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ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit
(12-17-2015, 11:22 AM)SammyOES Wrote: I assumed testing could begin before construction was finished.  I'm sure they don't need the whole line done to do a lot of the early testing.
Yes, but they do need vehicles first, so no testing until they arrive. At the rate construction is going, we'll have good sections of track ready by the time they get here.

There will be a couple months of testing of the vehicles themselves, mostly restricted to the maintenance yard. Getting the mechanics used to the machine, doing test drives around the loop, etc.
Then they'll start taking it on trips across the system. They'll test clearances, platform alignment, pantograph connection, traffic light signals. This will all be done with the expectation that some things will need to be fixed, which could take additional weeks.
Then they start training their drivers in earnest, now that the full run of the track is certified.
Finally, they'll eventually ramp up to "Full Service" pre-launch. An extended dress rehearsal, as it were. Making sure that with trains every 10 minutes, they're not getting into constant accidents, that they can do timely turnarounds at the ends, shift changes are quick, etc.

And then there are all the things that aren't the trains. Making sure that the platforms are finished, with all the fine touches done. Installing the new fare machines at stations. Switching the rest of GRT over to electronic fare payment to be compatible.

And if they're done all that early?

They can beat their target of "Late 2017", and get accolades.
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One year from train delivery to start of service is pretty standard on most rapid transit systems. Markster's post nails all the key points.

Re: the comment about them never running in Canada, not totally accurate: they've never run anywhere in the world before. We're the launch customer for FLEXITY Freedom - something I'm very pleased about!
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Forgot to post these last night. Charles at Madison, Thursday morning (same vantage as my Tuesday post, be sure to compare):

[Image: x8bAHuO.png]     [Image: bKfAO4Y.png]

Interestingly, that big stack of rails has been there for months - and we can now see they were perfectly placed to lie between the platform and the roadway, all this time.
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Or maybe they decided to put the road and platform there, so they wouldn't have to moved the stack! Big Grin

(Or maybe they moved a couple rails on the sides, when they realized they needed a few more inches)
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Does anyone know anything about the park and ride at Northfield Station? I only ask about this one because it appears to be the only Park and Ride listed on the rideion.ca. I've heard it mentioned a bunch of times, but have never read anything about how many parking spots will be provided, charges (my guess is none, but who knows) or anything else. I can't see a lot identified in the functional design plans.
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I don't think there's been any actual plan for an actual, official, Park-and-Ride. Merely the possibility for one in the future, and the tacit acknowledgement that some of the random parking in that area may get the occasional use as one.
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I wonder how the two malls will deal with de facto Park and Ride?
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Latest Ion update is out. Nothing overly new, except Courtland at Shelly is now closed through April and King and William is open to through traffic now.

Not much work happening between Dec 23 and Jan 4 as they take some holiday time.
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(12-18-2015, 05:35 PM)Markster Wrote: I don't think there's been any actual plan for an actual, official, Park-and-Ride. Merely the possibility for one in the future, and the tacit acknowledgement that some of the random parking in that area may get the occasional use as one.

Got it. Like panamaniac, I've always wondered what was going to happen at the malls. It seems likely that people will park at the malls, and equally likely that the mall owners will have a low threshold of tolerance (I mean, obviously a few cars won't bother them, but I bet it won't be too many before they start viewing it as significant). The malls aren't identified as 'park and ride' by the Region- the only one that is is Northfield, and it seems to identify the existing parking lot, so I was wondering if a deal existed somewhere.
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Also, park-and-riding won't catch on until the price of parking in the downtowns is appreciably higher than transit fare. We don't have Toronto's exceptionally unpleasant traffic to help break ties in favour of transit when the upfront cost is the same.
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Yeah, I can't see Park 'n Ride being particularly attractive at this point in time; it won't save time or money for the average commuter in the region.
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That's a good point. I've thought that people visiting the universities might take advantage of the park and ride stations. Even our universities don't exactly have a shortage of parking but it's six bucks a day at UW (in lots anyway), and something like ten at Laurier, so I thought there would be a few occasional visitors who might park at Conestoga or Northfield and take the Ion down to campus instead.
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(12-18-2015, 08:21 PM)jamincan Wrote: Yeah, I can't see Park 'n Ride being particularly attractive at this point in time;

What we need are kiss 'n ride facilities. I can see a family with a single car dropping off one or more members of the family at an LRT stop, while the last member continues on his/her way to work.
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They were paving Caroline between the Valumart and Erb today (sorry for the poor quality):
   
Everyone move to the back of the bus and we all get home faster.
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Oh wow, are the Northbound tracks crossing Caroline from the Waterloo parking lot already in? Didn't think they'd repave it until those were done!
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