ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[jeffster]

That's probably Bombardier's fault ...

The man speaks truth!

[Spokes]

Did you see Beisan Zubi call out Bombardier in her regional councillor debate??

[robdrimmie]

Did you see Beisan Zubi call out Bombardier in her regional councillor debate??

I think her statements make sense given what the public has been told. I have yet to see anything other than Canard's assertions and while I definitely trust him on the matter, that's a trust earned by who he is and his track record, not actual evidence. The only data the public has been given by the Region, Waterloo and Kitchener is that Bombardier caused all the problems, and Zubi's statements in the debate reflect that. Bombardier's reputation as being terrible at timelines is strong and not entirely unearned.

Her answers to this block of questions in general was somewhat unsatisfactory, I also disagree with her assertion that a lot of businesses closed because of the construction. But I think that's also based on the information that's been pushed most heavily by news sources, so its less about her being uninformed than being misinformed.

(I do have a bias that is relevant to the discussion: I am acquainted with Zubi and her work, and I think she'll be an excellent member of council.)

[Spokes]

What were canards assertions? I think I missed those.

As to her answers to the block of questions, I'll be honest, I only saw a small clip of the debate on Twitter, not the whole thing. Is it posted somewhere?

Also biased, I think she'd be outstanding too.

[robdrimmie]

What were canards assertions? I think I missed those.

As to her answers to the block of questions, I'll be honest, I only saw a small clip of the debate on Twitter, not the whole thing. Is it posted somewhere?

Also biased, I think she'd be outstanding too.

The only place I've seen suggestions that there are causes for delays other than Bombardier is here. The Region, the municipalities and the news outlets are all on board with blaming Bombardier for the delays. Bombardier seems to be on board with taking the blame as well.

I think of Canard as the flag-bearer here for the contradictory position, that more entities than just Bombardier share some or all of the blame. It is entirely likely that I'm attributing too much directly to him, there are definitely more on this site (including myself) who think a 800-900 million dollar project is too complicated for there to be a single source of everything that is wrong. I can dig up specific posts but it's less that there's any specific assertion on his part, and more that there is nuance to the situation that isn't present in Zubi's statements.

Rogers has all the debates posted online. This one in particular is at https://rogerstv.com/show?lid=12&rid=54&...gid=298874

Edit to add: Zubi's response starts at 41:24 in the above clip.

[Canard]

In a nutshell, this picture basically explains the primary reason for the current delays beyond the initial production startup hiccups:

   

Guess who didn't hold up their end of the deal?

[ijmorlan]

In a nutshell, this picture basically explains the primary reason for the current delays beyond the initial production startup hiccups:



Guess who didn't hold up their end of the deal?

Does “B/O” stand for “back ordered”?

I noticed the vehicle on display at the UW stop just had a hole there. I think they should make a point of having that label installed on all the vehicles that are still lacking the equipment. It won’t make much difference but whenever a member of the public gets a chance to see the console they should see that the gap is Metrolinx-related.

[Square]

Did 511 get unloaded today? Thank you.

[jason897]

Did 511 get unloaded today?  Thank you.

A set of empty flatcars currently sit at commonwealth plywood siding. So I guess so. And no one posted about it?

[KevinT]

They all drove onto the 'eastbound' tracks at the Pine/GRH Emergency intersection, down the 'eastbound' ION right of way, then off the tracks at the next intersection (GRH Parking entrance).

There, I fixed that for you!

Yes and no, with accurate compass headings the quotes are no longer required.  (Though one could argue that east-southeastbound is the accurate heading, though even that's 112.5 degrees whereas the real heading is closer to 116.)

[bgb_ca]

Did 511 get unloaded today?  Thank you.

A set of empty flatcars currently sit at commonwealth plywood siding. So I guess so. And no one posted about it?

Yes it got unloaded this morning. I witnessed my first unloading while Kevin T was there as usual.

Both me and Kevin got video, but I need to cut mine together before I post it.

[KevinT]

Did 511 get unloaded today?  Thank you.

It did.  I have a bunch of raw footage that I'll hopefully get turned into a YouTube video this evening...

[KevinT]

In a nutshell, this picture basically explains the primary reason for the current delays beyond the initial production startup hiccups:



Guess who didn't hold up their end of the deal?

Guess who was trying to get out of the deal?

The Star, April 19, 2017: Judge blocks Metrolinx from cancelling Bombardier contract
The Star, May 11, 2017: Metrolinx to buy vehicles from Bombardier competitor

Read between the lines and its easy to imagine that Metrolinx wasn't signing off on specs for vehicle production or the 'specialized equipment' that had to go into them because they'd already picked a new pony.  Our order was a tack on to theirs, under their specs.  ION was the flea on the tail (Metrolinx) wagging the dog (Bombardier).

Note: Edited to add second article link, article dates, and update commentary accordingly.

[KevinT]

An update from CTV on some of the art projects along the line:

https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1498327

They briefly mention that one project was cancelled, but not by name - that being Ken Hall's phenominal "Network" for R+T park, which was going to be the most elaborate and spectacular piece along the line.

Also no mention of the fact that all pieces were due to be installed by the end of September, and none have even begun installation.

I'm still very much looking forward to "Because Cats Can't Fly" by Veronica and Edwin Dam de Nogales.

What's odd is that https://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/explo...access.pdf says that it goes at the Kitchener Market stop but the graphic shows it at Blockline.  I'd much prefer Blockline as shown.

[KevinL]

The artists had Block Line in mind, the art committee decided to put it at Kitchener Market.