ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[Acitta]

The photo accompanying the article clearly shows damage on the right tail end of the car, so something hit it if not the ION. I find it hard to believe that this is a "single vehicle collision."

[ac3r]

And another one. This says it was a "collision on LRT tracks" and doesn't explicitly say a car hit the train, but as the article says, there was visible damage and people on the train felt the impact. Two in one day...keep it up Kitchener.

https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/collision-o...-1.4512562

https://twitter.com/GoldDwaggy/status/11...3533185030

[danbrotherston]

Looks like driver ignoring the no turn signs...as they do continuously..

I mean, we could enforce the rules of the road, but our priorities are instead on fare enforcement, despite broken fare machines...*sigh*....

[jeffster]

[jeffster]

Looks like driver ignoring the no turn signs...as they do continuously..

I mean, we could enforce the rules of the road, but our priorities are instead on fare enforcement, despite broken fare machines...*sigh*....

Aren't fare enforcement and road enforcement two separate things? But I see you point, but I am just saying the two aren't related at all.

And, until some hot shot or an officer gets seriously hurt by idiots that ignore red lights, no right or left turns, stops signs, no u-turns, etc., this is going to continue to happen. Though I imagine at some point the region will see their revenue stream suffer due to reliable issues with the LRT (due to piss poor driving in KW), perhaps some by-laws will be added, and regional or city staff can start charging these idiot drivers.

[ijmorlan]

And, until some hot shot or an officer gets seriously hurt by idiots that ignore red lights, no right or left turns, stops signs, no u-turns, etc., this is going to continue to happen. Though I imagine at some point the region will see their revenue stream suffer due to reliable issues with the LRT (due to piss poor driving in KW), perhaps some by-laws will be added, and regional or city staff can start charging these idiot drivers.

Good point. It shouldn’t take police involvement at the scene — what is on the Ion’s video recording should be enough to get a conviction.

But probably not. Some people have this weird idea that car owners shouldn’t be responsible for their vehicles, and use that as an argument against red light or speed cameras — “how can you convict me of running a red when you can’t even prove it was me driving the vehicle?”. To which the response should be that they can either collect the fine from the person who was driving, or report the vehicle stolen.

[KevinL]

 Some people have this weird idea that car owners shouldn’t be responsible for their vehicles, and use that as an argument against red light or speed cameras — “how can you convict me of running a red when you can’t even prove it was me driving the vehicle?”. To which the response should be that they can either collect the fine from the person who was driving, or report the vehicle stolen.

As we say in fraud prevention, 'that's a civil matter'.

[jamincan]

You would think the Record would be all over this. Every single bystander and witness is reporting that there was a collision with the LRV, and this seems to be corroborated by photographic evidence, and yet WRPS is saying there wasn't. What is their justification for this in light of witness testimony. What are the actual facts? Was the LRV damaged? Was WRPS trying to cover something up?

There could be a big story here, not about the LRT, but about WRPS.

[MidTowner]

And another one. This says it was a "collision on LRT tracks" and doesn't explicitly say a car hit the train, but as the article says, there was visible damage and people on the train felt the impact. Two in one day...keep it up Kitchener.

https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/collision-o...-1.4512562

https://twitter.com/GoldDwaggy/status/11...3533185030

Someone commuting with me this morning was on that train yesterday. There was no collision, but the train braked hard and he was thrown to the floor. He says (this is all hearsay, remember) that the train was stopped for around 25 minutes, part of that time shut down with no HVAC, before a linesman or someone showed up to inspect the train and ask if everyone was okay. He said communication from the driver was good, except for the fact that there was nothing really to communicate.

He thought there was no collision at all, but that the car was stuck on the curb between the rails and the road.

Whether or not 25 minutes was subjective or objective time, there was obviously a delay and he told me the train was quite busy. Calling out paramedics, Keolis staff, and a couple of cops, all of whom have other things they could be doing, along with wasting a few dozens or potentially a hundred commuters' time, is a huge cost. There should be a significant charge against that driver.

[kitborn]

We got on the ION at Fairview close to 6 p.m. and the train only went to Market Terminal and then it returned to Fairview. Apparently because of the delay (accident) at Manulife.

[danbrotherston]

And another one. This says it was a "collision on LRT tracks" and doesn't explicitly say a car hit the train, but as the article says, there was visible damage and people on the train felt the impact. Two in one day...keep it up Kitchener.

https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/collision-o...-1.4512562

https://twitter.com/GoldDwaggy/status/11...3533185030

Someone commuting with me this morning was on that train yesterday. There was no collision, but the train braked hard and he was thrown to the floor. He says (this is all hearsay, remember) that the train was stopped for around 25 minutes, part of that time shut down with no HVAC, before a linesman or someone showed up to inspect the train and ask if everyone was okay. He said communication from the driver was good, except for the fact that there was nothing really to communicate.

He thought there was no collision at all, but that the car was stuck on the curb between the rails and the road.

Whether or not 25 minutes was subjective or objective time, there was obviously a delay and he told me the train was quite busy. Calling out paramedics, Keolis staff, and a couple of cops, all of whom have other things they could be doing, along with wasting a few dozens or potentially a hundred commuters' time, is a huge cost. There should be a significant charge against that driver.

It's very likely that a collision would not be particularly perceptible to people on the train.  A small sedan weighs about a ton, the LRV weighs about 50 tons unloaded, and the braking is particularly powerful. If you watch videos of trams hitting cars, the drivers of the trams are usually not even jostled by the collision, I doubt it would be any more jarring than the usual jostling the LRV undergoes during normal operation.

His account, and the newspaper reporting does not match the position of the car that I saw and photographed (it was clear of the tracks when I came upon it, and had substantial damage to the rear quarter panel), nor the damage to the LRV (scuffs on the front right bumper and dislodging of the centre panel)...

Honestly, I cannot understand how this is still a question...are our newspapers this careless?  Is there a cover-up?

[MidTowner]

Someone commuting with me this morning was on that train yesterday. There was no collision, but the train braked hard and he was thrown to the floor. He says (this is all hearsay, remember) that the train was stopped for around 25 minutes, part of that time shut down with no HVAC, before a linesman or someone showed up to inspect the train and ask if everyone was okay. He said communication from the driver was good, except for the fact that there was nothing really to communicate.

He thought there was no collision at all, but that the car was stuck on the curb between the rails and the road.

Whether or not 25 minutes was subjective or objective time, there was obviously a delay and he told me the train was quite busy. Calling out paramedics, Keolis staff, and a couple of cops, all of whom have other things they could be doing, along with wasting a few dozens or potentially a hundred commuters' time, is a huge cost. There should be a significant charge against that driver.

It's very likely that a collision would not be particularly perceptible to people on the train.  A small sedan weighs about a ton, the LRV weighs about 50 tons unloaded, and the braking is particularly powerful. If you watch videos of trams hitting cars, the drivers of the trams are usually not even jostled by the collision, I doubt it would be any more jarring than the usual jostling the LRV undergoes during normal operation.

His account, and the newspaper reporting does not match the position of the car that I saw and photographed (it was clear of the tracks when I came upon it, and had substantial damage to the rear quarter panel), nor the damage to the LRV (scuffs on the front right bumper and dislodging of the centre panel)...

Honestly, I cannot understand how this is still a question...are our newspapers this careless?  Is there a cover-up?

I noted that what I was relaying was hearsay because, while I don't want to accuse anyone of lying, different people are focused on different things and so remember them with different levels of clarity. I don't see any solutions to the collisions besides patience, so I would hope that the responses would be better than they seem to have been.

We're talking about two different incidents, though- are you talking about the Manulife collision yesterday morning? I was referring to an incident in Midtown yesterday afternoon (and it seems like there was more than one of those...) that supposedly did not result in a collision, just hard braking. I can personally believe that someone might lose his balance when the train brakes unexpectedly. 

[danbrotherston]

It's very likely that a collision would not be particularly perceptible to people on the train.  A small sedan weighs about a ton, the LRV weighs about 50 tons unloaded, and the braking is particularly powerful. If you watch videos of trams hitting cars, the drivers of the trams are usually not even jostled by the collision, I doubt it would be any more jarring than the usual jostling the LRV undergoes during normal operation.

His account, and the newspaper reporting does not match the position of the car that I saw and photographed (it was clear of the tracks when I came upon it, and had substantial damage to the rear quarter panel), nor the damage to the LRV (scuffs on the front right bumper and dislodging of the centre panel)...

Honestly, I cannot understand how this is still a question...are our newspapers this careless?  Is there a cover-up?

I noted that what I was relaying was hearsay because, while I don't want to accuse anyone of lying, different people are focused on different things and so remember them with different levels of clarity. I don't see any solutions to the collisions besides patience, so I would hope that the responses would be better than they seem to have been.

We're talking about two different incidents, though- are you talking about the Manulife collision yesterday morning? I was referring to an incident in Midtown yesterday afternoon (and it seems like there was more than one of those...) that supposedly did not result in a collision, just hard braking. I can personally believe that someone might lose his balance when the train brakes unexpectedly. 

Yes, sorry, we are talking about different incidents. (It's only a little frustrating that confusion is possible) I didn't accuse anyone of lying, I simply wanted to explain why it is plausible passengers may be mistaken about whether there was a collision.

I don't know the specific details of the second incident, although there are photos of the LRV with the front bumper removed and a coupler visible.

[MidTowner]

Yes, sorry, we are talking about different incidents. (It's only a little frustrating that confusion is possible) I didn't accuse anyone of lying, I simply wanted to explain why it is plausible passengers may be mistaken about whether there was a collision.

I don't know the specific details of the second incident, although there are photos of the LRV with the front bumper removed and a coupler visible.

This fellow insisted that there was no collision, just a vehicle that had narrowly missed the train and become lodged on the tramway.

I think it may well have been yet another incident, I mean not the one that CTV reported on at Agnes and King. In absence of some kind of comprehensive list of service disruptions, we can't know for sure how often trains are delayed because of motorist errors. At some point, the local media will stop covering collisions: once we've had a couple of dozen, it's not really "news" any more...

[megabytephreak]

I know there was a near miss at King and Allen around 7PM last night. Was walking towards the intersection (with some friends who had been delayed by the incident at King and Agnes), and was commenting on the giant No Right turn signs when we saw a minivan make a right turn across the southbound track and heard the LRT horn blowing. The van then had to back up and the train proceeded through the intersection. Probably happens all the time, but we honestly thought we were going to see the first three-collision day.