Benefits
A train composed of DMU cars scales well as it allows extra passenger capacity to be added at the same time as motive power. It also permits passenger capacity to be matched to demand, and for trains to be split and joined en-route. It is not necessary to match the power available to the size and weight of the train - each unit is capable of moving itself, so as units are added, the power available to move the train increases by the necessary amount.
Distribution of the propulsion among the cars also results in a system that is less vulnerable to single-point-of-failure outages. Many classes of DMU are capable of operating with faulty units still in the consist. Because of the self-contained nature of diesel engines, there is no need to run overhead electric lines or electrified track, which can result in lower system construction costs.
These advantages often outweigh the underfloor noise and vibration that may be a problem with this type of train.
Read more about this topic: Diesel Multiple Unit
Famous quotes containing the word benefits:
“It is too late in the century for women who have received the benefits of co-education in schools and colleges, and who bear their full share in the world’s work, not to care who make the laws, who expound and who administer them.”
—J. Ellen Foster (1840–1910)
“In America the young are always ready to give to those who are older than themselves the full benefits of their inexperience.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
“One of the benefits of a college education is, to show the boy its little avail.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)