ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[Square]

Sandbags are stand-in passengers for Ion testing

Ion trains are taking unusual passengers for a ride.

Heaps of sandbags — the equivalent of a train's 200-passenger capacity — are loaded on as part of the ongoing testing of vehicles and light rail infrastructure.

"There's quite a few sandbags on there," said Brendon Simon, senior Ion project manager with the Region of Waterloo. "It fills up the train from end to end."

The sandbags simulate a full vehicle, giving the driver a feel for how it handles and brakes compared to travelling along the line when it's empty.

"The vehicle performs a big differently," Simon said. "It just gets that practice in."

The weighted train also tests out the infrastructure along the line, including the power supply to keep it moving along at the right speed.

https://www.therecord.com/news-story/919...n-testing/

It also says this in the article "Each day now there are four to six trains out on the 19-kilometre route between Kitchener and Waterloo at any one time.

"That will continue to go up through the next couple months," Simon said."

Really?, all I hear is about 3 vehicles out daily on my scanner!  That quote was taken from February 26 edition.

Also, I wish they would give us more vehicle updates.

[Spokes]

I thought at some point soon they were going to be replicating a full schedule, no?

[KevinT]

There's still bags taped over the signal heads at the Cameron and Green crossovers. Until they get whatever's not working right working right, I doubt we'll see more simultaneous trains or simulated service runs. Come on guys, you can do it!

Edit to add: The good news is, I've been hearing more test chatter on the scanner lately rather than just the routine training run chatter.

[Rainrider22]

I was listening to Thomas Shmidt on Mike Farwell Monday morning. At first I thought it was April Fools listening to him talk about how much work has to be done yet. Then I realized, he is subtly telling us the system is no where near ready. I have been always been optimistic on LRT but I have a feeling we won't see it till at least the fall.  They might announce a start date by end of spring.   
I just wish they had the fortitude to be honest and deliver the news.

[KevinT]

I just wish they had the fortitude to be honest and deliver the news.

I really miss Darshpreet Bhatti's hand on the wheel, he didn't seem to shy away from keeping us all up to date.  The YouTube videos for the Eglinton Crosstown have a very familiar feel to them, gee, I wonder why?

[welltoldtales]

Oh no. was it really that bad? I just want my trains.

[trainspotter139]

I was listening to Thomas Shmidt on Mike Farwell Monday morning. At first I thought it was April Fools listening to him talk about how much work has to be done yet. Then I realized, he is subtly telling us the system is no where near ready. I have been always been optimistic on LRT but I have a feeling we won't see it till at least the fall.  They might announce a start date by end of spring.   
I just wish they had the fortitude to be honest and deliver the news.

While there is a lot of issues and work to be done with the system, some of the work will likely be completed after the system launches (there are some new crossings that need to be added south of Mill Station, for example). Those issues are non-critical and may have more complicated fixes and are having detailed plans signed-off by the Region for completion later. Right now they are working on critical issues and simulated burn-in testing to identify any more faults with the vehicles and promptly fix them.

[jeffster]

I just wish they had the fortitude to be honest and deliver the news.

Don't we all? Is it that hard to say; "Yeah, folks, perhaps summer 2020 is more accurate, if not, perhaps spring 2021." It's not popular to say that, but if they error on that side, and it's ready autumn 2019, then we're celebrating.

[danbrotherston]

I just wish they had the fortitude to be honest and deliver the news.

Don't we all? Is it that hard to say; "Yeah, folks, perhaps summer 2020 is more accurate, if not, perhaps spring 2021." It's not popular to say that, but if they error on that side, and it's ready autumn 2019, then we're celebrating.

If they say 2021 and then launch in autumn 2019, that's still a problem.  There are people making decisions based on this information...it must be accurate.

The fact is, they should have a good idea how long these things will take, if they don't, they aren't managing the project well.  There can be unexpected obstacles and we'd like to hear about those things as well, but they should know what's left.  I believe we (and "we" may include council and maybe even Region staff) just aren't being told.

[trainspotter139]

An ION train will be at Borden Station April 11 from 11 AM - 2 PM for a tour.
https://www.facebook.com/events/328463544694726/

And at Grand River Hospital Station Thursday April 25 from 12 PM - 2 PM
https://www.facebook.com/events/2078189875814716/

[ijmorlan]

The fact is, they should have a good idea how long these things will take, if they don't, they aren't managing the project well.  There can be unexpected obstacles and we'd like to hear about those things as well, but they should know what's left.  I believe we (and "we" may include council and maybe even Region staff) just aren't being told.

Well said. The cone of silence around this project is appropriate for special ops, not for a transit project.

Although understanding in full detail what is going on requires a high level of interest, I think many people in town would like to have some information about what is going on. Imagine if they just tweeted stuff like this:

“Today we are testing the Cameron crossover after the repairs to the signalling system completed yesterday”

“No testing south of Mill today because crews are replacing the control units in the crossing control at Hayward”

“501 is still not in service due to work to replace the wiring harness”

(just examples made up, in case anybody thinks I have an inside track!)

[urbd]

This will be an unpopular opinion but as long as the system is safe then it should be open, and just looking at the LRVs going up and down the whole line without any visible or serious issues make it seem that it could be safe enough to operate. Yes, I am aware of the legality and the processes and checklists, I am just speaking hypothetically. A system like this in Mexico or Colombia or elsewhere would be open and running right now and just fixed/finished along the way, but Canada has an extremely strict process. Systems that are this complex have perpetual construction and maintenance associated with them, so I would be fine with it opening even if it's not 100% perfect.

[danbrotherston]

This will be an unpopular opinion but as long as the system is safe then it should be open, and just looking at the LRVs going up and down the whole line without any visible or serious issues make it seem that it could be safe enough to operate. Yes, I am aware of the legality and the processes and checklists, I am just speaking hypothetically. A system like this in Mexico or Colombia or elsewhere would be open and running right now and just fixed/finished along the way, but Canada has an extremely strict process. Systems that are this complex have perpetual construction and maintenance associated with them, so I would be fine with it opening even if it's not 100% perfect.

What level of service do you recommend opening at?

AFAIK the signals are not yet operating, so they can only run, 3 (or maybe 6) cars safely...meaning service is 30 minute at best.  Currently the iXpress provides better service.  There would be a huge service cut to start running.  More, starting revenue service will interfere with testing (seems like they test one section carefully, before moving on, on revenue service the cars have to run the whole route), so that could actually delay full service even longer.

The last part is the biggest problem, AFAIK neither the region, nor Grandlinq actually own any LRVs right now, since the signoff from Bombardier hasn't happened yet, Bombardier owns them, yes they *could* wave the signoff requirements--that wouldn't be wise. This is an artifact of how the contract is structured, but I think even in Mexico or Columbia, a government would have signoff requirements that need to be met. Part of the disconnect is that the route has been largely ready for some time and we are waiting on vehicles to be ready.

In some cases I might agree, but in this case, we currently have iXpress 200 operating the route, and the costs would be so high I don't think it makes any sense.

[plam]

I heard a platform announcement today at the University of Waterloo station. Couldn't quite tell what it was saying.

[urbd]

This will be an unpopular opinion but as long as the system is safe then it should be open, and just looking at the LRVs going up and down the whole line without any visible or serious issues make it seem that it could be safe enough to operate. Yes, I am aware of the legality and the processes and checklists, I am just speaking hypothetically. A system like this in Mexico or Colombia or elsewhere would be open and running right now and just fixed/finished along the way, but Canada has an extremely strict process. Systems that are this complex have perpetual construction and maintenance associated with them, so I would be fine with it opening even if it's not 100% perfect.

What level of service do you recommend opening at?

AFAIK the signals are not yet operating, so they can only run, 3 (or maybe 6) cars safely...meaning service is 30 minute at best.  Currently the iXpress provides better service.  There would be a huge service cut to start running.  More, starting revenue service will interfere with testing (seems like they test one section carefully, before moving on, on revenue service the cars have to run the whole route), so that could actually delay full service even longer.

The last part is the biggest problem, AFAIK neither the region, nor Grandlinq actually own any LRVs right now, since the signoff from Bombardier hasn't happened yet, Bombardier owns them, yes they *could* wave the signoff requirements--that wouldn't be wise. This is an artifact of how the contract is structured, but I think even in Mexico or Columbia, a government would have signoff requirements that need to be met. Part of the disconnect is that the route has been largely ready for some time and we are waiting on vehicles to be ready.

In some cases I might agree, but in this case, we currently have iXpress 200 operating the route, and the costs would be so high I don't think it makes any sense.

I would be totally fine with 30 min, even 45 min service to start WITH the 200 iXpress still running every 15 min or so (with adjusted route, to fill the middle of the ION 30 min wait).

As for the second part, I am aware of this and yes it's exactly part of the legality/process/bureaucracy I was referring to. What I meant by using Mexico and Colombia as examples is that the legal lines in those places are blurred and adjusted as necessary for political reasons. For example, if this was being built in Mexico and the trains were already 80% tested, the track 100% done, stations 100% done, and the ownership of the trains was not fully transferred legally, I am sure that local Mexican government would simply launch the system (pay a couple officials for X and Y companies to sign some sort of fake agreement while the 'legal' process is being done) even if it's not fully legal/tested/etc. Just putting things into perspective... of course I'd like a fully reliable system but I do feel we are over-cautious here sometimes.