Kyle Campbell
Senior Member
Ouch, the vehicles still aren't revenue ready? Maybe the confed line will open first after all
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Waterloo Region Transit Developments (ION LRT, new terminal, GRT buses)
KevinT
Active Member
Ouch, the vehicles still aren't revenue ready? Maybe the confed line will open first after all
Primarily its the system that isn't ready, but that includes a lot of region owned electronics inside the vehicles that they call the FIE.
FIE = Free Issue Equipment = stuff that was ordered by the region outside of the Bombardier contract. It's the video/voice/data/positioning and communications gear that takes a Bombardier Flexity from being a standalone operated vehicle (like a 100 year old streetcar) to being part of a modern integrated transportation system.
The FIE permits Automatic Train Protection in the off-street rights of way, let's operators cancel or activate nearby crossing gates from within the drivers cabs, gives them schedule adherence and speed limit guidance, etc. This stuff is fiendishly complex, and since it was ordered by the region and installed in the trains after they were already all assembled; integrating it with them is proving tricky. It's not like buying an Alpine car stereo and a Chrysler harness at Best Buy, soldering them together on a workbench, then just plugging the radio into your car in place of the factory deck. It's all custom wiring harnesses and brand new software, the effort was only initiated last summer, and it can only be truly tested and debugged in the field with moving trains on the actual final system.
I don't envy them their task, but they've made excellent progress towards the springtime goal and may actually meet it!
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steveintoronto
Superstar
^ Explained very well!
Unless the 'right channels were open' (pun fully intended) TC would be more prone to putting up road-blocks than assisting a better way of doing things.
I wonder if this whole package can be utilized elsewhere now that ION has done the grunt work? All of this appears to be applicable in many other cases, some not yet even off the drawing boards, and then one wonders if an 'authorized package' becomes portable, if the LRT manufacturers will start offering it 'built in'?
Edit to Add: I presume "Transport Canada" as the 'off-street regulator' since there is a direct rail connection to and shared trackage with a Federally regulated railway.
That alone would present many legal complications, as well as technical. In fact the technical part might be easy in comparison to bringing Transport Canada 'up to speed' .
Unless the 'right channels were open' (pun fully intended) TC would be more prone to putting up road-blocks than assisting a better way of doing things.
I wonder if this whole package can be utilized elsewhere now that ION has done the grunt work? All of this appears to be applicable in many other cases, some not yet even off the drawing boards, and then one wonders if an 'authorized package' becomes portable, if the LRT manufacturers will start offering it 'built in'?
Edit to Add: I presume "Transport Canada" as the 'off-street regulator' since there is a direct rail connection to and shared trackage with a Federally regulated railway.
Kyle Campbell
Senior Member
Here's a question then, what does Calgary and Edmonton do (ignoring the metro line ATO fiasco)? Is Ion really the first to try this?
steveintoronto
Superstar
They are provincially regulated, and I'm unaware of either running on shared federally regulated rails.
jordanmkasla2009
Active Member
Ouch, the vehicles still aren't revenue ready? Maybe the confed line will open first after all
The vehicles in Waterloo are much further along than Ottawa's according to this report and the reports out of Ottawa.
Allandale25
Senior Member
Mark your calendars...
Monarch Butterfly
Superstar
That's the date of the ANNOUNCEMENT for the future opening date. Not the opening date.
Kyle Campbell
Senior Member
Let's hope for an April date, though i imagine they might make it May 1st, no sense in disrupting things until the start of the summer school semester at Waterloo
Garuda
Active Member
I was thinking that too, logically opening the line just after exams are finished in April makes sense.
Looks like ION will win the LRT race.
smallspy
Senior Member
This level of integration? Yes.
With the exception of the Metro Line, Calgary and Edmonton operate entirely on their own independent rights-of-way, with standard fixed-block signalling. Level crossings are operated by standard shunts and axle counters, just like the full-sized railways.
The closest would be the Trillium Line in Ottawa, which uses a wayside fixed-block signalling system with trainstops to prevent trains from running past restricting signals. But it doesn't have a lot of the other gadgetry that the Waterloo system will have, and which is fully integrated into the rolling stock.
Dan
Streety McCarface
Senior Member
https://www.kitchenerpost.ca/news-s...k8zjt-fn2j_hr90p66s-mghc5fhlenkwy-pm0_9pfokz0
Not for ion but for the 201 and 202.
Not for ion but for the 201 and 202.
Allandale25
Senior Member
Kyle Campbell
Senior Member
Every time it seems like there's no possible way the confederation line could open first, along comes something new in KW
LRT vehicles randomly stop and need rebooting due to software issues, official says
www.cbc.ca
LRT vehicles randomly stop and need rebooting due to software issues, official says
LRT vehicles randomly stop and need rebooting due to software issues, official says | CBC News
The region has said the LRT would be operational in spring 2019. But now staff say there's 'considerable work that needs to be done' before ION can be launched. One of the major problems is a software glitch that stops the vehicles and requires them to be rebooted, which takes several minutes.
www.cbc.ca
jordanmkasla2009
Active Member
Not new, and certainly not as severe as the issues in OttawaEvery time it seems like there's no possible way the confederation line could open first, along comes something new in KW
LRT vehicles randomly stop and need rebooting due to software issues, official says
LRT vehicles randomly stop and need rebooting due to software issues, official says | CBC News
The region has said the LRT would be operational in spring 2019. But now staff say there's 'considerable work that needs to be done' before ION can be launched. One of the major problems is a software glitch that stops the vehicles and requires them to be rebooted, which takes several minutes.