ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[KevinL]

I doubt the options are as wide-ranging as Pheidippides' suggestion. I'm thinking A) is launch July-August with most to all vehicles, make no immediate changes to bus routes except removing 200 and B) is launch full Ion September 4 and implement bus changes simultaneously.

I guess we see on the 18th.

[Canard]

You could extrapolate that Bombardier is the cause of the delay in the same way you could blame your friend for being late to dinner because they have a 30 minute drive to the restaurant and you told them you were meeting there with your friends in 15 minutes.

[ijmorlan]

You could extrapolate that Bombardier is the cause of the delay in the same way you could blame your friend for being late to dinner because they have a 30 minute drive to the restaurant and you told them you were meeting there with your friends in 15 minutes.

It’s more like your friend said they would be off work at 3 but then they called at 5 to say they were done, and at that point your scenario came into play.

Bombardier’s well-publicized incompetence at building these vehicles in Thunder Bay is clearly responsible for a significant fraction of the delay, even if Metrolinx also deserves some of the blame.

Anyway, if the vehicles really are ready to ship then they can all be here by the end of June so it’s up to Grandlinq to do their job and get the system fully operational by September 1 at the absolute latest. 5 months should be enough time to finish testing starting from where we are now. If not there is something wrong, either with our society or with this specific implementation team. I know we have to do non-car-related things safely nowadays but 5 months is still ample time to put transit into service.

[Canard]

I agree that Thunder Bay is incompetent.

Kingston? Not even close.

And there is (was) someone else who was a part of all this who is an order of magnitude even more incompetent that is directly responsible for the current situation..

[Rainrider22]

I agree that Thunder Bay is incompetent.

Kingston? Not even close.

And there is (was) someone else who was a part of all this who is an order of magnitude even more incompetent that is directly responsible for the current situation..

Ok, without naming names,  you have to elaborate more on that for us please...

[Canard]

I’ve brought it up before in this thread.

[tomh009]

All of those options would suggest that Bombardier is indeed part of the delays, wouldn't it? If they can open with any number of vehicles on July 1st, then opening with fewer overall vehicles could only be Bombardier's fault, not anyone else's, right?

Unless Grandlinq can't get enough staff trained in time to operate a full complement of trains.

I know nothing, just pointing out another possible scenario.

[jamincan]

I agree that Thunder Bay is incompetent.

Kingston? Not even close.

And there is (was) someone else who was a part of all this who is an order of magnitude even more incompetent that is directly responsible for the current situation..

Ok, without naming names,  you have to elaborate more on that for us please...

I'm pretty sure Canard is talking about Metrolinx. In fairness to all, I'm pretty sure no involved party's hands are really clean of the delays except perhaps GRT. There have been plenty of screw-ups to go around; it wouldn't really be fair to place all of the blame in one place.

[ijmorlan]

I agree that Thunder Bay is incompetent.

Kingston? Not even close.

And there is (was) someone else who was a part of all this who is an order of magnitude even more incompetent that is directly responsible for the current situation..

Oh indeed, everything I have seen says that once a job is sent to Kingston it moves along in the way one would expect. Just saying that the overall situation owes a lot to the former Bombardier problems. It’s not all Metrolinx.

[chutten]

Can we even generate a complete blame list for this? Politicians for start delay, Universities for station positions, Metrolinx for legal posturing, Bombardier for failure to meet deadlines, Region for failing to amend the plan for active transportation, MTO for out of date regulations for crossings controls and fences, contractors for turn diameters, GRT for fare card delays and not seeking Presto integration, local news for rabble rousing and outrage machinery, ...

I feel like each of these need citations :S

[Canard]

It’s amazing to me that even though this project has gone essentially flawlessly when compared to virtually every other rapid transit project in the world, we still find a need to place blame and point fingers.

Can we just move on and get excited that we are really, really effing close to opening?

(this is not a slam at you Chutten! I, for one, am tired of the negativity and super excited for opening day.)

[ijmorlan]

It’s amazing to me that even though this project has gone essentially flawlessly when compared to virtually every other rapid transit project in the world, we still find a need to place blame and point fingers.

Can we just move on and get excited that we are really, really effing close to opening?

(this is not a slam at you Chutten!  I, for one, am tired of the negativity and super excited for opening day.)

We’re all bored and need something to do. Wait until service begins. Then this whole board will go dark. If you need to talk to anybody from this board, head over to an Ion stop and wait for the next vehicle.

[Pheidippides]

One thing the GRT staff made abundantly clear was that the proposed changes to the GRT network would not be done in phases. The new GRT network will go live when the Ion goes live. Yes, the 205 would launch in April, but the rest of the changes would happen all at once ("ripping the band-aid off" was the phrase used).

Given that the GRT consultations don't end until April 11 and it would take staff at least a month to analyze the data, update the plan with changes, and write a council report, the earliest council could sign off of the GRT plan would be the May 29, 2018 planning and works meeting. GRT would then have to get all the work orders in to get all the physical preparations done for the big switch (plus re-do staffing schedules, etc.) which is at least 2 months work (probably more given the magnitude of some of the changes).

September 2018 is the earliest I could possible see a launch of Ion and GRT changes.

[Coke6pk]

I agree that Thunder Bay is incompetent.

Kingston? Not even close.

And there is (was) someone else who was a part of all this who is an order of magnitude even more incompetent that is directly responsible for the current situation..

Ok, without naming names,  you have to elaborate more on that for us please...

   

/obscure?

[ijmorlan]

Ok, without naming names,  you have to elaborate more on that for us please...

/obscure?

That guy is definitely a buffoon, but I don’t think he’s responsible for any of the delays on the project.