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TTC: Flexity Streetcars Testing & Delivery (Bombardier)

newuser2k9 said:
It's kind of funny that the streetcars are sharing a ship with high-end BMWs and Rolls-Royces. Quite a juxtaposition.
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Not really. Streetcars are probably one of the most expensive vehicles that an automotive company, like BMW (they make buses, do they make trams?), can mass produce.

Aircraft engines being one of the more expensive individual components.
 
reaperexpress said:
For streetcars that travel at 110 km/h, try the LACMTA Green Line.
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That's different than a traditional streetcar, since it operates in a fully dedicated ROW which would have been engineered to allow for high-speed operation.
If you just lay track in the middle of a street (ie for a traditional streetcar) there aren't too many modifications that can be completed to allow for high-speed operation.

Although the RT operates near it's top speed usually around 60 km/hr through the rail corridor, higher speeds likely can't be achieved, again, because it's been engineered for the speed it currently runs at.


Edit: On a side note, it's interesting that the Green Line essentially held the same distinction as the Sheppard Stubway as being a ride to nowhere, when it was under construction, but then higher-than-expected ridership help shed that moniker.
 
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rbt said:
Not really. Streetcars are probably one of the most expensive vehicles that an automotive company, like BMW (they make buses, do they make trams?), can mass produce.

Aircraft engines being one of the more expensive individual components.
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None of the Euro auto companies make rail vehicles per se., although Mercedes makes buses. The cost of a Rolls Royce is almost comparable to the cost of your average bus.
 
reaperexpress said:
What in the engineering limits the speed of the SRT? Are the rails not straight enough? Or are they simply to flimsy?
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One obvious thing are the turns between Midland and Ellesmere, and entering Kennedy, where the turns are essentially at the minimum radii possible. But in general sense the rails are mainly flat, there's aren't banked like a highway offramp is, and this limits the operation speed.
 
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andomano said:
One obvious thing are the turns between Midland and Ellesmere, and entering Kennedy, where the turns are essentially at the minimum radii possible. But in general sense the rails are mainly flat, there's aren't angled like a highway offramp is, and this limits the operation speed.
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The curves are both close to stations so the trains would be going fairly slowly anyway. But other than that, the line is dead straight, so the lack of banking shouldn't matter. (I assume that's what you mean by angled)
 
It's neat and interesting seeing the two eras of streetcars (somewhat) side-by-side in this photo, it's something like seeing the pccs and clrvs together at the ex. And not to mention it's interesting to note that the pcc and the flexity in the photo both are from Brussels, halfway around the world

can't seem to post the photos... so here's the specific link to the photo I'm referring to.
http://www.trans-continental.ca/vancouver/specialcollections/Flexity Streetcar offloading ceremony/IMG_5076.jpg

As a side bar, it's also interesting that from the time it was loaded onto the ship in germany, then to offload in north america took almost one month (nov 3 - dec 2)
 
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The heritage streetcar society hasn't ever run that older Brussels streetcar (in the background).

The demo cars were actually unloaded in Tacoma WA because the European carrier that Bombardier uses des not call in the Port of Vancouver.
 
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World's first series production of the award-winning MITRAC Energy Saver begins in Heidelberg

Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr GmbH (RNV) is set to commission the first six new Variobahn type Bombardier trams at its Heidelberg site in Germany. These trams are the first to feature the commercial application of the BOMBARDIER MITRAC Energy Saver, the innovative energy storage system. Thanks to this system, vehicles require up to 30 percent less energy and are capable of catenary-free operation.
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Click on this link for more information.

Yet another advantage of the Bombardier energy storage is the catenary-free operation in sections. Thanks to the MITRAC Energy Saver, sections of the route without contact wires can be operated using the stored energy. This typically makes sense in areas of historical importance, where the unique scenery is to be preserved. The technology might also be used on two route sections planned at Neuenheimer Feld in Heidelberg where the electrical fields of the contact wire could possibly interfere with the highly-sensitive measuring instruments of the University's Physical-Technical Institute and the German Cancer Research Centre.
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I don't think Toronto order will include the MITRAC Energy Saver, because of the steep inclines where the streetcars will be used, are steeper than their normal LRV specs for inclines.
 
The Vic Chair of TTC stated on the PCC 4500 today or was it the Chair that the 3 prototype models will arrived in 2011 from Vienna with full production in 2012.

Vienna Hunnnnnn!!! when Thunder Bay was supposed to do this??? Oh!! so much for the 25+% content buy Canadian and no surprise to me.

They should sent us those cars on the west coast in March 2010 before been sent home. Easy to fix the track gauge for some testing since St Clair is set up for Pan now.
 
drum118 said:
The Vic Chair of TTC stated on the PCC 4500 today or was it the Chair that the 3 prototype models will arrived in 2011 from Vienna with full production in 2012.

Vienna Hunnnnnn!!! when Thunder Bay was supposed to do this??? Oh!! so much for the 25+% content buy Canadian and no surprise to me.

They should sent us those cars on the west coast in March 2010 before been sent home. Easy to fix the track gauge for some testing since St Clair is set up for Pan now.
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The difference is more than just track gauge
 
PROTOTYPES does not mean that the final versions will come from Vienna. I guess that Bombardier hopes to get the prototypes here ASAP so they can be evaluated and they can then start the production run (in Thunder Bay) and I frankly don't care if they come from Vienna or Volgograd as long as the final versions appear before the present fleet dies.

I just hope that the prototypes are tested in revenue service by real passengers so that we can all add our 5 cents worth. (By 2011 maybe 8 cents worth!)
 
DSC said:
PROTOTYPES does not mean that the final versions will come from Vienna. I guess that Bombardier hopes to get the prototypes here ASAP so they can be evaluated and they can then start the production run (in Thunder Bay) and I frankly don't care if they come from Vienna or Volgograd as long as the final versions appear before the present fleet dies.

I just hope that the prototypes are tested in revenue service by real passengers so that we can all add our 5 cents worth. (By 2011 maybe 8 cents worth!)
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Do I hear 10¢?

The first 6 CLRV's were built in Switzerland. The remainding were all built in Thunder Bay.
 
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