a cost of $78,000, to conduct a mechanical and electrical assessment of its fleet of six locomotives in February, to prepare for planned repair work. Postmedia obtained a copy of the inspection report through a freedom of information request.
“The mid-life refurbishment is required to ensure the locomotives can reach their full design lives in an efficient and cost-effective manner,” TransLink spokesperson Jill Drews said in an email. “Nothing discovered during the assessment is out of the ordinary for locomotives of this age. Nothing discovered poses a safety risk for our customers or employees.”
West Coast Express is a Mondayto-Friday commuter rail service that runs trains during peak morning and evening periods. It had 2.3 million passenger boardings last year, and 1.45 million boardings in the first seven months of 2018.
SNC-Lavalin reviewed maintenance history records — which showed that scheduled regulatory and preventative maintenance inspections and related repairs were performed — and did detailed visual inspections.
Physical inspections of five of the locomotives, which have been in service for 23 years, indicated that they need “life-extension and rehabilitative maintenance work” because of their age and normal wear and tear. A refurbishment program could extend the life of the locomotives for another 10 to 15 years.
“All locomotives have maintenance issues which need to be addressed in order to attain additional reliable service life,” the report states. “These issues are consistent throughout each locomotive, with some units showing signs of more or less severe conditions.”
The inspectors noted “moderate to severe” corrosion issues on body panels, structure and electrical components, and evidence that the corrosion has spread to the locomotive substructure.
This includes pitted metal, blistered paint, warped body panels, holes, a “badly corroded floor” and trap door, corrosion around doors, thresholds and windshields, rusty ladder rungs.
“Sealant of the car body ... has resulted in water penetration into the interior car body,” the report states.
The trucks “are in need of an overhaul,” and the main alternators and main engines are overdue for complete replacement.
“Further deferment of this rehabilitative work may result in degraded revenue service reliability and could result in unplanned corrective repairs and prolonged out-of-service time while long lead components are procured and repairs are completed,” the report states.
The sixth locomotive is only 12 years old and is in better condition, although the inspector noted some corrosion, rust and collision damage, and there are maintenance issues that need to be addressed.
A major overhaul is not neces- sary at this time, but it was suggested that the locomotive receive “a basic mid-life overhaul” within the next two or three years.
All locomotives had damage from minor collisions that has not been addressed.
SNC-Lavalin also looked at emissions upgrades for the locomotives.
According to an analysis in the report, similar upgrades conducted over the past two years by U.S. transit authorities have cost between US$1.2 million and US$2.7 million per locomotive.
It was estimated that refurbishment will take four to five months for each locomotive, and based on the fact that West Coast Express requires five locomotives to be in service each weekday, SNC-Lavalin recommended purchasing two extra locomotives to create a “float” and allow fleet refurbishment to take place over 12 to 14 months.
The cost of a used locomotive could be in the $2.7-million to $3-million range.
TransLink has already issued a request for proposals, which closed on Monday, related to the refurbishment program.