Ottawa LRT

[ijmorlan]

Now can Toronto stop prevaricating and extend the Bombardier streetcar order? They need about 100 cars over the current order to have a really good equipment complement.

[KevinL]

A large Canadian city's ambitious new rail transport project with SNC-Lavalin as a major partner... Where does that ring a bell? https://rem.info/en

[tomh009]

Now can Toronto stop prevaricating and extend the Bombardier streetcar order? They need about 100 cars over the current order to have a really good equipment complement.

I suspect things might be on hold for a while, given that the provincial government is trying to figure out how to get control of the TTC at the moment.

[tomh009]

Wow.

As a former Ottawa resident, their winters are cold but not THAT cold.  Man.  

I hope we don't experience anything like that

We won't. The trains we got are actually tested for cold weather with a track record in Toronto.

As for Ottawa, this is quite shocking. How surprised am I that SNC-Lavalin is involved in all this? Not at all. SNC-Lavalin has always had friends in the right places, so crap like this continues to happen.

Looking like the ION might be in service before the O-Train.

Well, it was a competitive bidding process with three major consortia and no protests after the decision.
https://tunnellingjournal.com/ottawa-lrt...announced/

And if there is a problem with the trains handling snow and/or cold weather, I do think that's more to do with Alstom than SNC-Lavalin.

[Spokes]

Would our trains work on their tracks? I don't know how this works, is a system designed for specific trains, or are they interchangeable?

[tomh009]

At the most basic level, yes: both use the same 1435mm standard gauge. And catenaries are standardized, too.

But the signaling systems are pretty much guaranteed to be different.

[taylortbb]

I also think the Ottawa system runs at a different voltage. When placing an order that's probably no big deal, but it means they couldn't just borrow some from Toronto.

There's also lots of little things in the system. Our platforms have markers for where the doors are, which wouldn't line up.

Even if the rails have the same spacing, the train width may be slightly different, which will cause alignment issues with the platforms (if they fit at all).

[kps]

I also think the Ottawa system runs at a different voltage.

Yes, 1500V DC vs Ion's 750V DC. (1500V DC is the traditional French mainline system, so Ottawa's use may be an Alstomism.)

[Canard]

It’s more efficient to use a higher voltage if you can. Since Ottawa’s system has no street running, they were able to do this. Systems “exposed” to regular people and cars and so on have to use a lower voltage, for safety.

[Spokes]

I lived in Ottawa when they first tried to do LRT in 2007 and then the new mayor cancelled it. Then this.

LRT in Ottawa has certainly had a bit of issues over the years.

[Canard]

https://www.otrainfans.ca/blogs/confeder...rch-5-2019

Excellent summary.

Don't miss the presentation slides, and if you have the time, listen to the audio. The first 20 minutes are the presentation and counter basically everything that has been said in the media the past few days.

[Canard]

Was lucky enough to have a long drive today so listened to the entire meeting. Absolutely fantastic and gobs and gobs of information and juicy discussion. I love how well Manconi handles this.

[Canard]

$4.7B LRT expansion gets green light - CBC.ca

[Spokes]

MASSIVE price tag. Wow.

[timio]

Extensions in 3 directions will do that.