ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[Canard]

You can track the Bombardier LRT car trek to K-W - CBC Kitchener

[Canard]

[Canard]

Legal notices filed over business losses during LRT construction - CTV Kitchener

[Elmira Guy]

From article posted above.
"One of the companies pursuing legal action is grocery giant Loblaw, whose Valu-Mart store in uptown Waterloo is along the Ion route and was impacted by construction."

I think a letter to Loblaws and a cessation of shopping at Zehr's will be my response to this.

[rangersfan]

I have read some of the information on how proposed routing for Ion phase II but not all of it. Is a potential route along Coronation being considered? I seen some discussion here about it but I didn't see anything in the proposals I looked at.

[Canard]

Some more incredible shots of the world's first production Bombardier FLEXITY Freedom!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IONtracker?src=hash">#IONtracker</a> update: our first ION train departed Thunder Bay this morning heading for <a href="https://twitter.com/RegionWaterloo">@RegionWaterloo</a>, more photos: <a href="https://t.co/tI14ojjNQk">pic.twitter.com/tI14ojjNQk</a></p>&mdash; ION (@rideIONrt) <a href="https://twitter.com/rideIONrt/status/832230662816071680">February 16, 2017</a></blockquote>

[embe]

From article posted above.
"One of the companies pursuing legal action is grocery giant Loblaw, whose Valu-Mart store in uptown Waterloo is along the Ion route and was impacted by construction."

I think a letter to Loblaws and a cessation of shopping at Zehr's will be my response to this.

grrr...that'll show 'em

[JJTL]

Since this train will be used for testing and then I assume retrofitted with any updates required, is that why there are no ION logos or other decals? Anyone have an idea of the numbering system for the trains? Interesting so far there is no way to track which train is which (at a glance anyways).

[Elmira Guy]

@ embe

What an incredibly constructive post. I'm sorry if I take exception with a massive company like Loblaws seeking compensation. If their Valumart location shows even better sales as a result of the LRT, will they reimburse the Region/taxpayers?

Of course my letter and choosing to patronise another grocery store is not going to make them change their mind. But either you support their legal action, or you simply believe that to acquiesce is the best/only response, and that as a customer I should not voice my opposition to their decision.

Regardless, your comment is of no value whatsoever.

[Canard]

Since this train will be used for testing and then I assume retrofitted with any updates required, is that why there are no ION logos or other decals? Anyone have an idea of the numbering system for the trains? Interesting so far there is no way to track which train is which (at a glance anyways).

I too am wondering about the numbering! It would seem a little basic to just have "1" through "14". But it's not like we'll ever have over 100 trains, so "01", "02" etc.. is quite conceivable.

The train will be finished off at the OMSF, which includes fitting it with all the system-specific signaling equipment, plus all the minor details, like the decals (logos, etc.). Originally (I think I can share this now...) they were going to take delivery of the first train a month or two earlier, with more of this fitment work being done here by Bombardier's team... but a decision was made to delay delivery, so that the majority of the heavy work could take place in Thunder Bay.

...and they'd better not forget to put the embossed "BOMBARDIER" logo on nose cones, or I'll be pretty miffed.

[Elmira Guy]

/\ Canard. Do you think it was ultimately a more wise decision to do that work in Thunder Bay rather than on site here? It seems to me this was a good decision

[Canard]

Well, yeah - at the factory, you can throw as many people at it as you need to, to get it done.  If you do that remotely with your own team, you can only (reasonably) send fewer folks out, and they're working in conditions that aren't their own (and without all the equipment and tools they might need).

I'm speaking from automation experience - we far prefer to delay shipment of a huge automated machine for a week if it means we can put all our guys on it at our shop, rather than kick it out the door and have 2 or 3 guys struggle on-site for weeks to make something work.  As we often say, "No one will remember in 5 years that it was a week late - but they will remember if it doesn't work."

Further to this: As Tom keeps saying, "What really matters is when train 14 shows up." Delaying or pushing train 1 out of Thunder Bay earlier doesn't really matter, since the work in Millhaven (Kingston) is happening in parallel, unaffected (generally) by what's going in in TB.

[Elmira Guy]

Right, that's what I figured. And Tom's point is spot on as well.

There are even more exciting days ahead.

[Elmira Guy]

Some discussion of our LRT project over at SSP starting with the page in the link below.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthre...29&page=65

SSP can be a very good site but some members can be a bit... bitey.

[Markster]

On the bright side, the proposal would reduce the Trip of Maximum Inconvenience:
As current
241 Traynor Ave to 560 Fairway (Swiss Chalet): 1.2km  (80m before LRT)
As proposed
Reyburn Ave @ Traynor to 666 fairway (McDonald's): 700m (80m before LRT)

So, I expanded on the comments I made earlier in this thread about Traynor-Vanier!

You can read about it in blog post form!
http://www.tritag.ca/blog/2017/02/16/fai...ng-update/

Here's an excerpt:

Another way to rate a proposal for a crossing is by comparing the Trip of Maximum Inconvenience. Of trips that were being made before ION, which are being the most negatively impacted? We get this by doing the following:

   Choose destinations that are across the ION tracks from each other.
   Note the minimum walking distance between them before ION.
   Note the minimum walking distance between them after ION.
   The Trip of Maximum Inconvenience is the trip that has the biggest difference between the walking distances before and after ION.

Here we test out three trips:

   Reyburn Ave @ Traynor to 666 Fairway (McDonalds)
   241 Traynor Ave to 560 Fairway (Swiss Chalet)
   Balfour Cres to Running Room

And compare them under 4 scenarios:

   Walking distance before ION, using the informal crossings of the Hydro Corridor
   Walking distance after ION, with no mid-block crossings
   Walking distance after ION, with a crossing as proposed at 500-560 Fairway (Swiss Chalet)
   Walking distance after ION, with a crossing at an alternate location of 652 Fairway (Fresh Burrito)