WES, or Westside Express Service is the commuter railway system that was scheduled to begin service this November but now has been pushed back to February.  The manufacturer, Colorado Railcar Manufacturing LLC, seems to be having money problems.  Also, more time is needed for saftey testing, especially after that commuter rail crash in Los Angeles. 

Apparently CRM has been having financial issues for months and when Tri-Met realised that CRM's suppliers were not being paid, Tri-Met stepped in and paid them directly, putting the project $3 million over budget. 

Buying from another manufacturer is not an option because CRM is the only U.S. firm that builds the DMUs that meet federal safety standards, and the purchase complied with the Buy America requirement.

Taking the extra time to do safety tests is a worthwhile reason to not rush.  Despite manufacturing slowing things down, Tri-Met is not going to move things along and risk service issues.  We've waited 16 years, what is a few more months.

http://tigardtimes.com/news/story.php?story_id=122290722545219500

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