ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[ert86]

Just looked at their ION schedule -- man. They need to clean up the scheduling. Maybe I am just used to the TTC, but their paperwork makes zero sense. Though if I am reading correctly, I am surprised at the early service (before 5), this is earlier than Toronto, though doesn't run as late.

The only reason I've supporter ION since 2014 was because of the early weekend starts, especially Sunday/Holiday.  Also, if you look closely the ION schedule uses different fonts on weekends, is that it? /s

[jwilliamson]

503 was stopped on the tracks between the Clay and Glass Gallery and Perimeter Institute for at least a few minutes this afternoon. The signals where the trail crosses to Father David Bauer and at Erb/Caroline were active the whole time.

[danbrotherston]

503 was stopped on the tracks between the Clay and Glass Gallery and Perimeter Institute for at least a few minutes this afternoon. The signals where the trail crosses to Father David Bauer and at Erb/Caroline were active the whole time.

Yeah, the signals were on and off.

There has been some serious issue:  https://i.imgur.com/8fZ5HuK.jpg

https://www.reddit.com/r/kitchener/comme...wer_lines/

Redditor doesn't give any context, but the photo doesn't look good.

There were several LRVs in that area, at least one was in a towing configuration, as well, I could see some other pieces of equipment.

I fear this could be a delay.

[trainspotter139]

503 was stopped on the tracks between the Clay and Glass Gallery and Perimeter Institute for at least a few minutes this afternoon. The signals where the trail crosses to Father David Bauer and at Erb/Caroline were active the whole time.

Yeah, the signals were on and off.

There has been some serious issue:  https://i.imgur.com/8fZ5HuK.jpg

https://www.reddit.com/r/kitchener/comme...wer_lines/

Redditor doesn't give any context, but the photo doesn't look good.

There were several LRVs in that area, at least one was in a towing configuration, as well, I could see some other pieces of equipment.

I fear this could be a delay.

It's just your standard run of the mill pantograph failure. Pictured there is the broken pantograph caught in one of the droppers. Not the worst panto failure I've seen

[kps]

There were several LRVs in that area, at least one was in a towing configuration, as well, I could see some other pieces of equipment.

I fear this could be a delay.

Leddit now has a video of it being towed back to base.

[tomh009]

It's just your standard run of the mill pantograph failure. Pictured there is the broken pantograph caught in one of the droppers. Not the worst panto failure I've seen

What's the expected lifetime of a pantograph?

[Bob_McBob]

According to another Redditor there was a repair crew working on the cable in that exact part of the line earlier today.

[danbrotherston]

Yeah, the signals were on and off.

There has been some serious issue:  https://i.imgur.com/8fZ5HuK.jpg

https://www.reddit.com/r/kitchener/comme...wer_lines/

Redditor doesn't give any context, but the photo doesn't look good.

There were several LRVs in that area, at least one was in a towing configuration, as well, I could see some other pieces of equipment.

I fear this could be a delay.

It's just your standard run of the mill pantograph failure. Pictured there is the broken pantograph caught in one of the droppers. Not the worst panto failure I've seen

Perhaps not unusual, and perhaps not too long to fix, but to happen during testing, I would think they'd like to figure out the cause...wouldn't think such a major failure would be happening at this stage.

[boatracer]

Not sure if this has been posted previously but the bags have been removed from the Green Street switch lights and I also saw #510 slowly heading north bound on the southbound tracks with flashers on around 12:30. Possibly some switch testing. I was coming from Waterloo and saw an LRV sitting at the Allen Station, obviously waiting there for the track ahead to clear.

[trainspotter139]

It's just your standard run of the mill pantograph failure. Pictured there is the broken pantograph caught in one of the droppers. Not the worst panto failure I've seen

Perhaps not unusual, and perhaps not too long to fix, but to happen during testing, I would think they'd like to figure out the cause...wouldn't think such a major failure would be happening at this stage.

This issue has numerous causes. Two of them off the top of my head are caused by the carbon strips that get attached to them. I wouldn't call it a major failure though. This particular panto failure didn't pull down the OCS with it.

[danbrotherston]

Perhaps not unusual, and perhaps not too long to fix, but to happen during testing, I would think they'd like to figure out the cause...wouldn't think such a major failure would be happening at this stage.

This issue has numerous causes. Two of them off the top of my head are caused by the carbon strips that get attached to them. I wouldn't call it a major failure though. This particular panto failure didn't pull down the OCS with it.

Yes, I do realize I misinterpreted the picture, and the OCS doesn't appear damaged as it did at first.

I still feel this is a pretty serious failure though, given that the system was down for an extended period of time. Were it to occur on opening weekend, it would be a major news item.

[KevinT]

I still feel this is a pretty serious failure though, given that the system was down for an extended period of time. Were it to occur on opening weekend, it would be a major news item.

A failure like this wouldn't bring down the system for long. They could still operate from Conestoga to Northfield using the Northfield crossover, perhaps even to R&T Park or University with some reverse running thrown in and using the Weber crossover. On the south end they could operate from Fairway to Central using the Green crossover, or perhaps even to GRH or Allen with some reverse running. In between those points there'd be shuttle buses to connect the two system segments. Embarrassing, yes, catastrophic, no.

[KevinT]

The original picture on Reddit seems to place the panto snag at the facing point freight crossover in front of the Perimeter Institute, rather than the trailing point LRV crossover in front of the Clay & Glass Gallery. The wiring through the freight crossover is strung from wooden poles, so I've always assumed it was a temporary arrangement for the original 'test track' portion of the route, allowing vehicles to cross over without entering the Erb / Caroline intersection. If that's indeed the wiring they snagged, I wonder if this incident will hasten its removal?

[Bob_McBob]

The Record has an article up predicting major collision locations based on car collision data, which I think is a somewhat flawed methodology given the type of collisions that seem to be common (e.g. cars turning across the tracks in front of a train as we saw in the last incident).

https://www.therecord.com/news-story/942...-ion-line/

[YKF]

It's a Jeff Outhit piece...