ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[isUsername]

(Though, that off-level 501B on the front is pretty close)

Okay, so it wasn't just me.

[Canard]

Vehicle number is fine, just should have been right justified.

[Chicopee]

@Canard, there's still room for the Bombardier logo.... they just need to ensure it's crooked to match the unit number!☺

[isUsername]

Vehicle number is fine, just should have been right justified.

I'm not so sure about that. (The first part.)

   

[KevinL]

Loks like the EasyGo card will get a preview as well.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Try out GRT's new farebox, fare card and platform validator at the <a href="https://twitter.com/rideIONrt">@rideIONrt</a> open house tomorrow! 518 Dutton Drive, 1-5 pm.</p>&mdash; Grand River Transit (@GRT_ROW) <a href="https://twitter.com/GRT_ROW/status/850399480138674176">April 7, 2017</a></blockquote>

[rangersfan]

I really dislike the placement and style of 'Grand River Transit' looks rushed and cheap.

[Canard]

I really dislike the placement and style of 'Grand River Transit' looks rushed and cheap.

I couldn't agree more, Rangersfan.

[jeffster]

Can someone make a video of a walk-around and walk-through of the ION LRV on Saturday? Sadly I'm out of town.

I would appreciate the same... travelling back from Ottawa on Saturday, and I'll miss the event.  

Absolutely!

I'm disappointed by the chime.  In my heart of hearts, I never gave up hope that they'd use the first seven notes of "The Chicken Dance".  

I had hoped for something unique, or at least this, which is my favourite of any system, anywhere:

Sounds like the chime they use on the new streetcars (appropriate since they come from the same place).

Yep - because it's actually not the "TTC Chime", it's the UTDC Chime:

The TTC chime is actually the UTDC chime; it was first introduced on the Scarborough RT (ICTS) in 1985, and has since been rolled out on many other ex-UTDC/Bombardier products, like GO's Bi-Level coaches.

But agreed that it's likely what we'll get, especially since our order is piggybacked on Metrolinx' order for the Eglinton Crosstown which is surely going to have the 3-tone chime. I was just hoping for something a bit more unique to us.

I have a bit more information I can share about the trains:

• The first two FLEXITY Freedom trains are "Pilot Trains" that Bombardier is building for Metrolinx.  Those two trains are in production, and will go to Millhaven (Kingston) for high-speed testing as I've mentioned before along the MOVIA test line on the North side of the site, where the Toronto Rocket (TR) trains were tested.
  
• FLEXITY Freedom train 3 is for Waterloo Region, and comes straight from Thunder Bay to Waterloo.
  
• When that happens, it'll run on the "test track" section of our line, from just South of Northfield, down to just North of the Erb/Caroline intersection.  GrandLinq is on track to have this finished in June.
  
• Train 3 (our first) has a burn-in period where it will run for quite a while, back and forth, along the spur (!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
  
• Colours: Rendering is accurate, but the grey is a little lighter.  Doors on the inside are the same blue as the outside, and seats are light blue with grey accents.
  
• Chime will be "TTC Chime" (3-tone) as Metrolinx wants a uniform, consistent look and feel to all trains on all projects going forward.
  
• Voice will be the same Text-to-Speech system on the FLEXITY Outlook LRV's (streetcars) that Toronto is taking delivery of right now.  Voice may be slightly different but tech module is the same (Yay!).
  

Really? We're getting the TTC sound??? That's exciting. I never bore of that sound. I told my daughter this, and she's excited too. We go to Blue Jays games and use the subway to Union Station, and she loves the TTC sound, she looks forward to it.

[jamincan]

I love it too. They were talking about Canadian sounds yesterday on CBC Here and Now and someone had suggested the TTC chime. I don't think it's Canadian, but it's definitely iconic, and I don't see any reason not to have a degree of commonality in central Ontario.

[Canard]

Well, one might argue it is Canadian, since it was developed by a Provincial Crown Corporation for a technology that was then marketed and sold around the world!

[Pheidippides]

Anchor wall frame at Queen station:
   

[Canard]

Interesting to see this one being built "in reverse"! Also the first we've seen of what the anchor wall will consist of besides the tiles.

[Canard]

The following work is taking place between King/Victoria and Courtland/Ottawa this morning:

• Crew installing trim as per above image at Cedar
  
• Crew installing trim as per above image at Borden
  
• Catenary Crew at Charles/Benton
  
• Catenary Crew at Cameron Heights Crossover
  
• Catenary Crew on Ottawa, between Courtland and Charles
  
• Crew at the South end of Borden, where the track meets the Huron Spur
  
• A single crewman was marking utilities at the corner of Queen and Charles, and construction barrels have gone up marking off the entire Western corner, that others have commented should get reworked.
  

[danbrotherston]

Saw this interesting signage today.  Not quite sure what the speed limit is on this segment.   As usual however, both limits seem too low.

   

[Canard]

Getting the party started:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">ION funding partners officially open the doors ahead of today's open house! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/futureionrider?src=hash">#futureionrider</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/RegionWaterloo">@RegionWaterloo</a> <a href="https://t.co/vSSna4qeNC">pic.twitter.com/vSSna4qeNC</a></p>&mdash; ION (@rideIONrt) <a href="https://twitter.com/rideIONrt/status/850730828548255745">April 8, 2017</a></blockquote>