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ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit
(07-21-2017, 12:10 PM)tomh009 Wrote: This generator (near the market station) has been running for more than six months now, I think.  Surely the TPSS doesn't need an external generator, does it?

I believe the TPSS at Waterloo Park still has a generator running as well.
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No, they don't need an external generator. The generators were brought in to power up the electronics before the main power was supplied. As they are commissioned the generators are removed.
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I presume trains can't run until the TPSS is fully powered up. So when will they be powered?
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They're coming online one by one, often the guys are out working on Sundays, too. Look for open doors on the TPSS' and signal houses, and a Mass Electric truck nearby.
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Also from today's update:

Quote:Testing of the railway crossing signals will begin on or about July 24, and will be ongoing until the fall. This operation will trigger the gates and bells at the railway crossings (Courtland, Ottawa/Mill, Hayward, Block Line and Wilson) for a maximum of two minutes at a time. This work will generally take place between 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. to avoid traffic disruptions during rush hour
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Interestingly, I saw some LRT construction going on in Astana (Kazakhstan) today. The stats are close to ours: 22.4km, 18 stops, 19 LRVs, max speed 40km/h. Astana's population is higher at 835,000 with enormous growth in the past 15 years due in part to now being the national capital. It's basically built by China. The government doesn't have any problem spending money (although they vacillated between LRT and BRT as well).

Surprisingly, it's being estimated at US$1.8B. And there's not that many natural obstacles in Astana either, and the infrastructure is all new. Maybe the only obstacle is the river. But 2.5x the cost?

They were also hoping to finish it in time for Expo 2017, but they missed that by quite a bit.
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(07-21-2017, 12:42 PM)Canard Wrote: They're coming online one by one, often the guys are out working on Sundays, too. Look for open doors on the TPSS' and signal houses, and a Mass Electric truck nearby.

Do you have much of an idea what is involved at this stage? Are they just flipping a few switches, or is there a bunch of testing to do, still hooking up wires, or what? I’ve been amazed at the amount of work still being done at the derail by my house — at this point there is no visible change, but every few days somebody is out there with the door or equipment covers open, clearly doing something.
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I'm really not sure. I've talked to a few of the folks while they're out there working, but nothing really of detail (I don't like to pry, or take them away from what they're working on for too long). It's an incredible amount of work; the boxes are absolutely jam packed with electronics. Trying to troubleshoot it all and bring it all online must be a monumental task!

Most cities take around 6 months or a year to do the commissioning phase, so I think we're right in line.
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(07-20-2017, 09:50 AM)Markster Wrote: I wonder how many years it will be before they legitimize the *obvious* crossing for the Willis Way platform.  I can guarantee you that 80% of all able-bodied people will just cross Caroline St directly from the platform.


And more fruitless traffic control is clearly on display at Northfield.
Most destinations at Northfield are to the left.  They are forcing all exits out the right.  Again, most people are going to walk around that fence, but then cut diagonally across the ROW toward their destination.  Unless I suppose, they put a dividing fence down the middle.

I’ve said it before, but I think it is worth mentioning again: not enough thought about how Ion users will actually use and access the stations has been done and is now showing in the final execution of the build. It will affect ridership, the experience, and safety negatively.
Everyone move to the back of the bus and we all get home faster.
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A case in point: I went by the Kitchener Market station his morning. The south end of the platform has ramps and tactile plates - which are even signposted as being for 'Madison and Cameron Streets' on the platform - but there's still a high curb between the track and road, and no curb cuts on the sidewalk or any crosswalk markings. Which makes you wonder why it's signposted at all.

They could have put this a bit further south and at least used the access at Madison - but they can't because there's a signal box right there in the median. Oh well.
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Some of this will need to get fixed (and hopefully it will get fixed).

That said, I really don't think it will have a significant impact on ridership. Of course, there is no A/B comparison possible so we will never actually know.
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I spotted a very interesting problem this morning.

https://twitter.com/canardiain/status/88...8508519425

The thread explains, but I spoke to the programmer working one block down, and he headed back over (hopefully to fix it). I haven't swung back around yet this afternoon to see if it's all fixed.

EDIT - Just confirming that the lights at Queen are now operating correctly!
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Nice to see grading works beginning at the interface of the Laurel Trail and R&amp;T Park station! Can't wait for Ken Hall's &quot;Network&quot;. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/wrLRT?src=hash">#wrLRT</a> <a href="https://t.co/LtwNBei7mT">pic.twitter.com/LtwNBei7mT</a></p>&mdash; Iain Hendry (@Canardiain) <a href="https://twitter.com/Canardiain/status/889138638474403840">July 23, 2017</a></blockquote>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Cool! Didn't expect to see cosmetic TPSS shroud panels installed. Hope other critical areas can have too. Nicely done! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/wrLRT?src=hash">#wrLRT</a> <a href="https://t.co/ecCQVXOH4w">pic.twitter.com/ecCQVXOH4w</a></p>&mdash; Iain Hendry (@Canardiain) <a href="https://twitter.com/Canardiain/status/889144583942221824">July 23, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Good news everybody!  Under the railway underpass (you know, that place where there are technically going to MUTs for cyclists anyway), the contractor has painted the edge line buffer yellow in the middle of the road instead of white at the shoulder of the road, ensuring that drivers and cyclists will no longer mistake it for a bike lane.

Of course, I suspect they're doing this because of the different road configuration (tracks at the right, with no barrier curb) because somehow a barrier curb on the right is more dangerous than one in the middle?!

   
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(07-23-2017, 09:01 PM)Canard Wrote: <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Nice to see grading works beginning at the interface of the Laurel Trail and R&amp;T Park station! Can't wait for Ken Hall's &quot;Network&quot;. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/wrLRT?src=hash">#wrLRT</a> <a href="https://t.co/LtwNBei7mT">pic.twitter.com/LtwNBei7mT</a></p>&mdash; Iain Hendry (@Canardiain) <a href="https://twitter.com/Canardiain/status/889138638474403840">July 23, 2017</a></blockquote>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Cool! Didn't expect to see cosmetic TPSS shroud panels installed. Hope other critical areas can have too. Nicely done! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/wrLRT?src=hash">#wrLRT</a> <a href="https://t.co/ecCQVXOH4w">pic.twitter.com/ecCQVXOH4w</a></p>&mdash; Iain Hendry (@Canardiain) <a href="https://twitter.com/Canardiain/status/889144583942221824">July 23, 2017</a></blockquote>

Wow... what a boring and sterile wall.
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