Calgary Public Transit - Discussion

[SebC]

Originally Posted by frinkprof

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.

Also, no switching and the length of trains isn't limited to the length of a city block for the underground line. Capacity more than doubles.

[frinkprof]

So the fecal matter really hit the oscillating device for all legs of the LRT during both afternoon and morning rush today. I got caught by the morning rush problems - ended up a little less than 15 minutes late to my destination, not bad - and missed being affected by the afternoon rush problems.

Other experiences? Venting?

EDIT: Oh yeah, City Hall East Bound platform is now closed again to complete work.

[LGA]

Originally Posted by frinkprof

So the fecal matter really hit the oscillating device for all legs of the LRT during both afternoon and morning rush today. I got caught by the morning rush problems - ended up a little less than 15 minutes late to my destination, not bad - and missed being affected by the afternoon rush problems.

Other experiences? Venting?

EDIT: Oh yeah, City Hall East Bound platform is now closed again to complete work.

Something was wrong with the wires near or around Heritage Station or so we were told. I got delayed going to the University, and on my way back to Heritage Station everyone had to get off the train because there were problems with the train. Then, the train that finally arrived to pick us up ended up being delayed due to some problems around 39th...

End of the day, spent close to three hours on public transport when it should have taken at max one.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by frinkprof

Other experiences? Venting?

I enjoyed my 25 minute wait leaving downtown in the afternoon. On the other hand, after 3 city centre trains went by, I was pretty stoked to see the new (airconditioned!) train pull up when I was finally able to get on one.

[bomber317]

Drove to the sunridge station this morning, train sitting there packed. Announcement that the trains are delayed 20 minutes came in.

I promptly went back to my car and drove to work. Would have been over 1 1/2 hours late if I waited for the train.

Drove past franklin/zoo/bridgeland and all stations had a train sitting there.

[Joborule]

Is it just me or has there been a lot of technical issues with the C-Train these days?

[stevinder]

It's not just you. CT's Twitter account has been very busy reporting on delays and problems recently. Having the CTrain run 24 hours a day during Stampede didn't help matters. My guess is that some maintenance was deferred for the last 10 days and that caught up with the system today.

[Jets4Life]

I would really like to see the city build the Southeast LRT. It would be great for people who work in the Industrial Areas, as it is hard to commute to the area without a vehicle.

[frinkprof]

More of the same today by the sounds of things. Delays on the south line due to overhead catenary wire issues near Heritage Station. The problems from yesterday haven't been fully resolved yet.

Here's a description from a CT operator of some of the problems that compounded resulting in the delays during the afternoon rush yesterday [my additional comments in square brackets for clarification].

After the problem in the NE earlier, there was catenary problems around Heritage overpass and single tracking as a result. Cleared up about a quarter to 2 [PM].

At around 3:00pm, Key 15 (consist cars: 2040 2044 and 2064) had announced on radio that one of the pantographs [part of the LRV that connects to the overhead catenary wires] of his train was ripped off and sitting on the tracks and that catenary around Haysboro was damaged. Another train going the other way checked for catenary damage. Car 2064 had its pantograph ripped off.

Electromechanics were called from Anderson Garage and said they needed at least 2 hours to move the train. It took longer than that. When they finally did, they dumped the train by running signal A86.

They had to cut power on the inbound track in the area around Heritage. They tried to single track Anderson to 39th (a long reverse). One of the switches at Anderson North interlocking were not working. They then decided to run trains from Anderson to Somerset and other trains 39th Ave to Crowoot with shuttle buses running from 39th to Anderson. Regular all day buses were pulled out of service and forced to do the shuttle work. Most of the PM extra trains were put out of service early. Many were stashed on the Somerset tailtrack for awhile. Trains that normally go to OBMF [Oliver Bowen Maintenance Facility - in the NE near McKnight-Westwinds Station] from the 201 line were sent home early tonight [Monday night].

A few hours ago [late Monday night/early Tuesday morning], they were still single tracking Chinook to Anderson. Enmax was on scene with bucket trucks.

[bizaro86]

After being 2/2 on having a commute from hell on the way home this week, and having read frinkprof's note above, I wonder if we're spending enough maintaining our existing LRT infrastructure.

It sounds like 2 or 3 things broke in a row, causing this to be a much bigger problem than it needed to be. Is the switch that didn't work regularly used during normal service, and if not, do they check them periodically?

[RougeUnderoos]

Is there any way to find out if this mess in the south will be resolved before rush hour tomorrow morning?

[frinkprof]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

Is there any way to find out if this mess in the south will be resolved before rush hour tomorrow morning?

calgarytransit
As of 9:24 PM this evening train service is back to normal. We do apologize for the inconvenience. CS

That's just evening service though. No idea about morning peak.

[TurnedTheCorner]

Use the real time signs on the train platform to see if it's running on time tomorrow morning.

[Boblobla]

The thing that got to me was they announced the trains were running 10 minutes late but it was WAAAAAAAY later than that. I got to the stop by Quincy's downtown at 4PM and got to Somerset at 5:15. If they had said the trains were running 45minutes late I would have grabbed a beer and had my wife come pick me up...

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Boblobla

The thing that got to me was they announced the trains were running 10 minutes late but it was WAAAAAAAY later than that. I got to the stop by Quincy's downtown at 4PM and got to Somerset at 5:15. If they had said the trains were running 45minutes late I would have grabbed a beer and had my wife come pick me up...

I was going to put this in the GMG thread. If they're way behind, just tell people, and those who can will make alternate plans. If you tell people "10 more minutes" every ten minutes for 30 or 40 minutes, don't be surprised when they're pissed off.

[Russic]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

I was going to put this in the GMG thread. If they're way behind, just tell people, and those who can will make alternate plans. If you tell people "10 more minutes" every ten minutes for 30 or 40 minutes, don't be surprised when they're pissed off.

Agreed. They focus a little too much on trying to please people and end up screwing themselves in the end. I've never seen a "10 minute delay" end up being 10 minutes. Just over-estimate the wait period and people would be a lot more understanding imo.

[You Need a Thneed]

I think CT should be even more open. Say, "there is a damaged electrical line on the south line, expect delays of up to half an hour."

I think they should also clarify what it means when they say there is a delay of 10 minutes. Does that mean that the train will show up 10 minutes late, or that it will take 10 minutes longer to get to the end of the route? They should say both things, really.

[fredr123]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

I think CT should be even more open. Say, "there is a damaged electrical line on the south line, expect delays of up to half an hour."

I think they should also clarify what it means when they say there is a delay of 10 minutes. Does that mean that the train will show up 10 minutes late, or that it will take 10 minutes longer to get to the end of the route? They should say both things, really.

I agree. In the former case, if the train comes every 10 minutes, and there is a 10 minute delay, wouldn't only that first train be delayed by 10 minutes? After that, the train that shows up now is the train that should have been there 10 minutes ago but you wouldn't know it from any other train, right? They would still be spaced out every 10 minutes, theoretically, right? Or is this similar to the phenomenon where bad traffic will somehow cause 3 or 4 #301 buses to travel together for some reason?

[Boblobla]

I watched 3 McKinght trains pass last night before a Somerset one came. Our stop was the last stop downtown that anyone could fit onto the train, so people further east of the Quincy's stop (5th??) were SOL.

[flamesrule_kipper34]

Does anyone know if this will happen again today as in are there any lignering issues or should we be good?