FLIRT stands for Fast Light Intercity and Regional Train or Flinker Leichter Intercity- und Regional-Triebzug. The FLIRT train was originally developed for the Swiss Federal Railways and was first delivered in 2004. The trains quickly became a success and were ordered by operators around the world in countries like Estonia, the UK, Slovenia, Norway, Finland, Algeria, Serbia, Belarus and even Azerbaijan. The depot at Redlands-Downtown was built in 1910, however the original depot was opened by the railroad in 1888. It was rebuilt at the urging of the city with the current station opened to passenger service by April 1910. The Red Car trolleys of the Pacific Electric Railway ran adjacent to the station on Orange Avenue until 1936, and passenger service would end in 1938 like you mentioned until it was revived in 2022 and refurbished in 2021 in anticipation.
I've ridden Metrolink several times, but was wondering just what the Arrow line to Redlands was. Now I know! Your vid was def worth a few bucks to me. Thanks for posting it 😊
Wow! Thank you so much for the super chat! That’s incredibly generous of you! I’m so glad you enjoyed the video and that it answered your questions about Arrow. All the best! 😊
I love that California flag so much and I definitely don't blame them for loving it too by sticking it on the FLIRTs. The official version of the Bear Flag was adopted and signed into law by Governor Hiram Johnson in 1911 as the official state flag. The flag's precursor was first flown in 1846 during the California Republic revolt against Mexico. The bear on the 1911 flag was modeled on the last California grizzly bear in captivity named Monarch, who was captured in 1889 by newspaper reporter Allan Kelly, at the behest of William Randolph Hearst. After the bear's death in 1911, the bear was mounted and preserved at the Academy of Sciences at Golden Gate Park. The star comes from the California Lone Star flag of 1836, during which a coup led by Juan Alvarado declared Alta California's independence from Mexico and launched a failed rebellion. While the rebels captured Monterey, they couldn't convince the leaders there to join in, and had to settle for a compromise and accept its status as department under the Siete Leyes constitution. The bear symbolizes strength, resistance, and independence, white symbolizes purity, and the red stripe signifies courage, bravery, and sacrifice.
While i am not a fan of the limitations of being a multiple unit, it cannot be denied these trains ride so smoothly and are very quiet as you mentioned.
As a European, I am pleased to see the Flirt trains also emerging in the US. What comes to mind first is just how empty that train was. Very sad to see that. I am travelling regularly on those flirt trains in Austria/germany and I hardly ever get a seat, because those trains are connecting major cities, unlike in that case, where they just terminate after only 5 stops. I really hope that the US can establish a good train network sometime. Especially in the greater LA region I think there is a lot of potential. And also why no electrification :( haven't seen rails without electricity in a while :') thanks for sharing!
Can't speak for the route Arrow runs on but a lot of passenger rail in the US runs on track own by private freight companies who don't want to spend the money to electrify.
@@SSDConker2 Most of Metrolink is run on tracks owned by freight companies. However, the San Bernardino line and this de facto extension of it are run on tracks Metrolink actually owns, and therefore are probably first on the list to be electrified in the next decade or so.
@@GeotpfThe entire Antelope Valley line, entire San Bernardino line, and Ventura County until Montalvo are all owned by each county's transit agency, and Metrolink/SCRRA takes care of dispatching and maintenance. The Riverside line is mostly on Union Pacific owned and dispatched track. Ownership of the Orange County line leaving Union Station: River Subdivision (Metro), BNSF between Redondo Junction and Fullerton, Orange Subdivision (OCTA) from Fullerton south to the SD County line then San Diego Subdivision (North County Transit District). The IE-OC uses the Olive Subdivision bypassing Fullerton, controlled by Metrolink.
A video on WES commuter rail would be cool. One of the last operators of the Budd RDC's in the U.S. Though typically newer DMUs from Colorado Railcar are used, which are still unique in their own right. Just an idea. I'm quite a fan of diesel multiple units as of late. Especially the Stadler trainsets. Great video as always
First off, thanks a TON for the Super Thanks! Your contribution to the channel is greatly appreciated. I had planned to film a video on WES while I was in Portland, however my train from Seattle was delayed getting in, so I missed my only opportunity to get it done. I would love to head back out to Portland to check it out, but I’ve just got so much else planned, it’s unfortunately on the back burner for now. Thanks again for your contribution!
I'm moving next month and Redlands is a top contender because of the arrow. I go to LA twice a month for work and this makes it easy to get there by bike and train.
I love these Stadler units. I really hope this is a sign that Metrolink will end up going with Stadler down the line when they end up replacing the older units in their fleet. The bilevel stadlers like Caltrain is getting would look so awesome
"Stadler's ZEMUs will be the first zero emission trains in the United States." Milwaukee Road's Pacific Extension running electric trains running off of hydropower from 1917 to 1973: "Am I a joke to you?" Nah, but in all seriousness, another great video as usual. Maybe we'll have a ride on California HSR on the channel in a few years... I hope...
@@qjtvaddict Two sections of their pacific main line, one in Washington State between Tacoma and Othello, and another in Northern Idaho and Montana between Avery, Idaho and Harlowton, Montana, over 600 miles in total. They electrified them in the 1910s (but stupidly never connected them, nor extended them afterwards even though electric operations saved them a lot of money.) Even more stupidly, the route de-electrified in 1973 just so the railroad could make short term money selling the copper wires for the higher market prices they were at at the time... only for the oil crisis to happen. No, that's not even a joke. With stupidity like that, it's no wonder the Milwaukee Road died completely a decade after this mistake.
Stadler trains are great! Sounds so quiet and the acceleration was also very good. It looked quite comfortable and still brand new. What were the frequencies like on the line?
This train makes think of New Jersey Transit's River Line. Which runs between Trenton Transportation Center and Camden's Entertainment Center (I honestly can't keep up with the name changes). I'd like to see your take on the River Line. By the way, it makes rail connections to PATCO High Speedline in Camden at the Walter Rand Transportation Center, Atlantic City Line at Pennsauken Transportation Center, and at Trenton Transportation Center to Amtrak, NJT's Northeast Corridor Line, & Septa's Trenton Line (R7 for us older Septa riders)
I think Capital Metro down in Austin TX had these same type of trainsets as well on the Metrorail line. I saw quite a few of them running around there, during my time last fall.
2:07 The paint scheme is more like Omnitrans, who was going to be the operator of Arrow. Until realizing they actually couldn't afford to run it, and handed the whole thing off to Metrolink.
@@LonestarTrips I personally want to see it extended west as far as either Rancho Cucamonga or Montclair, or east to Chino, Moreno Valley, Palm Springs, or Coachella, as a way to enchance service in and out of San Bernardino County and the Mojave. Until then, we just gotta make do with what we have.
Ive never completely understood the Metrolink service. I have always assumed it was geared towards the weekday 9-5 work commuters only and not for leisure travel. Now that I recently retired and Covid is mostly behind us, I need to do some research into Metrolink services. Thanks.
It's mostly a commuter service, but there is some off peak and weekend service as well. ARROW is also not a standard Metrolink service; in fact, early on it wasn't going to be part of Metrolink at all. It's classified as "light rail", but it's not really that either. Note that the San Bernardino line runs at a similar schedule as ARROW (most non peak trains in the system), and, IMHO, they should have just extended it along this right of way instead of creating a whole new service.
@@areguapiri I very much doubt that is true especially before Covid in Los Angeles. Not even all the lines run on the weekend. I think LA has 6 Ines and two of them don't run on the weekends and I'm not sure the rest run as many trains either. In the LA area Metrolink is definitely geared towards the weekday commuter
They don't care. And buying a reduced fare is better than not paying at all. I (legitimately) qualify for Disabled fare, and Metrolink conductors or Sheriffs haven't asked to see my orange TAP card in years.
Still weird as an european to see a flirt with the blinking headlights, the horn and the bell approching. But nice to see those trains in north america. The other operator I know about is Texrail. Am I right? And are there more in service at the moment?
9 miles in 25 minutes - that's something like 22 miles/hour to go from nowhere to nowhere while paralleling freeways. I don't think ridership will be that high.
The point of the line is to be a final mile connection for commuters looking to use the main Metrolink line. Plus the service is only in its infancy, with expansion plans already in the works.
With the engines being in the central power unit rather than under the floors i expect that that DMU will be quieter than others.American trains are big on having flags on them but usually the Stars and Stripes rather than state flags i don't know why as it's fairly obvious what county they are in!
@@LonestarTripsMetrolink also needs to better advertise and educate the public regarding their services especially in the SoCal region where most people drive.
@@mrxman581 Experience in the Netherlands showed that if you make trains fast, reliable and comfortable, people will flock to use them. The U.S. is different as it is `car addicted'. People are reluctant to stop driving the filthy things. But Amtrak ridership continues to increase , so, maybe ?
Ridership is about 15% of what was projected. It dropped 30% after the $1 fare promotion ended. With 300 trains a week, the average number of riders per train is 6.
@@johndunbar7504, people in North America have to drive 'the filthy things' for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is because many Americans _live in rural areas which require the use of a car, truck or van_ . A blogger explained it pretty well quite a while ago about how people living in the country have diffirent priorities from people who live in cities: *The items that may seem to you to be part of “the progressive ideal,” and truly critical in your area may not matter in the least to - or be actively opposed by - progressives in another area* . _or at best, be of “academic interest” only. I live in New York State. If I were to live in New York City, or any major urban center, mass transit would be a core issue. You’re going to be advocating strongly for public transportation, you probably want “walkable communities,” bike lanes, and so on. It’s a given, a part of being “progressive” and “environmentally concerned.” Leave the city, and move up to my area in the Adirondacks? No one cares about those things. We’re rural, sparsely populated, and there are long distances between small villages. We’re never going to have mass transit, our communities may be walkable, but our jobs and shopping are often far away. So if you’re making that a big centerpiece of what you think it means to be progressive, you’ll be upset that those of us who don’t live in urban/suburban environments are going to go “whatever.” We’re not necessarily against it, it’s just not anything that really concerns us_ . cendax.wordpress.com/2015/02/10/progressives-dont-expect-your-issues-to-be-my-issues/ Bitching about cars and blasting them as 'filthy things' _isn't_ going to help people be comvinced to take mass public transit, and it comes off as elitist and entitled whining.
I really wish they would up frequencies and start using these trains on the rest of the network. It would be so easy, especially on the lines Metrolink fully owns, and yet it’ll probably not happen for years
The state or federal DOT has a duty to assess performance data and ‘system plus Arrow equipment in real-time’ before adding more Arrow equipment, much as we all agree with you.
Great video. It's a shame this line is so short but it's a good start. You must have felt lost without a bathroom and onboard catering to review! I watched Techmoan's video this morning and thought I had stumbled on to one of yours as he was using the same music for his demo as you use in the background of your videos.
Thanks as always! It was definitely hard to cover everything in such a short amount of time (plus I’ll let you in on a secret, some of the footage is from the return journey from Redlands 😉)
@@LonestarTrips Scandalous! Though you could have subbed in footage from any of the other 4000 Flirts around the world and some of it would have looked the same. Glad you're back in Connect-e-cut next week.
@@LonestarTrips Well you can pass straight through that state and not even notice it was there so that makes sense. If it wasn't for Nantucket and Moby Dick's references thereof it might have been renamed New York East by now.
@SirKenchalot, there's no real reason for this new line to be longer than it needs to be (aside from _maybe_ extending it to the airport and the train station); it runs just fine going down the route that it goes down.
11:05 behind the H2 you can see the battery-electric FLIRT with the logo of my local government that I can hopefully ride soon. Should've been in use since the beginning of the year but they still don't have enough people that know how drive them
The only sad part is, this is nothing but a rebuild of what this area already had. The Pacific Electric interurban, abandoned in 1963, ran from downtown LA to San Bernardino/Riverside and down to Corona. The current freeways and roads follow the PE's route nearly exactly.
A rebuild is way better than a lack of options for the ever-more arduous drive into LA, IMHO. What could be better than Taco Tia takeout while relaxing on the journey!
Have to ask: Where are the passengers? It looks as empty as a lot of the NC service piedmont units... (They get full for events like Nascar in Charlotte or the football team therer... and there is a bit of use for the state fair in Raleigh... )
It’s a relatively new service, so commuters are still figuring out how to incorporate it into their schedules. Plus it’s a new “class” of service for the area, and really the US in general. It’s quite common in europe to find “rail-links” like these that take passengers to and from larger commuter/intercity stations, so people are still figuring out how it works and why they should take Arrow over driving those first few miles.
Someone explain this to me. Not complaining or anything*. If i lived right around the corner why would i walk to the train/metro, get a ticket possibly pay for a ticket wait however long it takes get on and ride a 25 min route. When i can walk outside to my car and drive to the university in a lil under 20 mins or so?
It’s not intended to be used for commuting between Redlands and SB, it’s meant to be a final mile link for commuters to and from LA on the larger Metrolink lines.
@riversidecoras4908 well where I live and work its a 35 min drive without traffic and more with traffic so that works for me to ride the train if i had one but I would definitely drive if its 10 mins down the road
I don’t have that info at the moment. My guess is Stadler will release some form of a press brief once the H2s go into service, but for now we’re in the dark.
That's a high level platform? 5:30😂 Seems like passengers can board the Arrow from a low platform. We also have Arrows here on NJT. They can board at both high and low level platforms.
Close, but you’re confusing the service name “Arrow” with the class of EMU, “Arrow.” California’s Arrow is a Stadler FLIRT unit, while NJT’s Arrow EMU is entirely different. The NJT Arrow EMU has the trap doors for both low and high level boarding, while the Flirt has only one boarding level. That single level is higher than the low level platform, thus needing a secondary “high” level platform to accommodate the new trains. Hope this helps.
@LonestarTrips I'm familiar with railroad terminology, I'm a railfan as well. With these having a similar name to NJT Arrows, I couldn't help but think of them. These Stadler EMU's look very nice, I can't wait for the multilevel ones Caltrain will be getting.
Unfortunately a lot of Americans do. But traffic is such a huge problem in and around Los Angeles that having an extra line for that final mile might help people to see the potential of changing to rail for their commute.
Just incredible to see these brilliant trains installed in a country that doesn't use public transit en masse and refuse to get out of their cars. I despair
It’s a small step in a larger transformation. People choose to drive because there is often no viable alternative. Creating link services like Arrow are the key to connecting passengers with commuter networks, getting more people off the roads and on the rails.
@@SCT_CreationsI believe Brightline plans to build a new station in RC if it ever happens. It's been delayed several times now and the price estimates keep going up.
3:14 125 MpH (or simply M/h) is a little more than 200 km/h (or KmpH), 50/60 M/H is about 80 - 100 km/h. Technically 100 km/h is about 62 miles per hour, but on such a large deviant, it's okay to make it 80-100 instead of 80-96. Grettings from the Netherlands, where we are used to trains like these. Well, okay, technically ours have been electric since long, long ago . In fact, I think most lines have been electric since their start. I mean, it's great having drains, but diesel? We need to stop with fuel!
Ha that’s probably because they’re the same lol. Stadler’s a Swiss company, and thus sells most of their rolling stock in Europe, so I wouldn’t be surprised if some of their trains made it to Slovenia.
@@LonestarTripsThey are indeed Standler’s but they are also coloured almost exactly the same. The only difference is the green part which is blue on our trains
@@alengrm7488 I looked it up and I see exactly what you mean. I also like that Slovene railways has the larger KISS EMUs as well to pair with the Flirts.
Good More public transportation Alright so if I've got this right if my maps is right They have extended the brown line which goes to San Bernardino east witch goes to north Redlands University
@@LonestarTrips oh, interesting. I recently retired so in doing some research on public transit options in SoCal. I live in LA not too far from both a LA Metro station and a Metrolink station and Union Station is about a 20 minute car ride away.
Electric locomotives and EMUs (Electric Multiple Units) are zero-emissions rail vehicles. Hydrogen fuel could replace diesel fuel in the next 10-30 years.
_If_ they decide to do so; progressives have to _work_ really hard to make that happen (and not just sit on the Internet whining about it all of the time.)
What a shame! Everything appears to be very nice. I wonder what the ridership numbers are. It all appears to be practically empty. The schedule probably is fairly limited. The line doesn’t seem to be terribly useful. It’s safe to assume the planners for the most part simply recycled existing tracks laid out 120 years ago and avoided the heavy lifting and expense of building a line matching today’s traffic patterns and needs. Doing public transportation in such a half hearted manner ultimately is a waste of taxpayer money without any real benefits to the public.
It’s exactly what happened. The line was built way back when, and they’ve just repurposed it for Arrow. I’m hoping that they’ll increase the frequency once they receive their H2 units, but we’ll have to wait and see.
Well the Arrow service is just in a baby stage, if that makes sense. Caltrans is already in the works of talking about plans to extend it. The question is where it's gonna go. My speculation is that it might follow the San Bernardino Line to Rancho Cucamonga to link up with Brightline West. Others are saying it might be a University to University service, following I-210 all the way to CSUSB. Someone even had thoughts of it going as far as Palm Springs. Only time will tell how far Arrow will truthfully progress.
I've never fully understood metrolink's service, but having a service from Union Station to Palm Springs would be great. I would be open to taking it instead of driving.
@@mrxman581 There's several problems with going to Palm Springs. First is the sheer distance. Second is that much of the line there isn't used by Metrolink currently. Third is the current location of the tracks and current Amtrak station is very poor; way north of the city proper, surrounded by desert. You might need to build tracks and a new station to the city itself. Cost versus potential ridership might not pencil out; subsidies may need to be very high.
In the most recent fact sheet on Metrolink that addresses Arrow ridership, it was stated the line only gets on average 186 riders per weekday, with 46 services currently offered. That equates to only about 4 people per train…
I can say as much as I want, but the main issue in Southern California as well as metro area outside major cities 9f New England is what happens when you arrive? Don't bring you can go a lot places in Union Station, yes just few places within radius of few miles of union Station. Union Station is still the best, for the other rail stations, they are like oasis in the deserts for local buses. Oh, this video is about San bernandino to Redland. Public transportation is even worst. Why do train lovers insist on you need two car rail systems
Agreed. The big problem in the USA is that the vast majority of track infrastructure is owned by 5 private railroad companies that focus entirely on freight and they are infamous for not modernizing the infrastructure. Even installing modern safety signaling and many other issues like having brakes on all freight cars.
@@mrxman581 ok let me rephrase that. Electrification is not the perfect solution so many people hype it all to be. Most commuter railroads do not have the capacity to justify it. Also,where would the electricity come from anyway? It is not cheap to set up the wires and for a 9 mile line,it makes no sense in doing that (DMUs make more sense for Arrow).
@@ScottPalmer-mp1we No, water vapor isn't a gas at all. It's vapor that eventually goes through condensation. Hydrogen has other environmental disadvantages though. It is actually more environmentally damaging than diesel due to the way the obtain hydrogen.
It depends if your hydrogen is made/harvested/refined/whatever without substantial emissions, too. Unfortunately very nearly all hydrogen production is as bad or worse than diesel, once you account for the energy used to extract it. In most cases, if the point is to cut emissions, going electric via wires is just flat out better. That gets complicated when you have to deal with the higher installation cost and potential shared use tracks (though freight, even double stack freight, can run under wires).
@@daniellewis1789 This! The fact that modern diesel is actually less greenhouse gas intensive is somehow always brushed to the side is crazy to me. I just don't understand what the point of hydrogen is at this point. It has terrible conversion losses in several places. You lose energy when converting electricity to hydrogen. You lose on transporting it if you don't make it on site. You lose when converting it back to electricity to power the train. It always goes into a battery before use on the train itself so you lose there again. Hydrogen is just not a viable technology at this point. We just need to focus on dual-mode diesel-catenary systems like the Siemens Charger E model that Amtrak is buying for the NEC. That is by far the most promising transition system.
1- 9 mile line is not commuting 2- articulate or double decker bus has higher standing capacity than this heavy train 3- the at grade tracks cause more traffic congestions on the roads
People riding the train don't care if there are grade crossings, what does that have to do with anything? The line is 9 miles long, so single tracking is fine. Paper tickets? They also use money value stored on transit cards. This line isn't new, it's just rebuilt.
Usual incredibly ugly view of asphalt parking lots, stroads and single story block buildings. And the train appears to be deserted. So Cal has a long way to go.
Infrastructure like that is costly. It’s not as simple as putting up wires and calling it a day. It also needs the supporting infrastructure for powering the overheads, which doesn’t make sense for such a short line.
Why bother with a line this short. Electrification will not increase ridership (especially if the schedule is not great). You don't need electrification to have good schedules. TEXRail for example has 30 minute headways peak. Besides,there are railroads in he bottom 10 in ridership that are electric.
Are these Diesel traction if yes why so obsolete these are not economical neither Ethanol nor hydrogen not even Solar but Diesel. What about the carbon footprints.
Diesel is hardly obsolete, plus these units comply with EPA tier 4 emissions standards, which means their footprint much smaller than it would have been in the past.
FLIRT stands for Fast Light Intercity and Regional Train or Flinker Leichter Intercity- und Regional-Triebzug. The FLIRT train was originally developed for the Swiss Federal Railways and was first delivered in 2004. The trains quickly became a success and were ordered by operators around the world in countries like Estonia, the UK, Slovenia, Norway, Finland, Algeria, Serbia, Belarus and even Azerbaijan.
The depot at Redlands-Downtown was built in 1910, however the original depot was opened by the railroad in 1888. It was rebuilt at the urging of the city with the current station opened to passenger service by April 1910. The Red Car trolleys of the Pacific Electric Railway ran adjacent to the station on Orange Avenue until 1936, and passenger service would end in 1938 like you mentioned until it was revived in 2022 and refurbished in 2021 in anticipation.
A joyous day! Our glorious leader has returned! And he brings more great information.
I've ridden Metrolink several times, but was wondering just what the Arrow line to Redlands was. Now I know! Your vid was def worth a few bucks to me. Thanks for posting it 😊
Wow! Thank you so much for the super chat! That’s incredibly generous of you! I’m so glad you enjoyed the video and that it answered your questions about Arrow. All the best! 😊
Gotta love the Stadler FLIRTs, smoothest riding trains I’ve ever been on
I love that California flag so much and I definitely don't blame them for loving it too by sticking it on the FLIRTs. The official version of the Bear Flag was adopted and signed into law by Governor Hiram Johnson in 1911 as the official state flag. The flag's precursor was first flown in 1846 during the California Republic revolt against Mexico. The bear on the 1911 flag was modeled on the last California grizzly bear in captivity named Monarch, who was captured in 1889 by newspaper reporter Allan Kelly, at the behest of William Randolph Hearst. After the bear's death in 1911, the bear was mounted and preserved at the Academy of Sciences at Golden Gate Park.
The star comes from the California Lone Star flag of 1836, during which a coup led by Juan Alvarado declared Alta California's independence from Mexico and launched a failed rebellion. While the rebels captured Monterey, they couldn't convince the leaders there to join in, and had to settle for a compromise and accept its status as department under the Siete Leyes constitution. The bear symbolizes strength, resistance, and independence, white symbolizes purity, and the red stripe signifies courage, bravery, and sacrifice.
While i am not a fan of the limitations of being a multiple unit, it cannot be denied these trains ride so smoothly and are very quiet as you mentioned.
As a European, I am pleased to see the Flirt trains also emerging in the US. What comes to mind first is just how empty that train was. Very sad to see that. I am travelling regularly on those flirt trains in Austria/germany and I hardly ever get a seat, because those trains are connecting major cities, unlike in that case, where they just terminate after only 5 stops. I really hope that the US can establish a good train network sometime. Especially in the greater LA region I think there is a lot of potential.
And also why no electrification :( haven't seen rails without electricity in a while :')
thanks for sharing!
Can't speak for the route Arrow runs on but a lot of passenger rail in the US runs on track own by private freight companies who don't want to spend the money to electrify.
@@SSDConker2 Most of Metrolink is run on tracks owned by freight companies. However, the San Bernardino line and this de facto extension of it are run on tracks Metrolink actually owns, and therefore are probably first on the list to be electrified in the next decade or so.
USA is an underdeveloped country if it wasn’t for Ww2 USA would be a backwater joke that people make fun of
@@GeotpfThe entire Antelope Valley line, entire San Bernardino line, and Ventura County until Montalvo are all owned by each county's transit agency, and Metrolink/SCRRA takes care of dispatching and maintenance.
The Riverside line is mostly on Union Pacific owned and dispatched track.
Ownership of the Orange County line leaving Union Station: River Subdivision (Metro), BNSF between Redondo Junction and Fullerton, Orange Subdivision (OCTA) from Fullerton south to the SD County line then San Diego Subdivision (North County Transit District).
The IE-OC uses the Olive Subdivision bypassing Fullerton, controlled by Metrolink.
@@SSDConker2Well electrification is against the interest for freight companies as overhead wires mean freight trains can’t be stacked high
A video on WES commuter rail would be cool. One of the last operators of the Budd RDC's in the U.S. Though typically newer DMUs from Colorado Railcar are used, which are still unique in their own right. Just an idea.
I'm quite a fan of diesel multiple units as of late. Especially the Stadler trainsets.
Great video as always
First off, thanks a TON for the Super Thanks! Your contribution to the channel is greatly appreciated.
I had planned to film a video on WES while I was in Portland, however my train from Seattle was delayed getting in, so I missed my only opportunity to get it done. I would love to head back out to Portland to check it out, but I’ve just got so much else planned, it’s unfortunately on the back burner for now.
Thanks again for your contribution!
Very well done. Super research, details, etc.
Thanks! I’m glad the video was both entertaining and informative.
I'm moving next month and Redlands is a top contender because of the arrow. I go to LA twice a month for work and this makes it easy to get there by bike and train.
I love these Stadler units. I really hope this is a sign that Metrolink will end up going with Stadler down the line when they end up replacing the older units in their fleet. The bilevel stadlers like Caltrain is getting would look so awesome
i used to live in the san bernadino area! so cool to see this, makes me happy
"Stadler's ZEMUs will be the first zero emission trains in the United States."
Milwaukee Road's Pacific Extension running electric trains running off of hydropower from 1917 to 1973: "Am I a joke to you?"
Nah, but in all seriousness, another great video as usual. Maybe we'll have a ride on California HSR on the channel in a few years... I hope...
i feel like there are many such examples, the max in portland is run entirely on renewables
Pacific extension where was this?
@@qjtvaddict Two sections of their pacific main line, one in Washington State between Tacoma and Othello, and another in Northern Idaho and Montana between Avery, Idaho and Harlowton, Montana, over 600 miles in total. They electrified them in the 1910s (but stupidly never connected them, nor extended them afterwards even though electric operations saved them a lot of money.) Even more stupidly, the route de-electrified in 1973 just so the railroad could make short term money selling the copper wires for the higher market prices they were at at the time... only for the oil crisis to happen. No, that's not even a joke. With stupidity like that, it's no wonder the Milwaukee Road died completely a decade after this mistake.
Stadler trains are great! Sounds so quiet and the acceleration was also very good. It looked quite comfortable and still brand new. What were the frequencies like on the line?
Frequencies were about every 30 minutes at peak. Not great, but it’s a small service, and with only 3 trains, I’m not surprised at all.
This train makes think of New Jersey Transit's River Line. Which runs between Trenton Transportation Center and Camden's Entertainment Center (I honestly can't keep up with the name changes). I'd like to see your take on the River Line. By the way, it makes rail connections to PATCO High Speedline in Camden at the Walter Rand Transportation Center, Atlantic City Line at Pennsauken Transportation Center, and at Trenton Transportation Center to Amtrak, NJT's Northeast Corridor Line, & Septa's Trenton Line (R7 for us older Septa riders)
congrats! you got a very good product that will last long! and expand.
Hydrogen power? Oh the humanity! Also, water vapor is a greenhouse gas.
You know how it is 😂😂😂
I'm actually very happy this man showed up on my recommended
We need more Stadlers in the US
I think Capital Metro down in Austin TX had these same type of trainsets as well on the Metrorail line. I saw quite a few of them running around there, during my time last fall.
As an Austinite, I can confirm that they have stadler units, however they’re the slightly different GTWs.
Hello and Welcome! Yes!
😁
Nice!
Thanks!
The blue and green ment there going to be owned by omnitrans but metrolink took over operations
2:07 The paint scheme is more like Omnitrans, who was going to be the operator of Arrow. Until realizing they actually couldn't afford to run it, and handed the whole thing off to Metrolink.
It definitely seemed like the Metrolink branding was an afterthought, and now it makes sense. Thanks for the insight.
I've rode the Arrow a number of times, it really is as good as it seems.
It’s a fantastic service. Hopefully more like it will open in the future.
@@LonestarTrips I personally want to see it extended west as far as either Rancho Cucamonga or Montclair, or east to Chino, Moreno Valley, Palm Springs, or Coachella, as a way to enchance service in and out of San Bernardino County and the Mojave. Until then, we just gotta make do with what we have.
@@SCT_Creations yeah a connection out that far would be great!
@@LonestarTrips Just transfer to the standard San Bernardino Metrolink line.
Just because a connection exists doesn't mean thats the ideal level of service. asingle seat journeys are more convenient and thus get more use.
Cool video...very informative...I currently reside only 20 miles away from Redlands and have been curious about the Arrow trains
Ive never completely understood the Metrolink service. I have always assumed it was geared towards the weekday 9-5 work commuters only and not for leisure travel.
Now that I recently retired and Covid is mostly behind us, I need to do some research into Metrolink services. Thanks.
It's mostly a commuter service, but there is some off peak and weekend service as well. ARROW is also not a standard Metrolink service; in fact, early on it wasn't going to be part of Metrolink at all. It's classified as "light rail", but it's not really that either. Note that the San Bernardino line runs at a similar schedule as ARROW (most non peak trains in the system), and, IMHO, they should have just extended it along this right of way instead of creating a whole new service.
Covid was never with us.
@@areguapiri I very much doubt that is true especially before Covid in Los Angeles. Not even all the lines run on the weekend. I think LA has 6 Ines and two of them don't run on the weekends and I'm not sure the rest run as many trains either. In the LA area Metrolink is definitely geared towards the weekday commuter
Love this Train!
Great coverage! Love it..
Thanks! 😊
I'm glad the diesel trains are quiet because I didn't think that was possible.
that is a fantastic looking train
My man really decided to risk buying a youth ticket just to save $0.75
I’m literally a student?
@@LonestarTrips Apologies for the misunderstanding.
@@mxderateprod All good. I’m on my way out of school next year, so no more student tickets for me 😒😆
@@LonestarTrips Nice! I still have a couple years so I'm good for the meantime
They don't care.
And buying a reduced fare is better than not paying at all.
I (legitimately) qualify for Disabled fare, and Metrolink conductors or Sheriffs haven't asked to see my orange TAP card in years.
Interesting video!👍
Still weird as an european to see a flirt with the blinking headlights, the horn and the bell approching. But nice to see those trains in north america. The other operator I know about is Texrail. Am I right? And are there more in service at the moment?
Currently TexRail is the only other operator of the Flirt, though DART’s silver line will soon begin operations with the same 4 car trains
9 miles in 25 minutes - that's something like 22 miles/hour to go from nowhere to nowhere while paralleling freeways. I don't think ridership will be that high.
The point of the line is to be a final mile connection for commuters looking to use the main Metrolink line. Plus the service is only in its infancy, with expansion plans already in the works.
With the engines being in the central power unit rather than under the floors i expect that that DMU will be quieter than others.American trains are big on having flags on them but usually the Stars and Stripes rather than state flags i don't know why as it's fairly obvious what county they are in!
The USA nationalistic arrogance is annoying.
@@areguapiri, why does it bug you so much?
Nice looking train set. How was the ride?
The ride was great! Super comfortable train and completely reasonable prices.
Man, it sucks how under-used this service is.
Agreed. There are some plans in the works to extend the line so it loops up to connect with the airport, but who knows if that’ll happen.
@@LonestarTripsMetrolink also needs to better advertise and educate the public regarding their services especially in the SoCal region where most people drive.
@@mrxman581 Experience in the Netherlands showed that if you make trains fast, reliable and comfortable, people will flock to use them. The U.S. is different as it is `car addicted'. People are reluctant to stop driving the filthy things. But Amtrak ridership continues to increase , so, maybe ?
Ridership is about 15% of what was projected. It dropped 30% after the $1 fare promotion ended.
With 300 trains a week, the average number of riders per train is 6.
@@johndunbar7504, people in North America have to drive 'the filthy things' for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is because many Americans _live in rural areas which require the use of a car, truck or van_ . A blogger explained it pretty well quite a while ago about how people living in the country have diffirent priorities from people who live in cities:
*The items that may seem to you to be part of “the progressive ideal,” and truly critical in your area may not matter in the least to - or be actively opposed by - progressives in another area* .
_or at best, be of “academic interest” only. I live in New York State. If I were to live in New York City, or any major urban center, mass transit would be a core issue. You’re going to be advocating strongly for public transportation, you probably want “walkable communities,” bike lanes, and so on. It’s a given, a part of being “progressive” and “environmentally concerned.” Leave the city, and move up to my area in the Adirondacks? No one cares about those things. We’re rural, sparsely populated, and there are long distances between small villages. We’re never going to have mass transit, our communities may be walkable, but our jobs and shopping are often far away. So if you’re making that a big centerpiece of what you think it means to be progressive, you’ll be upset that those of us who don’t live in urban/suburban environments are going to go “whatever.” We’re not necessarily against it, it’s just not anything that really concerns us_ .
cendax.wordpress.com/2015/02/10/progressives-dont-expect-your-issues-to-be-my-issues/
Bitching about cars and blasting them as 'filthy things' _isn't_ going to help people be comvinced to take mass public transit, and it comes off as elitist and entitled whining.
11:08 Oh the humanity!
Cool
I really wish they would up frequencies and start using these trains on the rest of the network. It would be so easy, especially on the lines Metrolink fully owns, and yet it’ll probably not happen for years
The state or federal DOT has a duty to assess performance data and ‘system plus Arrow equipment in real-time’ before adding more Arrow equipment, much as we all agree with you.
Great video. It's a shame this line is so short but it's a good start. You must have felt lost without a bathroom and onboard catering to review!
I watched Techmoan's video this morning and thought I had stumbled on to one of yours as he was using the same music for his demo as you use in the background of your videos.
Thanks as always! It was definitely hard to cover everything in such a short amount of time (plus I’ll let you in on a secret, some of the footage is from the return journey from Redlands 😉)
@@LonestarTrips Scandalous! Though you could have subbed in footage from any of the other 4000 Flirts around the world and some of it would have looked the same. Glad you're back in Connect-e-cut next week.
@@SirKenchalot It almost didn’t make the connect-e-Cut!
@@LonestarTrips Well you can pass straight through that state and not even notice it was there so that makes sense. If it wasn't for Nantucket and Moby Dick's references thereof it might have been renamed New York East by now.
@SirKenchalot, there's no real reason for this new line to be longer than it needs to be (aside from _maybe_ extending it to the airport and the train station); it runs just fine going down the route that it goes down.
I believe they run direct trains using metrolink stock express from SB to redlands
I think they do. I did see videos of Metrolink trains using this line
@@paulrand667 One San Bernardino Metrolink train a day in each direction on weekdays uses the downtown Redlands station.
11:05 behind the H2 you can see the battery-electric FLIRT with the logo of my local government that I can hopefully ride soon. Should've been in use since the beginning of the year but they still don't have enough people that know how drive them
We need this utility all in one package train in newyork
The only sad part is, this is nothing but a rebuild of what this area already had. The Pacific Electric interurban, abandoned in 1963, ran from downtown LA to San Bernardino/Riverside and down to Corona. The current freeways and roads follow the PE's route nearly exactly.
A rebuild is way better than a lack of options for the ever-more arduous drive into LA, IMHO. What could be better than Taco Tia takeout while relaxing on the journey!
hoping metrolink starts to operate more services to different cities around the inland empire using the flirts
Have to ask: Where are the passengers? It looks as empty as a lot of the NC service piedmont units... (They get full for events like Nascar in Charlotte or the football team therer... and there is a bit of use for the state fair in Raleigh... )
It’s a relatively new service, so commuters are still figuring out how to incorporate it into their schedules. Plus it’s a new “class” of service for the area, and really the US in general. It’s quite common in europe to find “rail-links” like these that take passengers to and from larger commuter/intercity stations, so people are still figuring out how it works and why they should take Arrow over driving those first few miles.
Someone explain this to me. Not complaining or anything*. If i lived right around the corner why would i walk to the train/metro, get a ticket possibly pay for a ticket wait however long it takes get on and ride a 25 min route. When i can walk outside to my car and drive to the university in a lil under 20 mins or so?
It’s not intended to be used for commuting between Redlands and SB, it’s meant to be a final mile link for commuters to and from LA on the larger Metrolink lines.
Why would I pay $5 a gallon for gas? I ride the arrow line to the university for work and I save a lot!
@@LonestarTrips oh ok
@riversidecoras4908 well where I live and work its a 35 min drive without traffic and more with traffic so that works for me to ride the train if i had one but I would definitely drive if its 10 mins down the road
@@InlandEmpiresoccer909 you won't be saving much when a random hobo on Metrolink attacks you.
Nothing can beat the safety of your car
Hi Lonestar How Are you?
I’m good! How are you?
I’ve been taken the Metrolink to San Bernardino
How was your ride?
@@LonestarTrips it was really good
@@vini_cano_35 wonderful! Glad to hear it 😊
@@LonestarTrips i take the inland empire orange county line
The Chinese is giggling at this lousy train. Hee hee hee hee 😁😁😁😁
Isn’t the Chinese state railway company $900 BILLION in debt?
Chinese trains suck
Nice video. I’m wondering how much quieter the hydrogen engine is compared to the diesel. Do you have that info?
I don’t have that info at the moment. My guess is Stadler will release some form of a press brief once the H2s go into service, but for now we’re in the dark.
@@LonestarTrips Thanks for the quick reply!
@lkstrknb Ofc!
There are more youtubers on these STADLERs , than passengers......
Great line. Love California . Need High speed train.
Wait so how does one get to San Bernardino from Laguna Niguel?
Take the Inland Empire-Orange County line form San Bernardino to Laguna Niguel.
im cryinh man why does arrow use the same colors as foothill and omnitrans 😭
That's a high level platform? 5:30😂 Seems like passengers can board the Arrow from a low platform. We also have Arrows here on NJT. They can board at both high and low level platforms.
Close, but you’re confusing the service name “Arrow” with the class of EMU, “Arrow.” California’s Arrow is a Stadler FLIRT unit, while NJT’s Arrow EMU is entirely different. The NJT Arrow EMU has the trap doors for both low and high level boarding, while the Flirt has only one boarding level. That single level is higher than the low level platform, thus needing a secondary “high” level platform to accommodate the new trains. Hope this helps.
@LonestarTrips I'm familiar with railroad terminology, I'm a railfan as well. With these having a similar name to NJT Arrows, I couldn't help but think of them. These Stadler EMU's look very nice, I can't wait for the multilevel ones Caltrain will be getting.
Skeptical. America loves its cars.
Unfortunately a lot of Americans do. But traffic is such a huge problem in and around Los Angeles that having an extra line for that final mile might help people to see the potential of changing to rail for their commute.
Just incredible to see these brilliant trains installed in a country that doesn't use public transit en masse and refuse to get out of their cars. I despair
It’s a small step in a larger transformation. People choose to drive because there is often no viable alternative. Creating link services like Arrow are the key to connecting passengers with commuter networks, getting more people off the roads and on the rails.
@alanogilvie4504, be more despairing of yourself, and keep your despair to yourself if possible.
20 minute wwit for a planned frip. Maybe someday there will be a passenger rail service in the us with reasonable headways.
Greetings from Scotland, forgive me if I'm wrong but isn't San Bernadino downtown transit center where brightline to Vegas is starting from?
That’s starting in Victorville I believe.
EDIT: it’s Rancho Cucamonga. Got it wrong, that’s on me.
@@bokkebokke7 just found the video I was thinking of but couldn't remember the name. It's not here at all, it's Rancho Cocomonga
@@RealJustinCrowThere's a Metrolink connection from the transit center to the western Brightline terminus - maybe you were thinking of that?
Brightline West is supposed to start in Rancho Cucamonga, but most likely won't due to the station possibly needing an entire revamp for it.
@@SCT_CreationsI believe Brightline plans to build a new station in RC if it ever happens. It's been delayed several times now and the price estimates keep going up.
3:14 125 MpH (or simply M/h) is a little more than 200 km/h (or KmpH), 50/60 M/H is about 80 - 100 km/h.
Technically 100 km/h is about 62 miles per hour, but on such a large deviant, it's okay to make it 80-100 instead of 80-96.
Grettings from the Netherlands, where we are used to trains like these. Well, okay, technically ours have been electric since long, long ago
. In fact, I think most lines have been electric since their start. I mean, it's great having drains, but diesel? We need to stop with fuel!
Those look almost exactly the same as the trains of Slovene railways lmao
Ha that’s probably because they’re the same lol. Stadler’s a Swiss company, and thus sells most of their rolling stock in Europe, so I wouldn’t be surprised if some of their trains made it to Slovenia.
@@LonestarTripsThey are indeed Standler’s but they are also coloured almost exactly the same. The only difference is the green part which is blue on our trains
@@alengrm7488 I looked it up and I see exactly what you mean. I also like that Slovene railways has the larger KISS EMUs as well to pair with the Flirts.
Cool Rides. Plz reply.
Cool rides indeed 😎
Good
More public transportation
Alright so if I've got this right if my maps is right
They have extended the brown line which goes to San Bernardino east witch goes to north Redlands University
Howdy yall
Howdy!
Disappointed this line wasn't electrified.
it’s 9 miles long, electrification isn’t needed
Why didnt the metrolink cover these stations? I dont see the point of Arrow.
What do you mean “didn’t cover them?”
@@LonestarTrips why is it 9 miles? There are existing rail lines going to the LA Metro.
@@LonestarTripsIn a weird way it does seem like this route would have been better designed as a light rail metro and not as heavy rail train.
@@mrxman581 I think this is classified as “hybrid rail” as it uses a heavy rail train on a light rail-esque service.
@@LonestarTrips oh, interesting. I recently retired so in doing some research on public transit options in SoCal. I live in LA not too far from both a LA Metro station and a Metrolink station and Union Station is about a 20 minute car ride away.
Electric locomotives and EMUs (Electric Multiple Units) are zero-emissions rail vehicles. Hydrogen fuel could replace diesel fuel in the next 10-30 years.
review Honolulu’s Skyline
Perhaps California needs. Brand new trains to replace the out dated trains. Are these diesel or hydrogen power.
These are diesel units. Their hydrogen units are coming next year.
Ah right. Even more exciting news 👍
Swiss quality🇨🇭
Yessir! 🇨🇭Can’t wait to see more Stadler units across the US.
When they decide to electrify the line - no problem- you just have to change the “Power Pack” in the middle of the train…
_If_ they decide to do so; progressives have to _work_ really hard to make that happen (and not just sit on the Internet whining about it all of the time.)
what? no bullet train yet?
It’s coming! Building a bullet train takes a lot of investment, but CA is working on it as we speak!
What a shame! Everything appears to be very nice.
I wonder what the ridership numbers are. It all appears to be practically empty. The schedule probably is fairly limited. The line doesn’t seem to be terribly useful.
It’s safe to assume the planners for the most part simply recycled existing tracks laid out 120 years ago and avoided the heavy lifting and expense of building a line matching today’s traffic patterns and needs.
Doing public transportation in such a half hearted manner ultimately is a waste of taxpayer money without any real benefits to the public.
It’s exactly what happened. The line was built way back when, and they’ve just repurposed it for Arrow. I’m hoping that they’ll increase the frequency once they receive their H2 units, but we’ll have to wait and see.
Well the Arrow service is just in a baby stage, if that makes sense. Caltrans is already in the works of talking about plans to extend it. The question is where it's gonna go. My speculation is that it might follow the San Bernardino Line to Rancho Cucamonga to link up with Brightline West. Others are saying it might be a University to University service, following I-210 all the way to CSUSB. Someone even had thoughts of it going as far as Palm Springs. Only time will tell how far Arrow will truthfully progress.
I've never fully understood metrolink's service, but having a service from Union Station to Palm Springs would be great. I would be open to taking it instead of driving.
@@mrxman581 There's several problems with going to Palm Springs. First is the sheer distance. Second is that much of the line there isn't used by Metrolink currently. Third is the current location of the tracks and current Amtrak station is very poor; way north of the city proper, surrounded by desert. You might need to build tracks and a new station to the city itself. Cost versus potential ridership might not pencil out; subsidies may need to be very high.
In the most recent fact sheet on Metrolink that addresses Arrow ridership, it was stated the line only gets on average 186 riders per weekday, with 46 services currently offered. That equates to only about 4 people per train…
No people on the trains...
Why does Stadler only include USB-A ports?
its annoying, but for only power it doesnt really matter
just please run these things all the way to LA Union and grade separate the lines so the whole trip takes a reasonable amount of time.
Italian arrows are better :)
Good.
More room for the homeless & druggies.
Be cool if Metrolink just did this to all there trains. get rid of all the Bi-Level old tech
Diesel - shocking!
I can say as much as I want, but the main issue in Southern California as well as metro area outside major cities 9f New England is what happens when you arrive?
Don't bring you can go a lot places in Union Station, yes just few places within radius of few miles of union Station. Union Station is still the best, for the other rail stations, they are like oasis in the deserts for local buses.
Oh, this video is about San bernandino to Redland. Public transportation is even worst.
Why do train lovers insist on you need two car rail systems
...не метрополитен, а городская линия железной дороги....
Who builds new track and doesn’t electrify smh
Electrification is costly, and for a service that’s really just a precursor to something better, it really doesn’t make sense.
Agreed. The big problem in the USA is that the vast majority of track infrastructure is owned by 5 private railroad companies that focus entirely on freight and they are infamous for not modernizing the infrastructure. Even installing modern safety signaling and many other issues like having brakes on all freight cars.
Who cares it's not electric? Smh
@@paulrand667 a lot of people especially those who understand the environmental implications.
@@mrxman581 ok let me rephrase that. Electrification is not the perfect solution so many people hype it all to be. Most commuter railroads do not have the capacity to justify it. Also,where would the electricity come from anyway? It is not cheap to set up the wires and for a 9 mile line,it makes no sense in doing that (DMUs make more sense for Arrow).
The hydrogen version makes it a purely environmentally sustainable passenger mode. `watch out, climate change '.
Doesn't hydrogen produce water vapor which is a greenhouse gas?
@@ScottPalmer-mp1we No, water vapor isn't a gas at all. It's vapor that eventually goes through condensation.
Hydrogen has other environmental disadvantages though. It is actually more environmentally damaging than diesel due to the way the obtain hydrogen.
It depends if your hydrogen is made/harvested/refined/whatever without substantial emissions, too. Unfortunately very nearly all hydrogen production is as bad or worse than diesel, once you account for the energy used to extract it.
In most cases, if the point is to cut emissions, going electric via wires is just flat out better. That gets complicated when you have to deal with the higher installation cost and potential shared use tracks (though freight, even double stack freight, can run under wires).
@@daniellewis1789 This! The fact that modern diesel is actually less greenhouse gas intensive is somehow always brushed to the side is crazy to me. I just don't understand what the point of hydrogen is at this point. It has terrible conversion losses in several places. You lose energy when converting electricity to hydrogen. You lose on transporting it if you don't make it on site. You lose when converting it back to electricity to power the train. It always goes into a battery before use on the train itself so you lose there again.
Hydrogen is just not a viable technology at this point. We just need to focus on dual-mode diesel-catenary systems like the Siemens Charger E model that Amtrak is buying for the NEC. That is by far the most promising transition system.
The future is now! Though the issue of where the hydrogen is sourced still remains.
1- 9 mile line is not commuting 2- articulate or double decker bus has higher standing capacity than this heavy train 3- the at grade tracks cause more traffic congestions on the roads
A new line with level crossings, single track, bad frequency, paper tickets... no wonder very few will ever use this trains.
People riding the train don't care if there are grade crossings, what does that have to do with anything?
The line is 9 miles long, so single tracking is fine.
Paper tickets? They also use money value stored on transit cards.
This line isn't new, it's just rebuilt.
Usual incredibly ugly view of asphalt parking lots, stroads and single story block buildings. And the train appears to be deserted. So Cal has a long way to go.
...they can't just invest in overhead wires?
Infrastructure like that is costly. It’s not as simple as putting up wires and calling it a day. It also needs the supporting infrastructure for powering the overheads, which doesn’t make sense for such a short line.
Another new line not electrified from the beginning! What a nonsense!
Why bother with a line this short. Electrification will not increase ridership (especially if the schedule is not great). You don't need electrification to have good schedules. TEXRail for example has 30 minute headways peak. Besides,there are railroads in he bottom 10 in ridership that are electric.
Yea let's waste money electrifying a 9 mile line
NEW SUBSCRIBER ON BOARD! (When should I expect my fruit basket and vino?)
Are these Diesel traction if yes why so obsolete these are not economical neither Ethanol nor hydrogen not even Solar but Diesel. What about the carbon footprints.
Diesel is hardly obsolete, plus these units comply with EPA tier 4 emissions standards, which means their footprint much smaller than it would have been in the past.
Too many ads. Five ads within forty seconds of watching this clip.
Blame TH-cam, not me. I put a couple in, but they’re spaced evenly throughout the vid.
Still much too slow which is the problem with all passenger rail in the US.
it’s 9 miles long, if you want a train that goes 80mph go to the San Francisco Bay, Caltrain goes almost 80mph with the Baby Bullet and Limited Trains
Cool