ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[timio]

Any word on 502 leaving Millhaven?

[danbrotherston]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/rideIONrt">@rideIONrt</a> car #2 is loaded, on the tracks, and ready to be picked up for its trip to the Region of Waterloo. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/wrLRT?src=hash">#wrLRT</a> <a href="https://t.co/9URfOlU8Ww">pic.twitter.com/9URfOlU8Ww</a></p>&mdash; BombardierRail (@BombardierRail) <a href="https://twitter.com/BombardierRail/status/912402157755879426">September 25, 2017</a></blockquote>

[Canard]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/rideIONrt">@rideIONrt</a> car #2 is loaded, on the tracks, and ready to be picked up for its trip to the Region of Waterloo. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/wrLRT?src=hash">#wrLRT</a> <a href="https://t.co/9URfOlU8Ww">pic.twitter.com/9URfOlU8Ww</a></p>&mdash; BombardierRail (@BombardierRail) <a href="https://twitter.com/BombardierRail/status/912402157755879426">September 25, 2017</a></blockquote>

Pickup on Wednesday!

[timio]

Just about to post that.

[Markster]

Just about to post that.

Come on, third time's the charm!

[Canard]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/rideIONrt">@rideIONrt</a> #501 being pushed around maintenance yard. Can't wait for powered train to be in same yard <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/wrLRT?src=hash">#wrLRT</a> <a href="https://t.co/kUYUHEotGm">pic.twitter.com/kUYUHEotGm</a></p>&mdash; Dwayne de Wit (@DeweydeWit) <a href="https://twitter.com/DeweydeWit/status/912376859148644359">September 25, 2017</a></blockquote>

[timio]

Must be pretty light to be pushed by that worker without violating safe working conditions rules.

[KevinL]

Very low coefficient of friction on those bogies! Just rolls like anything...

[chutten]

Apparently bikes have an even lower rolling resistance than (some) train cars: https://what-if.xkcd.com/154/ (Note 7)

In other news, though this focuses on the US (what doesn't) I think a lot of it applies to Canadian cities as well:


Most notably I appreciate the citation of the 2015 study "The Impacts of Neighborhoods[sic] on Intergenerational Mobility" by Raj Chetty and Nathaniel Hendren which found that access to public transportation greatly increased the chances of someone escaping poverty.

Also, the uncited claim that streetcar networks are now making money again in the US not because of fare collection, but because of the economic development they spur.

What it misses is considering bus routes as public transit. It seems sensible to me that bus routes are lower-order public transit, but transit they still are. They shouldn't be ignored.

[Pheidippides]

Same rail car ID on the flatbed as back in February. We'll have to see what flatbed car #3 and #4 get shipped on.

[urbd]

Any updates????

[urbd]

With "Fall 2017" now upon us, and no art installation work, I queried the Project Team about the scheduling of installation of the major pieces along the line.  They've quietly revised the installation to "all installed prior to launch in 2018".  Meaning:  There's been a delay.

Very unfortunate - I know it doesn't mean anything other than not getting to see them a little sooner, but I was really, really, really eager to see them installed.

I heard from someone at the Region that the R+T Park station (not the platform itself, the space between it and street) will undergo a very significant investment and the art pieces will be part of that. I guess we'll see!

[timc]

Are they going to reduce the berm and/or build a pathway through it?

[KevinL]

I was down at Fairway this afternoon.



The very far end of the track remains the last to be embedded.



Not sure what went wrong, but a pretty major re-work is happening to the operators' facility.

Not pictured, but the former Crabby Joe's/Burger King site is now fully stripped and leveled. A big rectangle of bare dirt.

[Canard]

Wow, so maybe there was some truth to that nasty rumour that the driver's facility at Fairway has to move...

(A GrandLinq contractor hinted at that quite strongly in the comments on one of the photos I'd posted online a while back, in the facebook group. If I recall correctly, he later deleted them - probably having been reprimanded by the higher-ups that lurk there.)