Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit struggling to launch commuter rail service by end of 2016

The much-anticipated launch of passenger rail service on the North Coast increasingly appears will be pushed back to 2017.|

The much-anticipated launch of passenger rail service on the North Coast increasingly appears that it will be pushed back to 2017, a setback for rail agency officials and residents who’ve been eagerly waiting to board the green-and-gray trains.

SMART officials have expressed confidence for more than a year that passenger service along the 43-mile route from north Santa Rosa to downtown San Rafael will start no later than December 2016, with the most optimistic forecasts calling for service by Labor Day.

But that timeline appears to be out the window as testing on the complex rail system continues. David Rabbitt, a Sonoma County supervisor and SMART director, said passenger service is unlikely to start by the end of the year.

“I think it will creep into next year,” Rabbitt said Thursday.

Jake Mackenzie, Rohnert Park’s vice -mayor and a SMART director, said Thursday it will be difficult for the rail agency to complete the requirements necessary to begin service by the end of the year.

“Clearly, we’re starting to push the timeline at the moment,” Mackenzie said.

Farhad Mansourian, general manager of Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit, did not respond to several emails and texts this week seeking comment.

SMART officials earlier this year said they were hoping to begin simulated fare service along the route by mid-summer. That has yet to occur.

The rail agency announced Sept. 26 that it was only then beginning to ramp up speeds on the rail cars during safety testing. But with 11 weeks left before the new year, officials have not pegged when the cars will be tested at their fullest capabilities. The 80-ton slope-nosed cars, called Diesel Multiple Units, run in pairs and are set to reach top speeds of 79 mph outside cities.

The ramifications of a delayed launch were not immediately clear Thursday.

Sonoma and Marin voters in 2008 approved Measure Q, a sales tax funding the rail service. Anticipation is now palpable as the rail cars make daily test runs up and down the line. The cost of the service, in the meantime, has now eclipsed $428 million.

Testing is being conducted from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays, and from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekends.

The rail cars are equipped with Positive Train Control, which is supposed to automatically monitor speed to reduce the risk of collisions and derailments.

One main challenge is getting warning signals at 63 crossings along the route to function properly. Each crossing is equipped with a predictor that tracks speed and location and activates warning devices at the crossing. However, there have been almost daily reports of the warning systems not functioning as intended.

In one Sept. 15 incident witnessed by a Press Democrat employee, an apparent crossing gate malfunction at West Third Street near Wilson Street in Santa Rosa nearly resulted in a gate coming down on an SUV before the vehicle had crossed the tracks.

On other occasions, the same employee said, gates at the crossing stayed down for at least ?15 minutes with no train in sight.

More recently, Rabbitt witnessed a crossing malfunction in Petaluma. He said similar reports have been forwarded to him from Petaluma City Council members on behalf of their constituents.

“The good news is, when they (SMART testers) get a report of a malfunction, the software can track how long the arms were down - minutes, seconds or an hour - so they can go back and sleuth what’s going on,” Rabbitt said.

A SMART official made the case Thursday that such challenges are to be expected.

“We are currently testing and monitoring each crossing to confirm that the proper signals are getting through - this is a normal part of the testing process,” SMART spokeswoman Jeanne Mariani-Belding said in an email.

SMART is hoping to avoid problems that have plagued other rail lines, including a train serving Denver International Airport that has been beset with repeated shutdowns and delays since its debut in April. Similar to SMART, the Denver train has struggled to integrate software along the line with the Positive Train Control system.

In SMART’s case, the problem is thought to be related to the cars not making proper contact with the rails, Rabbitt said.

SMART has been using a scrubber to help smooth and condition the rail in an effort to improve the connection. Sand bags also have been placed on board the trains to weight them down, Rabbitt said.

“If a locomotive comes through the crossing, they all work perfectly, because in that case, the contact is made,” he said.

Despite the problems, Rabbitt said he’s “satisfied” the rail agency is “moving forward and where we should be.”

“We should start when we’re ready, and no sooner,” he said.

Mackenzie echoed that sentiment.

“We won’t be forcing a hard start the way that Denver did,” he said. “We would not be going forward and starting operations knowing that there was a possibility of some problems that we knew about and hadn’t resolved.”

You can reach Staff Writer Derek Moore at 707-521-5336 or derek.moore@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @deadlinederek.

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