ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[urbd]

Here's the link to the agenda (had to search for it, so figured I'd provide it for others):

https://calendar.regionofwaterloo.ca/Cou...202017.pdf

The TPSS expropriation bit? What's special about it? That it's going to cost $42 million?

[Canard]

No - I should have added "I don't see in here anything about train procurement".

[GtwoK]

Seems to be some sort of sealant(?) work going on on the tracks. Man with this long gun-like thing was filling in the seams along the embedded tracks. Or vacuuming them? But it looked like something was coming out.

Also, the truck pulled forward through the intersection a few minutes after taking this photo, and as it did, the "No Right Turn" signs at Charles and Gaukel illuminated! very cool

[tomh009]

The crosswalk painting on the concrete is, in general, incredibly sloppy, at least in DTK.  Here is a prime example:

   

[Canard]

That is very coo! Was it illuminated because the truck was on the presence detector? Or do you think they radioed in and asked for it to be turned on while they work in the area?

[GtwoK]

That is very coo! Was it illuminated because the truck was on the presence detector? Or do you think they radioed in and asked for it to be turned on while they work in the area?

Oh no, it definitely was cause by the truck driving. Maybe some sort of circuit completed by something? OR a pressure sensor? It was only illuminated for a few seconds as the truck made it to the other side of the intersection, didn't have enough time to get a photo.

[Canard]

Right, that’s what I mean to by presence detector. There’s a check-in/check-out inductive loop used for redundant safety between the rails on each side of an intersection.

[KevinL]

Seems to be some sort of sealant(?) work going on on the tracks. Man with this long gun-like thing was filling in the seams along the embedded tracks.

The crosswalk painting on the concrete

These two things are actually (a bit) related - they haven't wanted to paint the crosswalks on the concrete until the sealant was in.

[KevinT]

You are correct that I am assuming that it is Bombardier’s fault the trains are not in Waterloo; because it is. Bombardier is the only one who signed a contract indicating they could deliver 14 working trains to Waterloo by December of 2016. That obligation was not met, therefore they are at fault for not fulfilling their contract.

Personally, I place a lot of the blame on Metrolinx, and even that goes back to Rob Ford and the cancellation/delay of the 5 Transit City LRT lines for the GTA.  When we ordered our 14 trains it was a tack-on to a much larger order that was supposed to be well in progress by the time our first trains were delivered.  Instead, we have now become the launch customer, encountering all of the problems and kinks that should have been worked out earlier during the launch with Metrolinx.  We're also slave to Metrolinx' specs, desires, and change orders which have trickled out at a snails pace due to their not actually needing any trains yet because they don't have any track yet.

For all we know, the recent delays at Bombardier are a result of Metrolinx negotiations and sign offs that we (including the staff at the Region!) have no visibility into, and that BBD probably isn't allowed to tell us about due to the ongoing legal proceedings.  While I'm sure BBD are not blameless, I strongly believe that a lot of this crap lies squarely at the feet of Metrolinx.  If only the truth could be known...

[Bob_McBob]

FYI: Luisa D'Amato is taking suggestions for an LRT Q&A with Tom Galloway in the Facebook group.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/81680629...064334051/

[Canard]

Personally, I place a lot of the blame on Metrolinx, and even that goes back to Rob Ford and the cancellation/delay of the 5 Transit City LRT lines for the GTA.  When we ordered our 14 trains it was a tack-on to a much larger order that was supposed to be well in progress by the time our first trains were delivered.  Instead, we have now become the launch customer, encountering all of the problems and kinks that should have been worked out earlier during the launch with Metrolinx.  We're also slave to Metrolinx' specs, desires, and change orders which have trickled out at a snails pace due to their not actually needing any trains yet because they don't have any track yet.

For all we know, the recent delays at Bombardier are a result of Metrolinx negotiations and sign offs that we (including the staff at the Region!) have no visibility into, and that BBD probably isn't allowed to tell us about due to the ongoing legal proceedings.  While I'm sure BBD are not blameless, I strongly believe that a lot of this crap lies squarely at the feet of Metrolinx.  If only the truth could be known...

Now we're gettin' somewhere!

[trainspotter139]

This is what everyone wants to see

[KevinL]

This is what everyone wants to see

Indeed it is! Thanks for posting.

[Canard]

Here's the actual footage from Bombardier:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Take a ride aboard the Waterloo <a href="https://twitter.com/rideIONrt?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@rideIONrt</a> LRV in dynamic testing at our Kingston site. Bombardier vehicles, built for Ontario. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/wrLRT?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#wrLRT</a> <a href="https://t.co/9vZD26Rpw1">pic.twitter.com/9vZD26Rpw1</a></p>&mdash; BombardierRail (@BombardierRail) <a href="https://twitter.com/BombardierRail/status/926050809074409472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 2, 2017</a></blockquote>

Jane Mitchell just asked if they could please release times and dates of testing over the next couple of weeks.  Ken Seiling flat out said "No, no, no".  Thanks, CTV Kitchener, for screwing us over.

504 will be delivered by end of November.  503 by mid-December.

No details were released publicly about the schedule.

[Pheidippides]

The TPSS expropriation bit? What's special about it? That it's going to cost $42 million?

The report actually says the entire budget for expropriation was $42 million and they only used $31 million so far.

The report is to declare 0.0157 acres of previously expropriated land as surplus back to the owner for the same rate the region paid for it originally to allow the property owner to build storm water drain on a permanent easement near one of the TPSS.