Light Rail Vehicles - LRT, ICTS, Monorail, and more

[Canard]

Simply pointing out that automated does not automatically equal elevated, which seemed to be the inference.

[danbrotherston]

Right.  So if the Honolulu system is in the city, it will be elevated.  And if it's elevated, then the stations will be elevated, too.

Also, watch the videos, some of the stations appear to be quite outside the city at the moment.  I'm talking about a giant elevated structure next to what appears to be a farmer's field.

[KevinL]

I presume that land has been set aside for greenfield development, but they're putting in the transit connection first. Should be interesting.

[plam]

I guess subways aren't actually light rail, but neither are monorails. I think.

AC motors like this can be very accurately controlled by their drive (called a Variable Frequency Drive, or VFD); it's what makes the high-pitched quiet "squeal" or "whine" on newer trains as they accelerate and decelerate.  Some really nerdy folks like myself even get a kick out of the different noises that these types of systems make - my favourite being the 90, 120, 180, 240, 360 Hz startup tones of the Montreal metro trains...  

You can hear some of the motor noises very clearly in this great video by ErbosSan on YouTube:

That video really contused me, because the vast majority of MR-63s, running on Line 1, did not in fact make the startup tones. It was the MR-73s on Lines 2, 4 and 5, which did. But that was clearly an MR-63 in that video. Only the MR-63 Jeumonts made the noise.

I was just on a bunch of the new Azur (MPM-10) trains this weekend. Like the new TTC trains (and all modern trains?), they all connect through. I was looking closely for the neat design features of the train. It no longer actually makes the startup tone, but it was nice how they use it as the door chime. I've also never seen it in other trains, but the Azurs have green lights for the doors that are about to open, switching to red when closing. There also seemed to be quite a bit of fan power; I wonder if that is more so due to the fact that the trains aren't compartmentalized.

All through the system, and on the trains, LED lighting makes a huge difference in the lighting levels.

[Canard]

Right; there are a couple of MR-63's that were equipped with test electronics (the Jeumont's) and they make all 5 tones. The rest of the production MR-73's just make 3 (well, they make all 5, but it's hard to hear). The test ones were retrofitted to see if the concept would work before the MR-73 buildout (Bombardier's first huge rail contract, actually!).

Awesome you got a ride on the AZUR! How many are in service, now?

[kps]

Obligatory Siemens Taurus:

[Canard]

Oh. My. GOD!! I've never seen, that, thank you!!!!!!!!

I went NUTS in Japan over all the VVVF (Variable-Voltage, Variable-Frequency) stuff. They are so obsessed with it there that they actually brand the trains with giant "VVVF!" logos and stuff on them. That is gorgeous!!

The Scarborough rt makes some really funky noises too when it's being driven manually at very slow speeds - you really hear the steps between all the different frequencies and steps that the drives go through during the acceleration profile.

Another one of my favourites:


(Scrub to 0:25)

[plam]

Right; there are a couple of MR-63's that were equipped with test electronics (the Jeumont's) and they make all 5 tones. The rest of the production MR-73's just make 3 (well, they make all 5, but it's hard to hear). The test ones were retrofitted to see if the concept would work before the MR-73 buildout (Bombardier's first huge rail contract, actually!).

Awesome you got a ride on the AZUR! How many are in service, now?

14. Last time I was in Montreal I saw one but it was not going where I was going so I couldn't take it. There are noticeably more now. They had to fix a thing with the track/car interface in January but it seems to be under control now.

I was also reading that the Montreal trains have a super high mean-time-between-failure, which they say is due to good maintenance. Maybe they do a better job than TTC's State of Good Repair?

[Canard]

The Montreal trains also never see the light of day, so that has a huge impact on how hard of a life they live.

[KevinL]

The Montreal trains also never see the light of day, so that has a huge impact on how hard of a life they live.

Indeed, the decision to completely enclose that system has had some very interesting results.

[DHLawrence]

Was it a conscious decision or consequence of going with rubber-tired trains?

One complaint about AZUR, which is common to the entire system, is a lack of air conditioning. With all the work they put into the station designs you'd think they would have done that ages ago.

[Canard]

The choice to go with rubber-tire tech for the system means it can never go above ground, due to the weather.

They'll never have AC in Montreal because the stations don't have the capacity to remove the heat generated by the units on the trains. It would be a monumental effort to retrofit it all in now.

[ijmorlan]

The choice to go with rubber-tire tech for the system means it can never go above ground, due to the weather.

They'll never have AC in Montreal because the stations don't have the capacity to remove the heat generated by the units on the trains.  It would be a monumental effort to retrofit it all in now.

How does CityVal handle this? It seems to be rubber on concrete but running mostly outside.

[Canard]

How does CityVal handle this? It seems to be rubber on concrete but running mostly outside.

CityVal (you're only mentioning it because I pointed out I was excited for its launch in Rennes in a couple of years, a few pages ago), and it's predecessor VAL, aren't built in places with snow.

As for the comment about it running "mostly outside" - there is no relationship between the guideway alignment/type of grade separation and the technology. It can be underground, elevated, or at-grade - your choice.

Morgantown's PRT is about the only [rubber-tired] AGT system I can think of that operates in an area with regular snow, and there, the entire guideway is heated (at great expense). The upshot is that it always works, even when the roads are completely impassible...

[DHLawrence]

Which is a bonus for university students, who tend to be the majority users of transit outside major urban centres.