ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[D40LF]

Does someone have drawings, plans, etc. for the Fairview platform? I was under the impression that one side was for aBRT.

[Markster]

Although it could be that trains will dwell for 15 minutes, so one will arrive on Platform 1, and the train sitting idle on Platform 2 then departs. Then the next train arrives on 2, and 1 departs.

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking is plausible. But is that really what they've planned for?
I guess it is, because when doing cost-reduction, the second platform at Conestoga Mall would have been the first thing I cut. Vancouver's Canada Line has only one set of tracks and one platform at the terminal station at Richmond-Brighouse, a result of cost saving on that line.

Maybe the second platform will be unloading only? i.e. for trains going out of service? Seems plausible... but a lot more work than just telling the driver to make a PA announcement.

[GtwoK]

Does someone have drawings, plans, etc. for the Fairview platform? I was under the impression that one side was for aBRT.

[KevinL]

The roadway on the far side of the rail platforms shown there will have platforms for the aBRT buses.

[Canard]

It's standard and the easiest to design to. It leaves you the flexibility to operate it however you like. As soon as you do what was done on the Canada line (single track from the 2nd last station to the last), you're setting yourself up for excuses not to expand in the future.

Don't worry - it will all work. It works everywhere else in the world, there's nothing new or novel here.

[SammyOES]

Obviously Canard doesn't know about the poor ridership of the UPX...

[jgsz]

Well, no wonder Peter Shawn Taylor wrote such an unkind opinion piece for The Record.  He saw the drawing for the Fairview Park Mall LRT Stop and there is only one person on the platform.  If I took pictures so literally I too would be shitting bricks.    And writing about it!

[Canard]

Here's what G:Link's Broadbeach terminus station looks like - notice the setup is the same as Fairway and Conestoga, with outside platforms.  In this case they built a temporary platform across the 2nd track, so they can do flush loading.  When they start work on Phase 2, they can tear up the temporary platform extension.

https://goo.gl/ossgm6

   


Temporary platform extension is the foreground, you can see the seam where it interfaces the actual, permanent platform.

[Canard]

Obviously Canard doesn't know about the poor ridership of the UPX...

I'm sorry, what?

[MidTowner]

I'm sorry, what?

You didn't hear about the poor ridership on the Union Pearson Express? And the MacLean's editor throwing chicken bones and coming to the realization that LRT will meet the same fate, since both systems use acronyms and run on rails?

[Canard]

Of course I did - it's on the previous page of this thread and all over the news. What has that got to do with side vs. centre platforms at station terminals? Just confused, that's all.

[MidTowner]

I'm pretty sure that SammyOES' comment was a joke. (Mine was sarcastic, too.)

Edit: It's all over the news? Ugh, that's unfortunate. That was a fairly stupid column. It's fun to poke fun at things like that, but unfortunate to think anyone would give it real attention.

[tomh009]

ION LRV deliveries not to be affected by BBD cuts. As expected.
http://www.kitchenerpost.ca/news-story/6...on-s-lrvs/

[KevinL]

That article also confirms that all the units (14 trainsets) will be delivered by the end of the year!

[Canard]

The big (and very exciting!) news out of that excellent Kitchener Post article is that all 14 trains are scheduled to be delivered this year!  I previously had only thought we'd see one or two trains before the end of the year, for clearance testing and so on, with the remainder being delivered over the 2017 calendar year.  I didn't realize the plan was to have all 14 trains at the OMSF this year!

Now, being realistic with everything going on with Bombardier, even I, a huge BBD fanboy can say I fully expect that we'll see a slower than planned rollout of our trains... but I was thinking that if they were delayed, we might not see trains this year at all.  A delay from having 14 trains this year might mean we only see a couple - but we'll see at least one, which is all I really care about.

Will be by Millhaven again within a month so I'll be sure to stop by the test track and see if I can spot any activity there!

I really, really, really wish the Project Team and Bombardier would just release some kind of construction photo at least showing a partially assembled vehicle to whet our appetite and settle our nerves.