ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[neonjoe]

I like the look, and wondered that myself. My only guess that winter maintenance may have cause too much harm? I mean, at least to ION officials. Linz has about 61 cm of snow per year. So it's not like it's snow free. But perhaps their warmer winter climate may make snow removal easier.

Snow removal is not normally required on railways except for exceptionally snowy areas or areas with extensive drifting or avalanches. I’m pretty sure the local freight railways around here are never plowed. Embedded track is different; I’m not entirely clear how different. Up to a point it should still be possible for the LRVs to push aside snow, but if the flangeway ices up you can get derailments and it’s possible deep snow would be a problem. But unless emergency vehicles (or other traffic, but that doesn’t apply to our system outside of intersections) really are using the track area embedding isn’t required anyhow so who knows.

Perhaps for Ambulances or other emergency vehicles. They are permitted to hop the curb and use the LRT ROW to bypass traffic for emergency situations.
https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-...aring.html

Police cars, ambulances and fire trucks can mount the curbs that separate light rail tracks from the road in some areas where streets are too narrow for vehicles to pull over and let emergency vehicles pass.

[bgb_ca]

I like the look, and wondered that myself. My only guess that winter maintenance may have cause too much harm? I mean, at least to ION officials. Linz has about 61 cm of snow per year. So it's not like it's snow free. But perhaps their warmer winter climate may make snow removal easier.

Snow removal is not normally required on railways except for exceptionally snowy areas or areas with extensive drifting or avalanches. I’m pretty sure the local freight railways around here are never plowed. Embedded track is different; I’m not entirely clear how different. Up to a point it should still be possible for the LRVs to push aside snow, but if the flangeway ices up you can get derailments and it’s possible deep snow would be a problem. But unless emergency vehicles (or other traffic, but that doesn’t apply to our system outside of intersections) really are using the track area embedding isn’t required anyhow so who knows.

Thought they said years ago, during overnight snow incidents they are going to keep a LRV or two running up and down the line to knock ice off the overhead lines and to push any snow off the tracks that accumulates before it gets too thick to push through.

[danbrotherston]

Snow removal is not normally required on railways except for exceptionally snowy areas or areas with extensive drifting or avalanches. I’m pretty sure the local freight railways around here are never plowed. Embedded track is different; I’m not entirely clear how different. Up to a point it should still be possible for the LRVs to push aside snow, but if the flangeway ices up you can get derailments and it’s possible deep snow would be a problem. But unless emergency vehicles (or other traffic, but that doesn’t apply to our system outside of intersections) really are using the track area embedding isn’t required anyhow so who knows.

Thought they said years ago, during overnight snow incidents they are going to keep a LRV or two running up and down the line to knock ice off the overhead lines and to push any snow off the tracks that accumulates before it gets too thick to push through.

This is what they said, but during the last winter, they were running snow removal equipment along the embedded tracks. I'm not sure why they now feel this is necessary, but that is nonetheless what they are doing.

[Bytor]

This is what they said, but during the last winter, they were running snow removal equipment along the embedded tracks. I'm not sure why they now feel this is necessary, but that is nonetheless what they are doing.

I would guess that a maintenance person using equipment on the tracks is much cheaper in terms of labour costs than an LRV driver.

[danbrotherston]

This is what they said, but during the last winter, they were running snow removal equipment along the embedded tracks. I'm not sure why they now feel this is necessary, but that is nonetheless what they are doing.

I would guess that a maintenance person using equipment on the tracks is much cheaper in terms of labour costs than an LRV driver.

I don't think it is that, the snow removal was ongoing during the daytime when LRVs were running. I suspect that Grandlinq feels that snow removal is necessary even when LRVs are running, I am not certain why they change their opinion.

That being said, I must agree, it seems like much of the embedded track does not need to be embedded....we even have weird scenarios like on Hayward where the track switches between ballasted to embedded and back twice in a few hundred meter span.

I'm not a railway engineer, but I am guessing much of this has to do with blindly applying standards and processes without thinking or contextualizing. It's the same way we got a King/Moore intersection seemingly designed to kill cyclists.

[trainspotter139]

I would guess that a maintenance person using equipment on the tracks is much cheaper in terms of labour costs than an LRV driver.

I don't think it is that, the snow removal was ongoing during the daytime when LRVs were running. I suspect that Grandlinq feels that snow removal is necessary even when LRVs are running, I am not certain why they change their opinion.

That being said, I must agree, it seems like much of the embedded track does not need to be embedded....we even have weird scenarios like on Hayward where the track switches between ballasted to embedded and back twice in a few hundred meter span.

I'm not a railway engineer, but I am guessing much of this has to do with blindly applying standards and processes without thinking or contextualizing. It's the same way we got a King/Moore intersection seemingly designed to kill cyclists.

I think it was more of a "if we don't clear this wet, sloppy sh*t now it will freeze up and cause headaches later." They were absolutely running trains to keep the tracks clear but there was also a few spots where road plows were throwing a bunch of thick wet snow or ice chunks onto the side running tracks and then the LRVs would just push it back onto the road.

[neonjoe]

Embedded median track on places with 1 lane of automobile operation each is intended to be used by emergency vehicles to allow for passing.

[danbrotherston]

Embedded median track on places with 1 lane of automobile operation each is intended to be used by emergency vehicles to allow for passing.

I agree that was the intention, but AFAIK that is not being done.

It's also the case that there is embedded track in roads with four lanes (two on each sides), and on sections of track that are completely separated from the road way (corner of Hayward and Courtland).

[ijmorlan]

It's also the case that there is embedded track in roads with four lanes (two on each sides), and on sections of track that are completely separated from the road way (corner of Hayward and Courtland).

Are there any other similar examples? I believe the reason for that particular example is that those concrete plates they use for crossings in many non-embedded locations are not available for curved track. If the track was straight at that point I’m confident it would have used concrete plates like other ballasted locations.

[Bob_McBob]

Well that collision-free run didn't last long...

https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-...ident.html

[panamaniac]

The Record is reporting that there have been 35 collisions with the ION since June, 2019.  That's fairly impressive ...

[ac3r]

I guess some of the crashes didn't make the news in the past, then. That collision counter that is on the /r/kitchener subreddit only lists 31, and he would use data from news stories.

[Bob_McBob]

It seems like the pedestrian and cyclist collisions are typically unreported and unnoticed by the public.

[panamaniac]

It seems like the pedestrian and cyclist collisions are typically unreported and unnoticed by the public.

Pedestrians have collided with the ION trains?  I AM impressed ...

[ac3r]

And, apparently, a trash can.