nfitz
Superstar
I don't even remember him promising to cancel GO electrification. And I was paying attention. I'm not sure it was a big deal for most voters.
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GO Transit Electrification | Metrolinx
- Thread starter innsertnamehere
- Start date
hw621
Senior Member
kEiThZ
Superstar
This is a weak attempt to tie one to the other. People only cared about his glee at cutting public servants. Nobody really cared about cancelling GO electrification. Heck, I have zero doubt that > 90% of the public wouldn't be able to tell you a thing about GO RER today.
There was only one transit file that might have cost Hudak seats: Ottawa's LRT.
cplchanb
Senior Member
respectfully disagree on your financial metrics. There is no infrastructure for hydro/battery trains. In fact there is no established system around the world so saying that buying stock is the only required thing is very very untrue. How are they going to recharge those trains? chances are it might blow up into another e health, going into unknown territory with no prior experience to draw from
steveintoronto
Superstar
It was an "election promise" on many occasions. It wasn't even a qualified deflection. It was a total one.
ssiguy2
Senior Member
I certainly don`t think they should go gung-ho from the beginning but it would be worth the while to get a few of the Alstom Hydrail single level EMU. These are not new trains but simply part of the standard Concordia lint train but now with new power sources. It has been tested in Germany and received all the safety OKs to go ahead and has been running perfectly for the last several months. A great place to see if the system would work well for RER is to get a couple on loan from Alstom and use them on the UPX route. It would require a new hydrogen fueling station but they are relatively basic affairs as they are already in use for hydrogen buses and trolleys.
crs1026
Superstar
I don’t declare brand preferences, but the idea of slipping a hydrail powered car in between two of the existing UPX end cars (or vice cersa) is intriguing. Diesel power available to ‘limp’ along in case the hydrail fails. It would be an interesting experiment. Doesn’t have to be a lint carbody, could be anything that meets crash standards and has the right platform height. We do need to aggressively demonstrate/test/learn about hydrail, it’s just too soon to depend on it fully.
- Paul
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steveintoronto
Superstar
^ Ottawa is where iLint testing should take place, for a number of reasons, not least:
I believe they are interoperable between power gen types:
I'll search more on that later. This would not only allow testing of a vehicle for it's own load, but also use the diesel units as ballast load for testing, and/or 'cow and calf'. This would offer an advantage in poor traction conditions, like snow and wet leaves while still allowing thrust evaluation under load.
Addendum: Ottawa has the LINT 41, and the iLINT is based on the 54:
Pics at link.
https://www.otrainfans.ca/trillium-trains/alstom-coradia-lint
I believe they are interoperable between power gen types:
https://www.alstom.com/coradia-range-regional-trains-suit-all-operator-needs
I'll search more on that later. This would not only allow testing of a vehicle for it's own load, but also use the diesel units as ballast load for testing, and/or 'cow and calf'. This would offer an advantage in poor traction conditions, like snow and wet leaves while still allowing thrust evaluation under load.
Addendum: Ottawa has the LINT 41, and the iLINT is based on the 54:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alstom_Coradia_LINT
Pics at link.
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AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
Cryogenic handling is anything but basic - and we already had enough experiments that went nowhere in this province. It's time to end this stalling bull. If one want it so badly, maybe one should persuade Translink to do it perhaps?
AoD
AoD
steveintoronto
Superstar
Or just wait until the German Lander hosting the test has results. It is "bull". It's deflectio...Squirrel! Over there!
What proponents keep conveniently overlooking is that any rational proposed use is for where nations like Germany and France don't consider it justified return to electrify. Both nations continue to expand their overhead supply networks for mainlines and high-speed.
Its present justification is to replace diesel, not the need to replace catenary. Again, if anywhere it could/should be hosted is where the base model already exists, so if things don't turn out well, the experimental vehicle(s) can be converted to stock diesel, battery, catenary or hybrid models. The Lint lends itself to that sort of flexibility. Ottawa has an Alstom assembly plant and ostensibly trained techs. That's the place, if anywhere, to do this. And the NRC! (Nat Research Council)
In the event, the present regime in QP aren't going to be spending on conventional, let alone exotic models. Unless they run on highways...
AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
I don't know, from the looks of it the trains could probably run on hot air and standing ovations.
AoD
SaugeenJunction
Senior Member
I don't think a public date was given for when they will meet, and usually the meetings are closed door anyways. The biggest piece of news that we can rely on now in the short term is the Fall Economic Statement, to be given tomorrow afternoon. It is like a mini-budget and there is a good chance we will get a glimpse of what the PCs have in store for transit in it. If you can't wait until tomorrow, Rob Benzie tweeted out that he has news coming at or after 5PM. This is after markets have closed, so I'm thinking it has to do with the Fall Economic Statement.
steveintoronto
Superstar
^ Patrick Brown’s explosive tell-all lashes out at Progressive Conservative ‘enemies’
https://www.thestar.com/politics/pr...-out-at-progressive-conservative-enemies.html
https://www.thestar.com/politics/pr...-out-at-progressive-conservative-enemies.html
ssiguy2
Senior Member
France has just announced that it is cancelling an electrification program for it`s regional rail system radiating out of Bordeaux in favour of a hydrogen Alstom rail. There are 4 lines that were to be electrified representing well over 300km of track. The specific reason was clear...…….the $45 Euros to be used on electrifying just one of those routes will be used exclusively to buy the hydrogen trains. They intend to begin plying the new trains by 2022. These routes are currently served by single level DMUs and hydrogen rail was determined to be cheaper and faster to build than putting in the catenary for EMU and the system can be easily expanded with little effort unlike catenary which requires yet more infrastructure. The trains can go 140km/hr.
Steveintoronto also raises a very good point, this is not some kind of new or revolutionary train. It is just another way of powering it`s current Corridia Lint trains which currently are available in EMU/catenary and DMU. These commuter/regional trains have been supplied all over the world and these are just a variation of those current and very successful trains. If after the trial period they are not shown to be as successful as hoped then they could be modified back to either EMU/catenary of DMU, no different than the pieces of junk used on the current UPX route which are diesel but can be converted to catenary if required in the future.
Steveintoronto also raises a very good point, this is not some kind of new or revolutionary train. It is just another way of powering it`s current Corridia Lint trains which currently are available in EMU/catenary and DMU. These commuter/regional trains have been supplied all over the world and these are just a variation of those current and very successful trains. If after the trial period they are not shown to be as successful as hoped then they could be modified back to either EMU/catenary of DMU, no different than the pieces of junk used on the current UPX route which are diesel but can be converted to catenary if required in the future.
SaugeenJunction
Senior Member
Very interesting. I had always taken the line that electrifying was a gimmick, but clearly France doesn't thinks it isn't. I am still in the dark if hydrogen has similar benefits to electrification like fast acceleration. One interesting thing that I found in the Metrolinx hydrogen report is that the Metrolinx hydrogen facilities would use 2% of all of Ontario's daily consumption of electricity. I mean we have surplus energy so that's no big deal.