ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[KevinL]

It may be contractually easier to save changes to the existing network for its expiry in the late 2040s, but if a change really needs to be done earlier I imagine they'll find a way through.

It probably also depends on how Phase 2 gets added to the contract from an operational perspective.

[ijmorlan]

I have watched the Hayward crossing a number of times.  To me there is no sound reason to take as long as it does for advance warning and post train delay...  They can shorten those times up and make it more efficient.  There must be some rule that we are unaware of with respect to  timing and duration.

I was under the impression that the intersections that take a long time are the ones that are paired with a freight line. Hayward has the train yard right there. Same thing with why the Northfield Station lights and the Erb/Caroline/Bridgeport corner has such a big lead. I thought I heard that the requirements for freight train safety were basically imposed upon the ION since they run the same tracking.

They only share track from Waterloo Town Square to Northfield. There are places where there is effectively a single level crossing but the tracks themselves are completely isolated (e.g. Hayward).

When I say something can be done, I don’t always know who has to give permission. I’m pretty sure some of my complaints relate to safety paranoia from people within the Region (e.g. limiting to 50km/h along King St.); while others might relate to various regulatory authorities. I think a full discussion, with facts, would be very interesting.

I’m not sure about when gates should drop, but I think they should rise no later than as soon as the train clears the crossing. Actually I think a case can be made for having them rise as soon as the front of the train reaches the far side of the crossing. The idea is that the gates should be a warning that a train is coming; if the crossing is actually occupied by a train, no gates are needed as drivers are expected to avoid obstructions in the roadway. In multi-track situations, this would mean that people would know whether a second train was approaching by whether the gates go down again.

[ijmorlan]

Does anyone think that the region will ever try to improve the ion route? Such as adding grade separations, gating intersections or or rerouting slow portions? Or will the contract with Keolis always limit what they can do.

I've thought about this before, particularly for things like filling in station gaps (McCormick, for example, or Beverly/Dundas for Stage 2). It feels like it would be really hard to manage, just because of the absolute disruption it would cause to rip out sections of the track. You'd have to run shuttle buses for months to get around construction areas, and I think you'd have a hard time selling people on it. That said, Metrolinx is currently adding new stations along the Kitchener GO line within Toronto with seemingly little disruption, so maybe it's plausible?

With careful staging most changes can be done with little disruption. Adding a station at McCormick would depend on whether there is an existing straight area. If there is, it should be possible to shutdown the shared freight/LRT track for a weekend or 2 to install the gauntlet track. Everything else would be a matter of staging construction of the platform and other items that are near the tracks during overnight closures. If there isn’t a straight, they would have to decide whether to allow a curved platform or put in a lot of work to change the actual path of the tracks, which would not be easy even without having to worry about keeping service going.

[danbrotherston]

I was under the impression that the intersections that take a long time are the ones that are paired with a freight line. Hayward has the train yard right there. Same thing with why the Northfield Station lights and the Erb/Caroline/Bridgeport corner has such a big lead. I thought I heard that the requirements for freight train safety were basically imposed upon the ION since they run the same tracking.

They only share track from Waterloo Town Square to Northfield. There are places where there is effectively a single level crossing but the tracks themselves are completely isolated (e.g. Hayward).

When I say something can be done, I don’t always know who has to give permission. I’m pretty sure some of my complaints relate to safety paranoia from people within the Region (e.g. limiting to 50km/h along King St.); while others might relate to various regulatory authorities. I think a full discussion, with facts, would be very interesting.

I’m not sure about when gates should drop, but I think they should rise no later than as soon as the train clears the crossing. Actually I think a case can be made for having them rise as soon as the front of the train reaches the far side of the crossing. The idea is that the gates should be a warning that a train is coming; if the crossing is actually occupied by a train, no gates are needed as drivers are expected to avoid obstructions in the roadway. In multi-track situations, this would mean that people would know whether a second train was approaching by whether the gates go down again.

I wish trains travelled at 50km/h. In practice speeds are typical 30-40 km/h. And that's well below the speed limits, which are also often below 50km/h at 35-45km/h.

Safety paranoia is exactly the word I am looking for.

That being said...I'll give you that the chances of injuries or deaths would be higher if LRVs were routinely going 55km/h instead of 40km/h on that segment, given how many collisions there have been.

Of course, I wish safety paranoia was applied in any way to driving. Like...we'll do anything to ensure the safety of drivers the LRV hits, EXCEPT for restricting or enforcing their driving in any meaningful way. Like, we outright refuse to install cameras and ticket every single illegal left, but we will delay millions of passengers billions of minutes over the entire lifetime of the transit system to ensure that when a driver does make an illegal left they're less likely to die.

I will say that drivers are starting to get a clue about the existence of the LRT....or to put it more specifically, all three of the vehicles parked on the tracks for my 15 minute journey reversed off of the tracks when the train dinged at them.

[KevinL]

Adding a station at McCormick would depend on whether there is an existing straight area. If there is, it should be possible to shutdown the shared freight/LRT track for a weekend or 2 to install the gauntlet track. Everything else would be a matter of staging construction of the platform and other items that are near the tracks during overnight closures.

It appears reliably straight through there, so that's one less worry. https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=19/43.../-80.54346

[ijmorlan]

I wish trains travelled at 50km/h. In practice speeds are typical 30-40 km/h. And that's well below the speed limits, which are also often below 50km/h at 35-45km/h.

Safety paranoia is exactly the word I am looking for.

That being said...I'll give you that the chances of injuries or deaths would be higher if LRVs were routinely going 55km/h instead of 40km/h on that segment, given how many collisions there have been.

Injuries and deaths would be lower though because more people would be on the LRT rather than driving!

Of course, I wish safety paranoia was applied in any way to driving. Like...we'll do anything to ensure the safety of drivers the LRV hits, EXCEPT for restricting or enforcing their driving in any meaningful way. Like, we outright refuse to install cameras and ticket every single illegal left, but we will delay millions of passengers billions of minutes over the entire lifetime of the transit system to ensure that when a driver does make an illegal left they're less likely to die.

Right! The equivalent of the way we run the LRT, applied to driving, would probably mean a top speed limit of 40km/h on normal roads with sidewalks, enforced rigorously by photo radar everywhere.

[coriander]

With all this, is the round-trip time still around 95 minutes? I'd hope that the suggested time improvements that GRT was talking about back before opening might be able to materialise some day.

[Acitta]

Saturday towards noon—Caroline and Father David Bauer Dr (Twitter)
   

[ac3r]

Crash number ten hundred and ten billion trillion and counting.

[dtkvictim]

And if not a train, just as easily a much less visible pedestrian or cyclist on a quite busy trail.

[danbrotherston]

Yeah, saw that today...I got the full Waterloo experience. Plus a bonus crash at Father David Bauer and Erb St. on the way home...

[ac3r]

He's got that "oh fuck there goes my career" stance.

[panamaniac]

It gives one pause to think that a professional driver of a heavy vehicle can be as completely unaware of his surroundings as ordinary local drivers.

[dtkvictim]

It gives one pause to think that a professional driver of a heavy vehicle can be as completely unaware of his surroundings as ordinary local drivers.

If you've spent any time on the 401 lately, you'll know that training, licensing requirements, and professional standards for transport drivers has completely gone out the window. Even relative to the clear decline in the general population.

[Rainrider22]

You got that totally right. I am on the 401 5 days a week, I will not drive anywhere near a truck..