WestLRT Construction Transgression thread

[frinkprof]

Originally Posted by Agamemnon

I don't think there's room there for a parking lot, it would be nice if I could have the benefit of the station without the negatives of the associated parking.

There will be no Park N' Ride at Sunalta Station. There will be two WestLRT stations with Park N' Ride facilities - Sirocco Station and 69th Street Station.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by FurnaceFace

A certain population of this city is freaking out at the ~700m price tag for it. If it were ALL underground it would be well north of a billion.

Having said that, underground would be awesome. One just needs to look at the Vancouver Canada line to see how great it is...but that comes at a cost. That line was more than double the cost of this one. I believe it's longer in length however it's still a good measuring stick for the cost.

I'm happy my street (29th) is getting shut down. Should make it a much calmer road which will help alleviate some of the traffic noise. It'll be a painful time but well worth it in the end.

The Canada Line is awesome.

For us though, we have lots of at-grade stuff because they made the decision to sacrifice grade separation for a larger network. Edmonton took the opposite approach, and compare where the two have ended up.

They are sticking with this strategy for the most part as they've got the lowest capital cost per passenger of any LRT system in North America. It's also the 4th busiest LRT in North America with only one US system beating it out. Pretty impressive stuff.

Yes people complain about it being overcrowded, but that's really just a sign of success. I can't wait for 4 car trains and 3 minute service intervals!

[CrusaderPi]

Originally Posted by red sky

Not So Funny

Lady

[peter12]

Originally Posted by algernon

Nancy Girl.

Probably fair.

[frinkprof]

Some upcoming traffic issues that motorists may want to be aware of:

- From 9AM April 1st to 6AM April 5th, eastbound 9th Avenue will be reduced to 1 lane into downtown for utility work. The on ramp to eastbound 9th Ave. from northbound 14th Street will remain open. Major delays expected.

- On April 2nd, the lane reduction on westbound Bow Trail, down to 2 lanes, wll be effective 24 hours a day until Fall 2011.

http://www.westlrt.ca/contentabout/routemap.cfm

[The Goon]

What freaks me out is that spot on westbound 17th avenue, just west of 33rd street, where the lanes veer to the left as the lane numbers get reduced from three to two.

There are so many cars in the left lane who ignore the new markings and go straight, ending up in what is now the right lane. I've seen quite a few near-collisions, sudden braking, etc etc. I'm sure there's been at least a couple of collisions because people aren't capable of following the lane markings.

[Starfishy]

Looks like the new trains are going to have even less seating area. This will greatly decrease the chances of me getting a seat on my train ride to work. I guess during rush hour this will help with the crowds.

[icarus]

It's funny that so many European cities buy Canadian Bombardier trains while Calgary buys European Siemens trains.

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by icarus

It's funny that so many European cities buy Canadian Bombardier trains while Calgary buys European Siemens trains.

Isn't that because the Bomb. ones are more tram like, whereas the Siemens ones are more rail like?

[frinkprof]

Well Bombardier's presence in North American light rail systems has been kind of sporadic. They have been involved in some heavier rail systems like Vancouver's as well as Montreal and Toronto. Their big presence in Europe over the last couple decades has a lot to do with the fact that they bought out some German manufacturers over the years. Bombardier-Transportation is actually headquartered in Berlin and they have some factories there. Yes, Bombardier's "Flexity" tram cars are pretty popular right now.

Calgary's (as well as Edmonton and San Diego, the three pioneers in modern North American LRT systems) original cars (the U2) were actually a German design by a company called Duwag that was bought out by Siemens.

Lots of other systems still go with Siemens trains. Salt Lake City, Denver, Portland, Edmonton, Sacramento, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Houston, Charlotte, Norfolk (their system opens soon). Siemens LRVs (light rail vehicles) for their North American customers are all assembled in Sacramento and are shipped up to Calgary (and other destinations) by rail or truck.

[FurnaceFace]

Originally Posted by frinkprof

Well Bombardier's presence in North American light rail systems has been kind of sporadic. They have been involved in some heavier rail systems like Vancouver's as well as Montreal and Toronto.

It was interesting to note given all the support Bombardier gave the Olympics, the new Canada Line is running Hyundia cars.

[frinkprof]

Originally Posted by Starfishy

Looks like the new trains are going to have even less seating area. This will greatly decrease the chances of me getting a seat on my train ride to work. I guess during rush hour this will help with the crowds.

That's a big part of the reason for the change. There are less seats, but the arrangement is also a lot more efficient. I believe they will be able to achieve up to 10% more capacity this way, which is needed, especially on the south line.

The first of the new cars will be arriving in the spring, and they are planned to go into service starting in September. They will still be outnumbered by cars with the older seating arrangements for quite some time though.

[yads]

Yeah current car designs are really inefficient during rush hour. You get people getting seats and then you have most of the standers congregating around the doorways so it makes it extremely hard to get off. They really should just make the push for 4 car trains, but this is probably a good interim solution.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by yads

Yeah current car designs are really inefficient during rush hour. You get people getting seats and then you have most of the standers congregating around the doorways so it makes it extremely hard to get off. They really should just make the push for 4 car trains, but this is probably a good interim solution.

4 car trains are a few years away yet, so the modified seating can be implemented faster ( and will be needed in the future anyway).

[FurnaceFace]

Originally Posted by yads

Yeah current car designs are really inefficient during rush hour. You get people getting seats and then you have most of the standers congregating around the doorways so it makes it extremely hard to get off. They really should just make the push for 4 car trains, but this is probably a good interim solution.

Are the downtown stations the only ones they need to replace with 4 car platforms or are some of the other stops a problem too? If it's just downtown they're getting close to finishing.

[frinkprof]

Originally Posted by FurnaceFace

Are the downtown stations the only ones they need to replace with 4 car platforms or are some of the other stops a problem too? If it's just downtown they're getting close to finishing.

All but Dalhousie, Crowfoot, Somerset-Bridlewood, Shawnessy, McKnight-Westwinds need to be extended outside of downtown.

The South-NW will be done by 2014. They will also be working on the NE stations (starting with Whitehorn this summer), but I'm not sure of the completion timeline. As you note, the downtown platforms are almost done, and will be finished by 2012. WestLRT will be built to 4-LRV capacity from the outset, as will the current NE extension and NW extension stations (Martindale, Saddletowne, Tuscany).

[frinkprof]

Originally Posted by yads

Yeah current car designs are really inefficient during rush hour. You get people getting seats and then you have most of the standers congregating around the doorways so it makes it extremely hard to get off.

Speak for yourself.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by FurnaceFace

Are the downtown stations the only ones they need to replace with 4 car platforms or are some of the other stops a problem too? If it's just downtown they're getting close to finishing.

All stations on a line need to have the maximum length before the line can use trains of that length. Or else, you end up with platforms that people can't off onto from certain cars.

Every new station since dalhousie is 4 car length. Centre Street, Canyon Meadows and Fish Creek were the last stations built before they changed the policy, so unfortunately,, those stations have to be renovated too.

The city could theoretically upgrade the entire south line first, then run South to West trains, and run NW to NE trains ( of course when the west line opens in 2012. Then the NW and NW stations could be extended later.

SOMEWHAT RELATED:

There is an open house tonight to show plans for the upgrade of Whitehorn Station. This will almost certainly include extending the platform to 4 car length, so that will be one less station that will need to be done in the future.

Open House Info link.

[frinkprof]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

All stations on a line need to have the maximum length before the line can use trains of that length. Or else, you end up with platforms that people can't off onto from certain cars.

Well, that's besides the fact that 4 car operation is not currently possible due to the traction power systems needing to be upgraded to handle the extra power loads at higher speeds. These systems will be upgraded along with the 4 car extensions to the platforms.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by frinkprof

Well, that's besides the fact that 4 car operation is not currently possible due to the traction power systems needing to be upgraded to handle the extra power loads at higher speeds. These systems will be upgraded along with the 4 car extensions to the platforms.

I imagine the traction power systems installed with the new stations have all been 4 car ready.

Doesn't the signalling system have to be upgraded in the future too, if they want to increase the frequency past a certain point?