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Waterloo Region Transit Developments (ION LRT, new terminal, GRT buses)

In Ottawa they've been doing the first phase of final testing before handover the past couple weeks, running trains at maximum possible frequency of 3 minutes using 20 single trains ahead of the final test of running full simulated service for 12 days using 15 pairs of trains. They're definitely still behind Ion, but it seems to be moving at a much faster pace, it's looking quite likely that it will be ready for the public before the end of May.

Ion at least from the outsider view looks like it's frozen in time, there doesn't seem to be the same pressure to move things along.
 
There are some double trains being tested. I saw 6 trains on Tuesday evening, all singles. They need a minimum of 34 trains to provide start-up service, 30 for regular service and 4 for backups. They also have 4 more trains under construction, because it is believed that 30 trains may have difficulties in meeting demand.

At the moment, it appears that they are testing frequency with mostly single trains. I am not convinced that hand over is imminent until we see all 30 trains in service.

The latest report as of this morning is that there is no desire to speculate on a startup date, which suggests that it may still be a while yet. I have said that until we see all 30 trains on the track, there may still be issues with the remaining trains. We understand that 24 trains are track ready, but the rest are not fully known.

With so much of the transit system being dependent on these trains (I have always questioned whether building around a single line was desirable), it was admitted today that replacement bus service will not be able to meet demand in the event of an inevitable rail closure. This is preparing Ottawans for transit chaos. We have to hope that this is rare, but only time will tell.

Behind the scenes, there is considerable concern about whether the trains can handle Ottawa winters. This is shocking. Apparently trains have almost no ability to clear snow from the tracks, being limited to only 3.3 cm. Whether frequent service will keep this manageable may or may not resolve the problem.
 
lrt's friend said:
There are some double trains being tested. I saw 6 trains on Tuesday evening, all singles. They need a minimum of 34 trains to provide start-up service, 30 for regular service and 4 for backups. They also have 4 more trains under construction, because it is believed that 30 trains may have difficulties in meeting demand.

At the moment, it appears that they are testing frequency with mostly single trains. I am not convinced that hand over is imminent until we see all 30 trains in service.

The latest report as of this morning is that there is no desire to speculate on a startup date, which suggests that it may still be a while yet. I have said that until we see all 30 trains on the track, there may still be issues with the remaining trains. We understand that 24 trains are track ready, but the rest are not fully known.

With so much of the transit system being dependent on these trains (I have always questioned whether building around a single line was desirable), it was admitted today that replacement bus service will not be able to meet demand in the event of an inevitable rail closure. This is preparing Ottawans for transit chaos. We have to hope that this is rare, but only time will tell.

Behind the scenes, there is considerable concern about whether the trains can handle Ottawa winters. This is shocking. Apparently trains have almost no ability to clear snow from the tracks, being limited to only 3.3 cm. Whether frequent service will keep this manageable may or may not resolve the problem.
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Your concerns about the confed line are well known, but are more appropriate on the Ottawa thread.

Really I was just comparing the speed of progress compared to Ion, which seems to be glacial. While there is outrage in Ottawa over all the delays, the attitude in KW seems to be almost defeatist now after being delayed so long.
 
Kyle Campbell said:
Your concerns about the confed line are well known, but are more appropriate on the Ottawa thread.

Really I was just comparing the speed of progress compared to Ion, which seems to be glacial. While there is outrage in Ottawa over all the delays, the attitude in KW seems to be almost defeatist now after being delayed so long.
Click to expand...

The pace of testing only appears to be glacial on the outside mostly because they really don't have any system integration testing left to do at this point. Most of the work is happening behind the scenes.
 
Kyle Campbell said:
Your concerns about the confed line are well known, but are more appropriate on the Ottawa thread.

Really I was just comparing the speed of progress compared to Ion, which seems to be glacial. While there is outrage in Ottawa over all the delays, the attitude in KW seems to be almost defeatist now after being delayed so long.
Click to expand...

You are right. I didn't even notice that your original comment was on the KW thread until I went back to look. Nevertheless, like in KW, there is a defeatist attitude here in Ottawa as well. I would not say outrage. This will come if snow stops the trains next winter.
 
jordanmkasla2009 said:
The pace of testing only appears to be glacial on the outside mostly because they really don't have any system integration testing left to do at this point. Most of the work is happening behind the scenes.
Click to expand...

The embedded crossovers and related signalling at Green and Cameron are still being thrown manually with garbage bags taped over the signal heads so that operators don't have to radio for permission to proceed past red aspects all the time. I had some hope when GrandLinq had the bags off for testing at Cameron late last week, including moving the switch points under automated control, but the bags went back on and Cameron and Green are still not working. They've been months in this condition and I have to agree with @Kyle Campbell that to outward appearances there doesn't seem to be any sense of urgency. I'm a huge fan of this project and try only to post positive things, but have to admit it's been quite disheartening of late.
 
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Will KW have their line running by June as its looks like Ottawa will be???

As for the Hub, the rendering showing towers there and around it doesn't match what there now. If the towers are to the west of King St, then that matches what there now.
 
Leo_Chan said:
10 minute walk on the street.
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LOL.

No seriously. Hmm - also there's the integration with the buses. The main bus terminal is only on the southbound tracks. I assume there's a plan in place to adjust the bus routes to make sure they all pass a station in both directions.

Seems bizarre to me that they've had years to do this, and are so far behind.
 
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timio said:
There's a large route rationalization happening in conjunction with the LRT launch. Many routes will be realigned: https://www.grt.ca/en/about-grt/bus-service-changes-ion.aspx
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They're continuously moving in the right direction in this region.

That said, even after rationalization many of their routes still look pretty wonky for someone who likes grid systems.

Of course, that's a product of a pretty messy and incoherent road network as much as anything.

I wonder if they will make any investment to grid-up a couple of major roads.
 
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