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Please don't touch the 25 kilovolt catenary!

Worth reposting my earlier post for some numbers demystifying: ___________ The team (in large part assisted by Ryan McGreal) have been doing a great job at hamiltonlightrail.ca and tweeting from @HamOntLightTrail ...leaked documents show cost overrun is only 2% A highly recommended follow...

Yes, core as catenary. Also, Metrolinx won’t be first. Batteries are not really yet needed until Metrolinx 2041 with 15 minute service over freight lines planned. That means lithium battery trains will have 25 years of maturity before being Used as extension routes. A kind of a future Phase...

On a rainy night, parts of Toronto already look distinctly cyberpunk. The illuminated towers of newly manhattanified Yonge Street.

Fair enough -- it's hard to tell sarcasm on modern forums without a "/s" tag -- given the era (alas). Certainly batteries in trains not new. What's new is the unexpectedly big changes in economics of lithium batteries, propelled by the emerging automotive electrification. That has...

Yes, future electric trains likely will use efficient heatpump climate control, to allow only 1kW to add/remove 3kW of heat in a dual operation (air conditioning + heating capability), so that will definitely mitigate those needs. However... Possibly an overestimate.... but you know those...

Another angle. Ford is going to sell a battery-powered F150 pickup truck soon. On a related recent happening, Ford's prototype electric F150 pickup truck -- about 450 horsepower -- hauled 1.25 million pounds in fully loaded freight train. That's approximately the same weight as a...

I'll be conservative on this particular front. I prefer 100% cat for first phase, but include battery trains in second phase. By the time Metrolinx decides to "electrify to Hamilton" (whether be 2041 or later -- Metrolinx 2041 Regional Transit Plan specifies Hamilton 15-minute by year 2041)...

I don't know if you are being sarcastic or not, but.... Before you make such obviously incorrect allegations, please see the mathematics. I got A+ in my math classes. Also, your claim borders on a name-call, doesn't it? While I make strong claims, I have not alluded to crossing such a...

Now, how will this affect future electric GO trains? It will be about 5-10 years before the train manufacture catches up to some of these Tesla innovations, but generally speaking, look at this image I posted earlier: Cooling is Massively Simplified / Lighter because of the new cooling design...

I did not have time to write the stronger rebuttal I wanted to properly write; but I have now. For readers about electrification, I have done some more research today and put a citations-filled post about how lithium battery manufacture is getting faster, cleaner, more-closed-loop, cobalt-free...

The Rapid & Clean (Cradle-to-Grave) Commodification Of The Lithium Battery This might sound like an infomercial, but I'm writing an even stronger citations-filled rebuttal for this sentence. This is a now outdated myth. I have been paying attention to the sheer miracle of price drops in...

Fact Check: The good news is that in a few years, the lithium economy will be less damaging than a hydrogen economy. There are now new lithium batteries with almost no rare earth materials (ZERO COBALT) and simply requires nickel-manufacturing ramp up. Plus, lithium is stupendously common and...

Time to bump this baby up. i am pro-catenary but battery trains are a last mile solution for freight lines / Hamilton / Bowmanville / Brampton / Bolton / etc. Trains can recharge in motion under urban catenary, and then be able to service beyond catenary. Again, it does not have to be part...

There are major forces that will sabotage a BRT-only attempt, delaying the $1B until a triparte agreement to fund an LRT. Whether this is fortunate or unfortunate is up to you, but a BRT-only plan is DOA. The #BRTcreep campaign also helped make sure of that, If a BRT happens, it’s a watered...

Winner reply.

Unlike the Scarborough one, the B-Line LRT plan has been remarkably consistent, (to a Scarberian that actually pays attention to the Hamilton developments) virtually unchanged from the 2011 plan to today. There's been minor tweaks but plan is darn near exactly the same route with the majority...

The province already promised $1B for Hamilton. Ford hasn't yanked that. This commitment will unquestionably survive to the next administration if still unspent. Throw in maybe ~$1B from Feds that seem enthusaic to pitch-in. That's like $2B -- right in the budget ballpark of the FOIA'd...

Not my dates — it’s the ones found in Metrolinx documents. Current Metrolinx timelines appear to be Phase 1 is ETA 2028 (where Burlington is served by hourly service) and Phase 2 is ETA 2041 (when Hamilton is served by 15min service). You’ve probably seen my old articles by now from 2015...