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ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit
(04-17-2018, 11:39 AM)KevinT Wrote:
(04-14-2018, 06:58 PM)sevenman Wrote: Actually, pretty much all their fault.

I'm curious, how do you propose that they could have delivered completed trains to the region any earlier when Metrolinx refused to sign off on a spec once the Transit City projects for which the original order was placed were all cancelled or delayed?

Even after they had a spec they could build and deliver to in mid-2016, the Communications Based Train Control signalling system remained unspecified, hence the hole in the dashboard we all witnessed at the open houses.  I can only assume that that gap has been closed now, but it would only have happened very recently.

Unfortunately Bombardier can't blame Metrolinx as they are still a major customer of theirs, and the region can't blame Metrolinx as they still want Phase 2 funding, so the only party that gets publicly named and shamed is Bombardier.  Are they blameless?  I'm sure not, but I do feel sorry for them for getting 100% of the blame in the public press / mindset while only being partially responsible for the overall delays.

Hi Kevin,

  I'm not sure, but why would Metrolinx go to court to cancel an order/contract with Bombardier if the delay in the order was partially Metrolinx's fault?  Doesn't make sense.

  The train that was sent to the open house was sent for p.r. purposes which was great but there were over 1500 deficiencies on that vehicle.  In other words, it was missing a whole lot more than the Communications Based Train Control signalling system.  That vehicle was never going to stay.

On your third paragraph, I think the "major customer" label went out the window when Metrolinx tried to cancel a $700 million dollar contract.  
  Additionally, Metrolinx has ZERO to do with any funding for anything going on in the ROW so they're not worried about blame.  Any funding for Phase 2, if it comes, will come directly from the provincial government of the day and certainly won't require Metrolinx's approval.  Metrolinx has no involvement outside the GTA.  They oversee an area from Hamilton to Oshawa to Barrie.  That's it.  

"The only party that gets publicly named and shamed is Bombardier".  That's because there's no one left.     

Last September (2017), Tom Galloway told us that all trains were "either complete or in production and have vehicles to us, at least be assembled, by the end of this year."
Who do you think gave him that information, Metrolinx?!  Bombardier clearly lied or misled Tom.
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Sevenman, I believe the reason, previously brought up, was a bit of a hail mary by Metrolinx. They don't want to blame themselves or seem like they aren't doing anything, but critically, the initial order was based on greater numbers of LRT systems. With all of the LRT cancellations in Toronto, the TTC didn't have need for all those vehicles, and so the side deal made to reduce the total ordered quantity allowed them to get what they really wanted. All that if my memory serves me.

Metrolinx being a provincial agency, and the province being the main partner you have to get in order to get funding support (as we received for phase 1) very much makes them an important good relationship to keep, not least of which because when we bought into their much larger order, we got vehicle costs much lower than we otherwise would have, I believe I remember it being a savings of 7-8 figures per vehicle.
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Good news out of Regional Council tonight.

Sean Strickland, Berry V., and Tom all suggested that more frequent updates be made to the public (at worst monthly) on the progress of all the LRV's.

Tom reminded everyone that even once the vehicles get here, it's not a 100% sure thing - GrandLinq has to pull through on their end.

Thomas explained the complexity of all the various communications equipment that needs to be fitted to the trains.

It was also revealed that while all the trains might be complete and fitted with this equipment by June... that doesn't mean they're all here. So... there's that.
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Here is a link to the webcast of the meeting:

http://ec4.cc/dh2ddb22

Mike Murray made an interesting statement toward the end (20:10). I've typed it out:

Quote:"The other thing that we point out in the report, is the other work that needs to be done once Bombardier completes their work on the vehicle. And, a big portion of that, is the fitting out of the vehicles with the specialized equipment. Some of that will happen here; some of that may well happen in Kingston. And so what we'll report on is the status of vehicles - is that vehicle complete? ... is that equipment being installed here? Or is that equipment being installed in Kingston. So it may well be that vehicles are complete, but not yet here, because that work is being done in Kingston.

So, I just want to be clear - we will not likely see all the vehicles here in June; we're hoping, based on Bombardier's schedule, that all the vehicles will be complete by June, with work being done on specialized equipment fitting, in Kingston."
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Thanks.

But no one really is willing to say what exactly that "specialized equipment" is. And whether specifying/supplying that was BBD or Grandlinq responsibility.
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(04-18-2018, 09:48 PM)tomh009 Wrote: Thanks.

But no one really is willing to say what exactly that "specialized equipment" is. And whether specifying/supplying that was BBD or Grandlinq responsibility.

Thomas Schmidt was on The Mike Farwell Show today and explained what it is. A big part of the equipment is the Communications-Based Train Control equipment for Automatic Train Protection and train-to-wayside communication to communicate with signal houses to provide a more accurate timing for the grade crossing signals as well as communicate vehicle status and high-resolution location data to the Operations Centre, the GPS module for Real-time tracking, and a module for traffic signal preemption and priority.
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Tom, they explained exactly what all the specialized equipment was in the meeting.
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Canard and Trainspotter, thanks for this. The equipment surely is non-trivial and is heavily integrated with the trackside equipment.

So whose responsibility is this equipment? Was this part of the train spec and purchase from BBD, and it should already have been installed in the trains? Or was this the responsibility of Grandlinq to select, procure, supply and install this equipment? Did they explain this at the meeting?
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It wasn’t explained at the meeting, but these components were originally not the responsibility of Bombardier.

...Hence the hole in the dash.
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Anyone know if 506 is still AWOL or has it arrived at Lancaster yet.
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(04-19-2018, 04:52 PM)bgb_ca Wrote: Anyone know if 506 is still AWOL or has it arrived at Lancaster yet.

It should have arrived today if it was in Belleville Tuesday.
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Saw this "poster" today by King and university. Apparently whomever posts these now have LRT in their sights.

   
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And another wild tent appears

   
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(04-19-2018, 04:52 PM)bgb_ca Wrote: Anyone know if 506 is still AWOL or has it arrived at Lancaster yet.

It's not in the Lancaster yard that I can see.

I can never remember - is the 4-times-a-week train that goes up the spur Monday-Thursday, or Tuesday-Friday? I'm just wondering if it's the former, and 506 arrives tomorrow, it'll sit in Lancaster all weekend.

(i mean, it'll either sit there or up at Randal...)
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(04-19-2018, 07:42 PM)Canard Wrote:
(04-19-2018, 04:52 PM)bgb_ca Wrote: Anyone know if 506 is still AWOL or has it arrived at Lancaster yet.

It's not in the Lancaster yard that I can see.

I can never remember - is the 4-times-a-week train that goes up the spur Monday-Thursday, or Tuesday-Friday?  I'm just wondering if it's the former, and 506 arrives tomorrow, it'll sit in Lancaster all weekend.

(i mean, it'll either sit there or up at Randal...)

Monday-Thursday
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