ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[tomh009]

So the trains have been pretty full so far?

I saw three tonight, and I doubt any of them had more than half a dozen empty seats.

[KevinL]

A summer weekend with lots of events and great weather, and no-fare transit? Not a surprise.

[robdrimmie]

I thought the announcements at the stations sounded Orwellian.

How so?

[taylortbb]

Apparently the first car collision with passengers on board happened today, caused delays for about an hour. Driver turned right through one of the light up "no right turn" signs at Ottawa and Mill.

https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/mobile/mino...sc=ocYOA3X

[jgsz]

I thought the announcements at the stations sounded Orwellian.

How so?

It sounded clear, precise, emotionless and futuristic.  I’m sure others have an idea of what ‘Orwellian’ is or sounds like but that’s what I thought when I heard the announcements.  

Regardless, I enjoyed the ride and I hope ION will be a great success.  I certainly plan on using it.  It’s one of the reasons we moved to the downtown core from the countryside.

[jeffster]

Does anyone know how busy it is today? Might hook up for a ride but don't want to be crowded out...asking for a friend.

[KevinL]

Easiest way to avoid a busy lineup is to take a bus to a less crowded station and board there.

[Bob_McBob]

Real-time departure information for ION light rail will not be available tomorrow, and passenger displays will not be showing next departures. Our trip planning tools and apps will show scheduled departure times. We are working to resolve this issue.

https://www.twitter.com/grt_row/status/1...9841378310

[KevinL]

Oof. Not a good look on the first day of scheduled service.

[tomh009]

Trains are running, though, and not crowded—at least not before 7 AM.

[MidTowner]

My train this morning was pretty busy- at least as compared with the 200 at the same time of day last week. A few people were clearly "tourists" still, even at 6:30. A few commuters were grumbling because it was late- by two minutes- and I think that was exacerbated by the fact that, on the platform, the display was simply saying that trains depart every ten minutes, which we knew wasn't the case.

Edit: I mis-spoke above. I checked the schedule, and it wasn't two minutes late, it was on time. So the perception of it being late was actually caused by the fact that the display wasn't showing the proper schedule. Not a big deal, in the grand scheme of things.

[panamaniac]

I see that there was another minor collision yesterday, when a car hit a corner of one of the trains on Mill St.

[goggolor]

I took it to work today on my regular commute from GRH > R&T Park which used to take about 35 minutes (and frequently longer on the way home). Total time was 20 minutes door-to-door, but that's mostly because I lucked out and caught a #9 which cuts down the 1km walk from the station. But at least now all the parts of my commute are predictable instead of being at the mercy of car traffic.

The train was busy at 8 AM but still had some available seats. There were issues with the doors closing and re-opening repeatedly at each station. It seemed like a passenger who had boarded and was standing too close to the doors after they closed, would trigger the motion detector to re-open the doors. Not sure how well that will work if/when the cars become more crowded.

[Pilsner]

https://www.therecord.com/news-story/945...ion-train/

[panamaniac]

Scratch 'n dent, scratch 'n dent ... 

I guess turning right, into the path of the train, is going to be the most common of these bumps?