ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[bgb_ca]

(very grand event I hear)

Why did I hear that in a trump voice?

[jeffster]

Getting back to our own launch date: if we are hoping for late April, then simulated service is supposed to start in about three weeks, since that is supposed to take a month. That is quite soon but feels viable based on what we've heard.

I saw that the Ottawa system looks like it has only 12 days of simulated service...

I recently heard from someone that they are aiming for early June due to the schedules of important people that need to be present for the opening ceremony (very grand event I hear) and to give themselves a bit of a buffer - even though it might be ready for service sometime in May.

If that's true, that's stupid. If it's ready for April 15, for example, then that is when they should start service. If important people can't attend then too bad, because obviously this is not important to them. Really, the important people are the taxpayers, and the LRT users. Not those that promised a system for autumn 2017 but only had it ready late spring 2019.

[Spokes]

Getting back to our own launch date: if we are hoping for late April, then simulated service is supposed to start in about three weeks, since that is supposed to take a month. That is quite soon but feels viable based on what we've heard.

I saw that the Ottawa system looks like it has only 12 days of simulated service...

What exactly constitutes "simulated service"?

[Bob_McBob]

3 Burn-In Tests

3.1 Upon successful completion of the Acceptance Tests, the Vehicle shall start the Burn‐In Test to be conducted by the Region and the Vehicle Supplier, with operational support from Project Co utilizing the Test Track and any other available track.

3.2 The 600 Km “Burn‐In Test" will be run on each Vehicle prior to final acceptance and shall be free of class A, B, and C failures, as generally defined below; the only permissible fault shall be of class D:
(a) Rescue towing/pushing is required ‐ Failure Mode Category A = Severe vehicle impairment
(b) Out‐of‐service to carhouse ‐ Failure Mode Category B = Vehicle impairment
© In service to end of the line ‐ Failure Mode Category C = Minor vehicle impairment
(d) In service to end of the day ‐ Failure Mode Category D = No vehicle impairment

3.3 The test shall simulate revenue service, to the extent reasonably possible, and include regular cycling of doors, PA announcements, and automatic passenger announcements, PEI operation, radio communication as well as any other feature normally encountered in revenue service. Such simulation may include manual activation of certain features. In the event that the A, B, and C fault‐free continuous 600 km is not achieved the “burn‐in” will be repeated until the requirement is met.

3.4 Upon successful completion of the Burn‐In Test, the Vehicle shall be eligible for issuance of a Vehicle Final Acceptance Certificate.

[trainspotter139]

3 Burn-In Tests

3.1 Upon successful completion of the Acceptance Tests, the Vehicle shall start the Burn‐In Test to be conducted by the Region and the Vehicle Supplier, with operational support from Project Co utilizing the Test Track and any other available track.

3.2 The 600 Km “Burn‐In Test" will be run on each Vehicle prior to final acceptance and shall be free of class A, B, and C failures, as generally defined below; the only permissible fault shall be of class D:
(a) Rescue towing/pushing is required ‐ Failure Mode Category A = Severe vehicle impairment
(b) Out‐of‐service to carhouse ‐ Failure Mode Category B = Vehicle impairment
© In service to end of the line ‐ Failure Mode Category C = Minor vehicle impairment
(d) In service to end of the day ‐ Failure Mode Category D = No vehicle impairment

3.3 The test shall simulate revenue service, to the extent reasonably possible, and include regular cycling of doors, PA announcements, and automatic passenger announcements, PEI operation, radio communication as well as any other feature normally encountered in revenue service. Such simulation may include manual activation of certain features. In the event that the A, B, and C fault‐free continuous 600 km is not achieved the “burn‐in” will be repeated until the requirement is met.

3.4 Upon successful completion of the Burn‐In Test, the Vehicle shall be eligible for issuance of a Vehicle Final Acceptance Certificate.

That's just for Vehicle Burn-in. The Service Simulation requirement is for the system to achieve 92% service availability each day over a 5 day period if one day is missed the period starts over.

[Bob_McBob]

Right, this was all supposed to be done before substantial completion.

(iii) Demonstrated System Operation – Stage 1 LRT

A. After completion of the Operating System Acceptance Tests, and as a prerequisite of Certification of Substantial Completion for the Stage 1 LRT System, Project Co shall conduct a full demonstration of the LRT services.

B. This demonstration shall be called the "Demonstrated System Operation – Stage 1 LRT System" and shall involve day-to-day operation of the System in accordance with the Region-approved System Operations Plan. During the DSO, the System shall be operated continuously (without interruption), as though in passenger service (without passengers), in strict accordance with all operations and maintenance policies and procedures, until the System Service Availability specified in the Schedule 15-3 Article 3 Section 3.6 has been achieved over a consecutive 5-day operating period. Furthermore, the "Demonstrated System Operation - Stage 1 LRT System" shall include the demonstration of all routine and emergency procedures associated with operation of the Stage 1 LRT System. 

3.6 System Service Availability Levels for Substantial Completion Certificate
(a) As a prerequisite to the issuance of the Substantial Completion Certificate for the System, the DSSPF, computed in accordance with this Article, shall average at least 0.9200 for a period of 5 consecutive weekdays of demonstration train service during the System Demonstration. 

(ii) The Daily Scheduled Service Performance Factor (DSSPF) is determined by the following formula. DSSPF = (Actual Train in Service Points/Scheduled Train in Service Points).

(iii) Where:

A. Since Train in Service points are assigned for on time departure and on time arrival, the total number of points that can be earned per train trip is two points.

B. DSSPF shall be calculated on a daily basis and the daily totals shall be summed up and divided by the number of days in the Scheduled Service Plan for the month to determine the overall SSPF for the month.

C. Actual Train in Service Points are the summation of the daily Earned Departure Time Points and Earned Arrival Time Points earned by each train as per the tables below.




D. Any train trip that is canceled prior to entering revenue service or is taken out of revenue service earns no Departure or Arrival Time Points. Any train which fails to complete any part of its normal scheduled service train trip, such as missing an LRT Stop, earns no Departure or Arrival Time Points.

E. Project Co is required to provide train service at any time when service is scheduled and at least partial service, when possible, even if no points are earned for that train trip. 

[Canard]

514 has been loaded up with “Bombardier Officials,” and the burn-in has begun!

[Bob_McBob]

I always said we'd hear about burn-in testing here first 

Have you got any details or is it just radio chatter?

[Canard]

Just radio chatter, and a friendly hello wave from the team as they rolled past.

[Square]

So has PAC been given to 514 then? I mean is this a dry burn in or the required 600km burn in?

[Canard]

I overheard a few messages, like:

“We are waiting for BT to start our burn in”

“BT officials are now all on board, 514 ready to start burn in!”

etc. - and the operator was being ultra-polite and super-professional; even moreso than usual.

I have no inside knowledge; I’m afraid you will have to form your own conclusions. If burn-in began today in the afternoon I do not think it is reasonable to assume they were able to complete 600 km of running by the time they returned to the yard 2 hours later.

[trainspotter139]

I overheard a few messages, like:

“We are waiting for BT to start our burn in”

“BT officials are now all on board, 514 ready to start burn in!”

etc. - and the operator was being ultra-polite and super-professional; even moreso than usual.

I have no inside knowledge; I’m afraid you will have to form your own conclusions. If burn-in began today in the afternoon I do not think it is reasonable to assume they were able to complete 600 km of running by the time they returned to the yard 2 hours later.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was just a simulated burn in exercise. Real burn-in should be as continuous as possible ending only at normal service end times.

[Square]

Thank you for the replies.

[jeffster]

Thank you for the replies.

Yes, thanks to all those who have contributed to this thread! Hopefully not much longer now.

I have a friend that got a job as a train operator -- exciting times for him. I had debated going for this myself, but didn't want to give up my seniority and OMERS. Had this been a OMERS job, I'd have been all over it, as I have always wanted to drive a train (subway like device).

[avernar]

Are these the auto greaser units or something else?  https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.5014746,-...312!8i6656

Saw a work crew working on a bunch of them all along Northfield on Friday.