Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) is an all-new diesel light rail system that is just finishing construction over 43 miles of an eventual 70-mile system operating over the former Northwestern Pacific corridor between Larkspur and Cloverdale on the north side of the San Francisco Bay Area. The first 43 miles are in the testing and training phase between San Rafael and Santa Rosa, Calif.

The line has received 14 Nippon Sharyo diesel multiple unit cars built in Rochelle, Ill., which have been undergoing acceptance testing in anticipation of a late 2016 service start. In late July, the builder notified SMART that nearly identical cars on Toronto’s airport line suffered an engine failure that was traced to a design flaw in the crankshaft of the Cummins engines. As a result, all of the engines will be replaced by March 2017. Service launch has subsequently been moved to late spring 2017.

—Passenger Train Journal