cplchanb
Senior Member
regardless of the noise, I personally would prefer to heard the wooshing of an electric train over the diesel engine anyday
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GO Transit Electrification | Metrolinx
- Thread starter innsertnamehere
- Start date
KevinT
Active Member
I love that you can just stand there on the platform as these things all fly by! Top Gear has led me to believe that the UK is overly safety conscious, but that's sure not in evidence here...
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kEiThZ
Superstar
So we really should be worrying about whether this whole thing survives the election.
ssiguy2
Senior Member
What's stopping them from starting electrification on the UPX corridor and the elevated section?
steveintoronto
Superstar
Top Gear has a political agenda because of their love of the reckless and extreme.
As to platform safety and higher-speed trains, it's rare that anyone gets hit by a moving train on a platform, it's just ingrained in the psyche to keep your distance. Where impacts do happen is on open track, since the electrics especially are difficult to hear approaching, the noise level is so much lower, and *far less obtrusive* even if it were at the same pressure level. Internal combustion engine exhaust, even when heavily muffled, is still a 'sawtooth' pattern, and distinctive to the ear. Notice too how the sound doesn't travel like it does with combustion? Again, that's due to the nature of the sound, combustion having the sharp peaks of the pulsating sawtooth.
Excellent vids, @drum118 . Even the freight was far less obtrusive being electric. And a hell of a lot cleaner.
DonValleyRainbow
Senior Member
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Being able to announce that construction will start just before the election.
crs1026
Superstar
The fundamental power feeds, power control, catenary installations and modifications to signalling and track in the USRC and potentially out to Willowbrook, and along the Weston Sub even only to Pearson, are no small piece of work. The initial diligence eg the EA's, design of the core system, etc has to consider the whole network. Kind of like a tip of iceberg versus whole iceberg kind of thing.
UPX is a sensible piece to start with, as it's the smallest - but the amount of core work that has to be done to take any first step is pretty big.
And, we don't know if Wynne and DD actually have the resolve to spend this money. There is an apparent sticker shock setting in. They may be happy just promising it for another election cycle.
- Paul
TransitBart
Senior Member
I thought that was within the $13.5B funding envelope for RER, no?
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steveintoronto
Superstar
That's extremely cynical Don...and entirely justified.
They sure seem to be dragging their heels, oblivious to the goalposts they've stated and moved time and again before.
I actually don't fully agree on that. Ontario Hydro (of whatever iteration) IIRC, state that interconnection at the two proposed sites is already provided for in many respects, and stringing 25kV (or 50kV if 2 X 25kV) can be strung on the Pearson route in a year. Whether installing capacity for RER consecutively would slow that down is debatable. Not by much.
The reason the power isn't flowing is because QP haven't plugged it in, let alone turn it on.
{{...the sound of crickets chirping...}}
steveintoronto
Superstar
It's a damn good question, and maybe someone else more adept at reading reports can delineate and quote w/ reference.
Here's what the Globe reported:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/new...-in-toronto-region-rail-plan/article24004380/
Slippery....
More same url above:
[/quote]
Among the other details revealed on Friday was that it will take seven or eight years to electrify the GO corridors Toronto Mayor John Tory needs for his SmartTrack transit plan. During the municipal campaign last year he promised it would be running within seven years.
“We’re absolutely confident in the timeline,” Mr. Tory’s spokeswoman Amanda Galbraith said. “The mayor has always talked about a seven-year timeline … and where there’s a will there’s a way.” [/quote]
No comment needed on that one...
And ever more slippery.
Perhaps the Province should invest in Posi_Traction...not for the locos, for the Ministers...the slippage is abject.
crs1026
Superstar
Sure, it's not doubt scalable and modular and all that. My point is - you have to decide what your system design will be. You need a power control center, it has to leave room for all the lines that get added later. You need all the spec's worked out. You need to modify the signal system through the USRC, which may mean things that affect all of it even if for the moment you are only wiring a couple of tracks and not into the trainshed. If you are considering using Willowbrook as a maintenance base, you need enough redundancy in routing and that may mean wiring everything from Bathurst to Canpa even if you are only using some of it. You need at least two tracks wired up the Weston and again that likely means doing the key design for all four tracks - bridge clearances etc. So even if UPX is say 5% of the total electrification in terms of track miles or kilowatts or whatever, you will spend say 30% of the total just to enable it.
No argument here.
- Paul
raptor
Senior Member
Ontario Seeking Design Concepts for Hydrogen-Powered GO Trains
RFP closes in less than a month (October 12).
Are there any other trains in the market out there except for Alstom Coradia iLint?
Given the very short timeframe, my gut feeling is that they are serious with this alternative over traditional electrification. They could (potentially) save billions on the infrastructure that would be required for the traditional route. Plus, solve the big problem at Union.
RFP closes in less than a month (October 12).
Are there any other trains in the market out there except for Alstom Coradia iLint?
Given the very short timeframe, my gut feeling is that they are serious with this alternative over traditional electrification. They could (potentially) save billions on the infrastructure that would be required for the traditional route. Plus, solve the big problem at Union.
cplchanb
Senior Member
once you factor in the fact that its a new technology that hasnt had the time to become cheap, readily available and simple to maintain vs conventional electric this will all add up to be another
white elephant. why are they trying to sprint when they cant even walk right now?
raptor
Senior Member
My feeling is that they want to avoid building the conventional electric infrastructure, both to (potentially) lower costs and to appease NIMBYs (umm...taxpayers), who don't want it in their view.
rbt
Senior Member
What problem is that? Are you referring to the fact that someone in the press was surprised they'll need to use overhead fixed rail instead of catenary as most railways in an enclosed area do, including TTC 509/510? Eglinton won't be catenary in the tunnel either.
Electrification of Union isn't really much of a problem unless Metrolinx makes it into a problem. They can (and should) lower the rail-bed too (reduces number of stairs for passengers for boarding the train). Use the new rubber rail-clamps like TTC is currently testing.