Finch West Line 6 LRT

[smallspy]

Finch will have a CBTC system installed; same implementation as Vancouver Skytrain uses.

Thales SelTrac™ selected for Finch West LRT - Railway Age

Mosaic Transit Group (MTG) has awarded Thales a contract for a SelTrac™ Communications Based Train Control (CBTC) signaling system for the new Finch West LRT in northwest Toronto. MTG’s contract is a DBFM (design, build, finance, maintain) project awarded by Metrolinx, with the Toronto Transit...

www.railwayage.com

I expect the intended use is to eliminate bunching (guarantee vehicles remain X minutes apart) by adjusting vehicle travel speed.

Finch will have a CBTC system, and it will be called SelTrac, but it won't be the same system that Vancouver's Skytrain or Ottawa's Confederation Line (or the SRT, for that matter) uses.

SelTrac is a bit of a catch-all brand name owned by Thales, and they put all of their various signalling systems into it. One of the products under the SelTrac name is a onboard switch and signal activation and routing system, which is basically a highly-evolved version of the "NA" system that is currently used by the legacy streetcars downtown. This is likely what will be used on Finch.

Dan

 

[Steve X]

Finch will have a CBTC system installed; same implementation as Vancouver Skytrain uses.

Thales SelTrac™ selected for Finch West LRT - Railway Age

Mosaic Transit Group (MTG) has awarded Thales a contract for a SelTrac™ Communications Based Train Control (CBTC) signaling system for the new Finch West LRT in northwest Toronto. MTG’s contract is a DBFM (design, build, finance, maintain) project awarded by Metrolinx, with the Toronto Transit...

www.railwayage.com

I expect the intended use is to eliminate bunching (guarantee vehicles remain X minutes apart) by adjusting vehicle travel speed.

If the signal system is actually integrated with the traffic lights, that will be great. I feel like it's just a speed control system on the surface stretch. The driver will still drive it like a streetcar.

ML has posted on it's FAQ videos that it takes 38 minutes to travel the whole line. That's 10 whole minutes more than the EA suggesting 28 minutes. That's pretty much the speed the 36 Finch West bus travels at.

 

[robmausser]

ML has posted on it's FAQ videos that it takes 38 minutes to travel the whole line. That's 10 whole minutes more than the EA suggesting 28 minutes. That's pretty much the speed the 36 Finch West bus travels at.

Its the great north american safety delusion we are having over on this side of the pond. Speed limits are being reduced, train and lrt speed limits reduced. Pretty soon we will have to drive backwards.

 

[nfitz]

ML has posted on it's FAQ videos that it takes 38 minutes to travel the whole line. That's 10 whole minutes more than the EA suggesting 28 minutes.

I wonder if that includes dwell/recovery time at the terminals. Seems unlikely that it would be that slow.

 

[Streety McCarface]

I wonder if that includes dwell/recovery time at the terminals. Seems unlikely that it would be that slow.

Cue my Traffic Signal Priority fears...

 

[Allandale25]

Finch will have a CBTC system, and it will be called SelTrac, but it won't be the same system that Vancouver's Skytrain or Ottawa's Confederation Line (or the SRT, for that matter) uses.

SelTrac is a bit of a catch-all brand name owned by Thales, and they put all of their various signalling systems into it. One of the products under the SelTrac name is a onboard switch and signal activation and routing system, which is basically a highly-evolved version of the "NA" system that is currently used by the legacy streetcars downtown. This is likely what will be used on Finch.

Dan

Sorry what does NA stand for?

 

[Fritter]

Sorry what does NA stand for?

North America

 

[crs1026]

North America

Cute. Actually, it stands for “Necessity Action”. It’s the Model T of remote switch operation technology....press a button on the operator’s console, and the switch throws. Check it out next time you ride a Witt or PCC car.

- Paul

 

[robmausser]

Cute. Actually, it stands for “Necessity Action”. It’s the Model T of remote switch operation technology....press a button on the operator’s console, and the switch throws. Check it out next time you ride a Witt or PCC car.

- Paul

It stands for Not Available because the electronic switch controls are broken half the time.

 

[H4F33Z]

Will this signal system be used on eglinton as well?

 

[Avenue]

38 minutes for the entire line is atrocious. It is almost guaranteed give LRTs a bad name and reduce the already low public support for them.

 

[Steve X]

Will this signal system be used on eglinton as well?

BBD is to supply their system as a subcontract from Crosslinx.

 

[crs1026]

I do not see how 38 minutes is atrocious at all. Literally driving the corridor is 30 right now according to Google Maps, if there was a bad traffic jam it could easily be much more. 38 minutes reliably on this route is fine.

If the velocity isn’t better than driving, why would people choose not to drive?

- Paul

 

[Coolstar]

Finch will have a CBTC system installed; same implementation as Vancouver Skytrain uses.

Thales SelTrac™ selected for Finch West LRT - Railway Age

Mosaic Transit Group (MTG) has awarded Thales a contract for a SelTrac™ Communications Based Train Control (CBTC) signaling system for the new Finch West LRT in northwest Toronto. MTG’s contract is a DBFM (design, build, finance, maintain) project awarded by Metrolinx, with the Toronto Transit...

www.railwayage.com

I expect the intended use is to eliminate bunching (guarantee vehicles remain X minutes apart) by adjusting vehicle travel speed.

So does that mean the line is automated? Or is it another form of the SelTrac system in which it isn't automated?

 

[junctionist]

If the velocity isn’t better than driving, why would people choose not to drive?

- Paul

You can slash your expenses considerably if you're paying for parking at work, paying higher insurance rates for a longer-distance commute, and wearing out and depreciating your car by commuting. In addition to the financial incentives, you can read or do work during your commute by transit.