Both sides of City Hall Station were open this morning. The south side is supposed to close again after Stampede to complete some remaining work before it can open for good. The north side is supposedly going to remain open after Stampede, but I wouldn't be surprised if it has to close after Stampede for a bit as well.
Either way, the clock is ticking on Olympic Plaza Station, which is to be removed when the north side of City Hall opens for good. It is the last remaining 1981 station in the downtown.
Both sides of City Hall Station were open this morning. The south side is supposed to close again after Stampede to complete some remaining work before it can open for good. The north side is supposedly going to remain open after Stampede, but I wouldn't be surprised if it has to close after Stampede for a bit as well.
Either way, the clock is ticking on Olympic Plaza Station, which is to be removed when the north side of City Hall opens for good. It is the last remaining 1981 station in the downtown.
LRT Tip 1: Let your fellow passengers off the CTrain before you get on.
LRT Tip 2: A packback full of Stampede stuff smacked in the head hurts. Put the bag on the floor at your feet.
LRT Tip 3: If the CTrain is full, another will appear within a few min. (at peak hours) No need to run for it.
LRT Tip 4: If you and your downtown office mates are going to the rodeo, buy a book of tickets instead of paying cash.
LRT Tip 5: No one wants to see you making out with the girlfriend/boyfriend du jour. Please have some discretion.
LRT Tip 6: Try not to barf on the CTrain. Seriously, please try not to. The required cleaning will take that CTrain car out of service, creating delays.
LRT Tip 7: Avoid travelling on Kids Day or Seniors Day. If you do, have patience.
LRT Tip 8: Holding the CTrain doors for your buddy will piss off your fellow passengers and the operator.
LRT Tip 9: If you can walk from downtown to Stampede, do it. It's not far. It works off the pancake breakfast and/or corn dogs.
LRT Tip 10: Newer LRVs (the boxy ones) now have Air Conditioning. Enjoy.
LRT Tip 11: Because they are Air Conditioned, the windows DO NOT OPEN! But the on the older LRVs, feel free to open the windows.
LRT Tip 12: Please remember to bathe. Odours and crowded CTrains aren't fun for anyone.
LRT Tip 13: There are 2 LRT stations that access the park: Victoria Park/Stampede and Erlton/Stampede.
LRT Tip 14: Keep the onboard YouTube videos tasteful and not x-rated. No one wants to see your 8 second ride.
LRT Tip 15: Try to Watch your language. Kids are around. Try Yee Haw! instead of the F-bomb.
LRT Tip 16: Hang on! The straps and poles are there for a reason. No! Not for that! Sheesh!
LRT Tip 17: Help out visitors if you can. I know a lot of you will.
LRT Tip 18: Your 4ft-high Stuffed Bear doesn't deserve it's own seat. Give up your seat for someone who needs it.
LRT Tip 19: LRT Park-n-Ride lots have reserved parking for half of the lot. The non-reserved areas are free (if you can find a spot).
LRT Tip 20: There are 3 CTrain cars w/ 4 exits on each. Plenty to get on/off the CTrain. No need to 'herd' at one entrance.
LRT Tip 21: Escalators: Stand to the right. Walk on the left. Simple right?
LRT Tip 22: City Hall station has reopened. Olympic Plaza has permanently closed.
LRT Tip 23: The CTrain may run 24 hours a day during Stampede, but the overnight frequency is only every 30 minutes.
LRT Tip 24: Very important for your safety: STAY BEHIND THE YELLOW LINE!
LRT Tip 25: Keep children and strollers safely away from the edge of the platform until the CTrain comes to a complete stop.
LRT Tip 26: When onboard, if you are standing, please move away from the doorways.
LRT Tip 27: Smoking is prohibited at all platforms and stations. Be considerate.
LRT Tip 28: Last One: Have Fun! CT is there to get you to Stampede
Construction at Canyon Meadows Station has commenced for 4-car extension work. A closure here won't be needed, and the work should actually be fairly quick. The station and existing platform is 10 years old and there were footings set during the original construction where the extended platform will be.
Construction is ongoing at Whitehorn Station, but it is on the station head building itself, since the platform is done. It is scheduled to be open at the end of August. Construction at Southland Station should be wrapping up soon if it hasn't already. Construction at Brentwood Station started up in June. There will be no closure at Brentwood either.
Erlton/Stampede will likely start up after this year's Stampede, with Anderson, Sunnyside and Chinook stations the next ones on tap, not necessarily in that order. As previously discussed, a closure of Chinook Station will be needed to complete the platform extension work.
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This is actually old news, but I think it missed getting posted here at the time.
In May, Council voted to allocate some of the Green TRIP (Province of Alberta grant) funds, $200M toward the purchase of 50 new LRVs, which will primarily be used to systematically replace the oldest and/or least reliable of the old U2 LRVs. Not sure what the timeline is, because it would depend on the outlay of the Green TRIP funds as determined by the Province.
The name of the new smart card has been chosen. It will be called the "Connect" card. Apparently a whopping 18 people voted for the name "Connect," and they all won prizes of free transit for 2 months, with one of their names being drawn for the grand prize of 6 months of free transit.
If you thought to yourself "what kind of people would come up with a bland name like Connect," wonder no more. Here's a picture of Transit Teddy with 8 such people
Northwest LRT station may be delayed as city eyes construction priorities
By Jason Markusoff, Calgary Herald July 16, 2011 8:28 AM
The northwest LRT extension to Tuscany and Rocky Ridge could be delayed by several years as council prepares to reshuffle its construction priority list and push ahead other projects the city currently can’t afford.
That planned new C-Train station, which will cost $80.6 million, was among the specific projects that at least one alderman is suggesting could move back in the to-do queue. Ald. Brian Pincott’s southwest ward, which has waited uncomfortably long without a ring-road leg, has its $43.6-million rapid busway project — a “dire need,” he said — sitting on the unfunded list that the city’s transportation committee will debate Wednesday.
[...]
With the 14th Street S.W. bus rapid transit project sharing space on the unfunded list with the newly approved cycling strategy’s upgrades, a $62-million scheme to fuel buses with natural gas, the debate will likely be rife with aldermen fighting for their ward-specific projects at the expense of others.
[...]
The Tuscany/Rocky Ridge LRT project has been funded since 2007, when then-mayor Dave Bronconnier pushed it through along with the west LRT and northeast train extensions, fulfilling an election pledge.
“It’s been delayed enough, in my opinion,” Hodges said of the Tuscany station, currently scheduled for a 2014 opening. The city has already secured the land clearance through the Crowchild Trail-Stoney Trail interchange for the project, and also closed down Rocky Ridge Road, spending roughly $20 million to date, he said.
Nenshi has openly questioned the 2007 council’s snap decision on the northwest and other LRT plans.
Ald. Andre Chabot, the transportation committee’s chairman, was non-committal on the fate of the extra station on the northwest line. “What was the highest priority yesterday may still not be the highest priority today,” he said.
Location: Close enough to make a beer run during a TV timeout
Exp:
I wonder if the SW BRT project is really needed? What would happen if they had trains that started out at Anderson again; instead of all of them going to Briddlewood to start.
It's not like that part of the city has grown much in the last 10 years; it's just that in the last 10 years residents have found it futile trying to board the train north of Canyon Meadows.
I wonder if the SW BRT project is really needed? What would happen if they had trains that started out at Anderson again; instead of all of them going to Briddlewood to start.
It's not like that part of the city has grown much in the last 10 years; it's just that in the last 10 years residents have found it futile trying to board the train north of Canyon Meadows.
This already happens. There are a few trips that start out from Anderson Station and head north during the morning rush (aside from the very first ones of the day that head out to get trains up to the northwest for the start of service). Also, since the south line is busier overall than the northwest, there are a few trips that go from the south line to City Centre only (10th Street West), which turn around and head back to the south again.
There can only be a very few such trips like this because of a couple reasons. It is really difficult to get those ones in that turn around at 10th Street Station because that station also has to serve short-turning purposes for the NE line and trying to squeeze any more short-turning functions in at that station would cause for train congestion (for all lines) on the west end of downtown. This already occurs to a degree since scheduling for short-turning and heading back in the other direction is already tight, and little delays (even something as small as one person too many holding the doors at a station) can cause trains to miss signals and throw off the schedule for themselves, but also ultimately every train behind them. The West LRT will change things next year anyway, as City-Centre-only trains won't be possible anymore, and any south line service gained by running trains from the south line to 69th Street instead of Crowfoot and then back again wouldn't be that great.
As for the trains that go from Anderson all the way to the Northwest, you can only do that so much for the same reasons as in the 10th Street situation, but I think it is less prevalent there. At some point though, those trains will have to come back down toward the south line and will end up at Somerset-Bridlewood anyway. In a 3 hour rush period, any one train will make more than one pass through any one station, so they have to end up back at Somerset-Bridlewood heading north.
I suppose what could happen is that some trains could come back as far as Southland, go out of service, turn around in the yard at Anderson and then have another trip starting out at Anderson. I don't think the yard at Anderson can handle this sort of thing very well though, and is busy enough with its own activities and traffic already. Also, this would require there to be more rolling stock (LRVs) on hand, which requires capital expenditures. It would also at some point be too much to the detriment of service further south since the entire system is bottlenecked at 7th Avenue and any more trains starting out at Anderson Station couldn't be additional trips, but rather trips that would otherwise head north from Somerset.
All of this points to the need for capacity improvements, the least of which being the 8th Avenue Subway. It would solve all of the issues discussed above. 4 car trains will help, but is ultimately a medium-term solution.
As for the southwest BRT, I struggle with the necessity of that one a bit too, when compared to other priorities at least, perhaps not the Tuscany LRT extension. In the big scheme of things, the communities west of 14th Street aren't very far from the South LRT line, either by feeder bus or vehicle, so any gains in trip time by adding the BRT wouldn't justify the expense I don't think. There may be an argument to be made about it acting as a relief for the over-capacity south LRT line, and also for service gains for Rockyview Hospital and/or MRU. However, the benefits as compared to the costs for the project, when weighed against other projects I might question.
All of this points to the need for capacity improvements, the least of which being the 8th Avenue Subway. It would solve all of the issues discussed above. 4 car trains will help, but is ultimately a medium-term solution.
Thanks for the explanation. I must be missing it but why would a subway do better than 7 Ave? Is it because the trains would no longer have to wait at intersections? I thought that the reasons you list above for delays and reasons for no short-turning would be the same above and underground.
Your post gave me a headache imagining how some transit planner had to run schedules, numbers, and spatial reasoning to figure out how many trains can go through downtown and still have short-turn trains. Does Calgary Transit have one of those awesome lights-on-the-wall train planning office like Walter Matthau's (and Denzel in the new one) character did in Pelham 123? I think I watch too many movies.
Thanks for the explanation. I must be missing it but why would a subway do better than 7 Ave? Is it because the trains would no longer have to wait at intersections? I thought that the reasons you list above for delays and reasons for no short-turning would be the same above and underground.
Oh, although not outlined in my post above, the reason is because the 8th Avenue Subway will only have one of the lines (likely South <=> Northwest) operating in it, while the other line (Northeast <=> West) will continue to use 7th Avenue. I probably gave the impression of overstating the short-turning at any of the terminus stations (other than 10th Street). 7th Avenue is the real bottleneck due to the interlining of 2 routes. Separating the 2 routes theoretically doubles potential capacity. Taking away having to stop at red lights, and also likely fewer stations in the subway should also allow for some additional capacity for the South <=> Northwest line.
The reason why short-turning at 10th Street can be problematic is because of the proximity to the interlocking with the northwest line. If trains have to wait for another short-turning train to clear the 10th Street Station, that potentially makes the waiting trains back up into the shared part of 7th Avenue. Also, since there are no tail tracks at 10th Street West, trains can't really come online there by queuing behind the station. This will be solved by West LRT.
Quote:
Originally Posted by billybob123
Your post gave me a headache imagining how some transit planner had to run schedules, numbers, and spatial reasoning to figure out how many trains can go through downtown and still have short-turn trains. Does Calgary Transit have one of those awesome lights-on-the-wall train planning office like Walter Matthau's (and Denzel in the new one) character did in Pelham 123? I think I watch too many movies.
I haven't seen either movie, but there is something like that. It is shown from 1:33 - 1:46 of this video.
That is at the Victoria Park control centre. These operations will be moving into one floor of the mixed use building being built as part of Westbrook Station when the West LRT opens.
The Following User Says Thank You to frinkprof For This Useful Post:
Your post gave me a headache imagining how some transit planner had to run schedules, numbers, and spatial reasoning to figure out how many trains can go through downtown and still have short-turn trains. Does Calgary Transit have one of those awesome lights-on-the-wall train planning office like Walter Matthau's (and Denzel in the new one) character did in Pelham 123? I think I watch too many movies.
No, you're actually pretty close to how it works.
Here is a picture of frinkprof at work running Calgary Transit.
The Following User Says Thank You to MrMastodonFarm For This Useful Post:
Wow. CT gave Transit Teddy a makeover with the new colour scheme.
