ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[tomh009]

Poutine is not French, it's Québecois! LRT is not Québecois, it's French!

但电子产品是在中国制造的。

残念な。 最高の電子製品は日本製。

[jeffster]

但电子产品是在中国制造的。

残念な。 最高の電子製品は日本製。

这是真的。但现在一切都是在中国制造的！

ION-LRT 的许多组件都是在中国制造的。

[Bob_McBob]

Ezra has been milked to death this year, back to the LRT...

Still no date for spring launch of LRT

[KevinL]

[urbd]

Ezra has been milked to death this year, back to the LRT...

Still no date for spring launch of LRT

Is there a text version of it? I can't stand news videos... what an annoying trend.

[Square]

Sandbags are stand-in passengers for Ion testing

Ion trains are taking unusual passengers for a ride.

Heaps of sandbags — the equivalent of a train's 200-passenger capacity — are loaded on as part of the ongoing testing of vehicles and light rail infrastructure.

"There's quite a few sandbags on there," said Brendon Simon, senior Ion project manager with the Region of Waterloo. "It fills up the train from end to end."

The sandbags simulate a full vehicle, giving the driver a feel for how it handles and brakes compared to travelling along the line when it's empty.

"The vehicle performs a big differently," Simon said. "It just gets that practice in."

The weighted train also tests out the infrastructure along the line, including the power supply to keep it moving along at the right speed.

https://www.therecord.com/news-story/919...n-testing/

It also says this in the article "Each day now there are four to six trains out on the 19-kilometre route between Kitchener and Waterloo at any one time.

"That will continue to go up through the next couple months," Simon said."

Really?, all I hear is about 3 vehicles out daily on my scanner!  That quote was taken from February 26 edition.

Also, I wish they would give us more vehicle updates.

[Spokes]

I thought at some point soon they were going to be replicating a full schedule, no?

[KevinT]

There's still bags taped over the signal heads at the Cameron and Green crossovers. Until they get whatever's not working right working right, I doubt we'll see more simultaneous trains or simulated service runs. Come on guys, you can do it!

Edit to add: The good news is, I've been hearing more test chatter on the scanner lately rather than just the routine training run chatter.

[Rainrider22]

I was listening to Thomas Shmidt on Mike Farwell Monday morning. At first I thought it was April Fools listening to him talk about how much work has to be done yet. Then I realized, he is subtly telling us the system is no where near ready. I have been always been optimistic on LRT but I have a feeling we won't see it till at least the fall.  They might announce a start date by end of spring.   
I just wish they had the fortitude to be honest and deliver the news.

[KevinT]

I just wish they had the fortitude to be honest and deliver the news.

I really miss Darshpreet Bhatti's hand on the wheel, he didn't seem to shy away from keeping us all up to date.  The YouTube videos for the Eglinton Crosstown have a very familiar feel to them, gee, I wonder why?

[welltoldtales]

Oh no. was it really that bad? I just want my trains.

[trainspotter139]

I was listening to Thomas Shmidt on Mike Farwell Monday morning. At first I thought it was April Fools listening to him talk about how much work has to be done yet. Then I realized, he is subtly telling us the system is no where near ready. I have been always been optimistic on LRT but I have a feeling we won't see it till at least the fall.  They might announce a start date by end of spring.   
I just wish they had the fortitude to be honest and deliver the news.

While there is a lot of issues and work to be done with the system, some of the work will likely be completed after the system launches (there are some new crossings that need to be added south of Mill Station, for example). Those issues are non-critical and may have more complicated fixes and are having detailed plans signed-off by the Region for completion later. Right now they are working on critical issues and simulated burn-in testing to identify any more faults with the vehicles and promptly fix them.

[jeffster]

I just wish they had the fortitude to be honest and deliver the news.

Don't we all? Is it that hard to say; "Yeah, folks, perhaps summer 2020 is more accurate, if not, perhaps spring 2021." It's not popular to say that, but if they error on that side, and it's ready autumn 2019, then we're celebrating.

[danbrotherston]

I just wish they had the fortitude to be honest and deliver the news.

Don't we all? Is it that hard to say; "Yeah, folks, perhaps summer 2020 is more accurate, if not, perhaps spring 2021." It's not popular to say that, but if they error on that side, and it's ready autumn 2019, then we're celebrating.

If they say 2021 and then launch in autumn 2019, that's still a problem.  There are people making decisions based on this information...it must be accurate.

The fact is, they should have a good idea how long these things will take, if they don't, they aren't managing the project well.  There can be unexpected obstacles and we'd like to hear about those things as well, but they should know what's left.  I believe we (and "we" may include council and maybe even Region staff) just aren't being told.

[trainspotter139]

An ION train will be at Borden Station April 11 from 11 AM - 2 PM for a tour.
https://www.facebook.com/events/328463544694726/

And at Grand River Hospital Station Thursday April 25 from 12 PM - 2 PM
https://www.facebook.com/events/2078189875814716/