ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[BuildingScout]

Sounds like major issues with the cars, and clearly the signs of a company in trouble. There are still three month left before the delivery of car 4406 and they are essentially saying that in that time they won't be able to solve the issues with the other subsequent cars.

[nms]

Sounds like major issues with the cars, and clearly the signs of a company in trouble. There are still three month left before the delivery of car 4406 and they are essentially saying that in that time they won't be able to solve the issues with the other subsequent cars.

I wonder if some of that production transfer from Europe to North America is the result of location-based construction restrictions.  For instance, are the TTC cars required to have a certain level of North American production to them, and due to NAFTA, a Mexican plant meets some of that requirement.

Is anyone familiar with Bombardier's production floor?  Will the Ion units be tacked on to the end of the TTC line, or are they able to build cars in parallel?

[KevinL]

One other issue that impacts the streetcars more than our LRVs is that they are more of a 'custom build' - having to fit Toronto's unique track gague, turn radii, and grades - while the Freedom is designed to be 'off the shelf' and usable in less specific applications. Hopefully that leads to avoiding the kinds of delays seen with the streetcars.

[Canard]

http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-ne...six-months

[BuildingScout]

http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-ne...six-months

Like I said: Sounds like major issues, and clearly the signs of a company in trouble.

[MacBerry]

Sounds like major issues with the cars, and clearly the signs of a company in trouble. There are still three month left before the delivery of car 4406 and they are essentially saying that in that time they won't be able to solve the issues with the other subsequent cars.

I wonder if some of that production transfer from Europe to North America is the result of location-based construction restrictions.  For instance, are the TTC cars required to have a certain level of North American production to them, and due to NAFTA, a Mexican plant meets some of that requirement.

Is anyone familiar with Bombardier's production floor?  Will the Ion units be tacked on to the end of the TTC line, or are they able to build cars in parallel?

Delays: It could be the cars covert to Imperial engineering specs when travelling through the U.S. (they are the only major country in the world not to use metric system) and then the cars must convert back to metric as they cross the border  ...  

[MidTowner]

I had thought that there was a thread specifically for Ion Phase II (Fairway to Cambridge), but I may have been mistaken. Moderators can feel free to move this if I've chosen the wrong thread.

The premiere of Ontario met with the mayor of Hamilton to day, and it's being reported that the provincial government is committing to 100% funding for Hamilton's proposed LRT system. $811 million is the figure that Hamilton has been saying it will cost, but I think there's a good chance that it will have inflated from there.

I know that Hamilton is Metrolinx and Big Move territory, but it seems to me that Ion II has a really good chance of moving forward (especially since the Regional government is willing to pay their fair share) given this.

[Waterlooer]

Isn't that a slap in the face to people who live in Waterloo Region? We have to pay $235 million for our LRT while the City of Hamilton has to pay nothing for a system which is roughly as expensive as ours.

[MidTowner]

I tend to agree with you. This is all under the Big Move/Metrolinx funding basket, though. Other municipalities in the GTHA will get 100% funding (or other mixes) for other projects.

To add to it, Hamilton's city council has not requested the funding as such. There is still some chance that they will reject LRT, even paid for entirely by another level of government.

I still think this- the province supporting to this extent a 13km LRT line in a city where transit ridership growth has been anemic and which has very little experience with rapid transit- is very positive news in terms of Ion's shot at getting funding for the extension.

[Markster]

I'd wait until I hear something more concrete, but it certainly is an interesting development.

Ottawa, for instance, is not operating under a false hope of 100% funding for their phase 2.
Though, if this turns out to be real, (i.e. as good as is sounds,) expect some fireworks around the Hurontario LRT, particularly the Brampton downtown section, which Brampton wants to bury underground.

There's no shame in the Region having committed 30% of the cost.

[Waterlooer]

I still think this- the province supporting to this extent a 13km LRT line in a city where transit ridership growth has been anemic and which has very little experience with rapid transit- is very positive news in terms of Ion's shot at getting funding for the extension.

That's very true. Hopefully there will be enough demand from Kitchener - Cambridge in the coming years to justify the extension. I travel to Cambridge sometimes and it will be annoying having to get a transfer once ION is constructed.

[jamincan]

I'm curious how many people use existing transit service between Kitchener and Cambridge and what sort of time improvements ION would over the aBRT that they are implementing first. I'm kind of skeptical about the demand between the two, but if it provides a faster commute, it could attract more riders. Has there been any plans for a Park and Ride lot at the Sportsworld station?

[BuildingScout]

I know that Hamilton is Metrolinx and Big Move territory, but it seems to me that Ion II has a really good chance of moving forward (especially since the Regional government is willing to pay their fair share) given this.

No, it will never happen. Ask Doug Craig. He was willing to sabotage LRT for the rest of the region since he just knew it would never happen. He even got re-elected on the basis of this observation.

[Elmira Guy]

Maybe the region should look instead at building the first of an east to west line for the next phase. You know, since Cambridge doesn't want LRT anyway. :-D

Note: this is my first post on this site, so forgive the semi-mild snipe. But Craig's flip-flopping was really annoying, and while I would like to see LRT extend to Cambridge, I'd also like to see that moron Craig renew his whining if Phase 2 was placed somewhere else.

[Canard]

Victoria seems like an obvious choice - head East, then South through Breslau to the airport, before curving back East along Fairway to terminate at the Mall. I can dream.

I still say Corination is a better choice for Cambridge than Hespeler/24.