(11-29-2023, 03:01 AM)tomh009 Wrote:(11-27-2023, 11:15 AM)neonjoe Wrote: From what it sounds like the operation/runs expenses per period are pretty much set within the contract. Likely the best way to expand capacity without changing the contract would be double length trains, but this also involves capital costs.
Not fixed as such: they can get more service but it will cost more.
Running double trains will require 13-14 additional train sets, plus the station construction; reducing headways to 7.5 minutes would probably only require four or maybe five more. In addition to the cost difference, reducing the headways can be done more quickly as there is no construction, and we only need to wait for a handful of trains. Getting another 13-14 trains would surely take much more than two years.
While double trains might only need one driver, their operational and maintenance costs would still be higher, too.
The ION LRT trams currently run on a 100-minute schedule with a 7-minute break at Fairway station and 6-minute break at Conestoga before turning around when doing 10-minute headways.
E.g. The tram leaves Conestoga at 12:00:00, arrives at Fairway at 12:43:00, leaves Fairway at 12:50:00, arrives back at Conestoga at 13:34:00, and leaves again at 13:40. This uses 10 trams.
For trams every 7.5 minutes, you could use 13 trams on a 97.5-minute schedule with breaks of 5 and 5.5 minutes, or 14 trams on a 105-minute schedule with breaks of 12 and 6 minutes.
Now that I think about it, that second one would not work because it would mean a second tram arriving while the first tram is waiting with a 4.5 minute overlap which could make it confusing for which tram to get on as the next departure would switch back and forth between platforms.