TTC: Flexity Streetcars Testing & Delivery (Bombardier)

[Hipster Duck]

The worst was the BMO wrap. A CLRV is quite striking for a 35 year-old, but when it was wrapped in white it accentuated all the dated window frames and made it look as old as a PCC.

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Anyway, that photo of the new streetcar at Lambton yards is quite exciting. Are a batch coming in, or did they just deliver one initially to sort out teething problems, etc?

 

[nfitz]

Anyway, that photo of the new streetcar at Lambton yards is quite exciting. Are a batch coming in, or did they just deliver one initially to sort out teething problems, etc?

It's a prototype. Two more prototypes are due this year, and then production models start arriving in late 2013.

 

[the lemur]

It's a prototype. Two more prototypes are due this year, and then production models start arriving in late 2013.

So I guess we can put down 4400 as a prototype, maybe 4401 and 4402 as well, meaning that the first model in service will be 4403?

 

[nfitz]

So I guess we can put down 4400 as a prototype, maybe 4401 and 4402 as well, meaning that the first model in service will be 4403?

I'd guess ... though presumably 4400-4402 would go into service too, sooner or later. The CLRV prototypes (4000-4005 - the ones with all the red plastic) all went into service, and the first production unit was 4010.

Not sure why they didn't start numbering at 4300.

Here's another photo:


from RandyRisling on Twitter

 

[M II A II R II K]

Perhaps we'll see them at the next CNE.

 

[DSC]

This is in the CEO REport coming to TTC Commissioners tomorrow:

The low floor light rail vehicle procurement project is partway through the Final Design phase. The first of the three prototype LRVs is scheduled for delivery in September, with the other two scheduled for delivery before year end. The prototype vehicles will undergo extensive vehicle reliability, performance and technology verification tests. System compatibility tests including accessibility features, platform and on‐street boarding interface with the vehicle, its bridgeplate and ramp deployment, farecard system if available, and overhead power interface, etc. will be conducted.
Based on the prototype tests, a baseline vehicle configuration will be established for production vehicles, scheduled for delivery beginning in the fall of 2013.

 

[raptor]

Perhaps we'll see them at the next CNE.

I thought it's going to be tested on the St. Clair line

 

[nfitz]

I thought it's going to be tested on the St. Clair line

That's the rumour - though many have speculated that if they do they won't be in revenue service. At some point they'll be testing them around the entire network - presumably late at night.

 

[pman]

Question

From the photo it looks like the trolley poles will be the standard-issue TTC models that have a tendency to disconnect from the wire at turns. Can someone tell me why the TTC doesn't use the z-shaped pantograph for the new streetcars? It seems pretty common in Europe and has the advantage of allowing trollies to go around turns without losing power, stopping in the middle of the turn, and having the driver get out to manually realign the pole.

 

[ShonTron]

From the photo it looks like the trolley poles will be the standard-issue TTC models that have a tendency to disconnect from the wire at turns. Can someone tell me why the TTC doesn't use the z-shaped pantograph for the new streetcars? It seems pretty common in Europe and has the advantage of allowing trollies to go around turns without losing power, stopping in the middle of the turn, and having the driver get out to manually realign the pole.

The TTC is already in the middle of converting the overhead to be used for pantographs, and the new cars will be equipped with them. It's not a big deal to switch the power collecting instrument from a trolley pole to a pantograph, the TTC even experimented with this in the late 1920s by installing pantograph-type collectors on a pair of Witts, there's precedent.

 

[Markster]

They will transition to pantographs in time for the full rollout of these new streetcars.

The prototypes are fitted with trolley poles so that they can work on the entire legacy network.

The legacy network overhead wires are all, slowly but surely, being rebuilt to support european style pantographs.

 

[W. K. Lis]

I'd guess ... though presumably 4400-4402 would go into service too, sooner or later. The CLRV prototypes (4000-4005 - the ones with all the red plastic) all went into service, and the first production unit was 4010.

Not sure why they didn't start numbering at 4300.

Here's another photo:


from RandyRisling on Twitter

If you look closely along the roof, you'll see a pantograph folded down.

The testing will involve running them in winter road salt conditions, running up and down hills (Bathurst hill?), negotiating curves (the Queen and Coxwell loop?), speed tests (Queensway), and to check that the new vehicles can handle all tracks and clearances in Toronto.

 

[nhui06]

I'd guess ... though presumably 4400-4402 would go into service too, sooner or later. The CLRV prototypes (4000-4005 - the ones with all the red plastic) all went into service, and the first production unit was 4010.

Not sure why they didn't start numbering at 4300.

Here's another photo:


from RandyRisling on Twitter

I am still curious as to how cars are going to know when to stop for passenger boarding. The doors on the old streetcars swing open, so people can see. These new streetcars have sliding doors, so it is hard to know. Will the 'Do Not Pass' sign light up?

 

[nfitz]

The doors on the old streetcars swing open, so people can see.

You have to stop before the doors open anyways, so I don't see much difference.

Perhaps what they need to do is change the sign on the back, which says don't pass when doors are open. As you can't pass when the streetcar is stopped for loading or unloading, whether or not the doors have opened yet or not.

 

[Voltz]

I've read that the do not pass sign on the back will light up when the doors are unlocked at a stop for boarding.