The Official Transit Thread

[LoneI2anger]

There's also less track switches and absolutely zero train storage tracks (like the one at Metrotown)....meaning if a train breaks down, vast sections of the system will come to a hault - very much unlike SkyTrain.

WHAT!? are you kidding me!!! did they honestly not learn anything from the expo/millenium line? technical difficulties happen, and honestly i can say that ive been trapped waiting in a train for short to long periods of time at least once or twice every other week.

now there wont be any track switches or those middle lanes to store tracks?! god itll be hell on that line. unless that line's technology is more sophiscated and fail proof than the current system, i dont think this line will work out at all 8|

[Common sense]

WHAT!? are you kidding me!!! did they honestly not learn anything from the expo/millenium line? technical difficulties happen, and honestly i can say that ive been trapped waiting in a train for short to long periods of time at least once or twice every other week.

now there wont be any track switches or those middle lanes to store tracks?! god itll be hell on that line. unless that line's technology is more sophiscated and fail proof than the current system, i dont think this line will work out at all 8|

Unlike the current Skytrain system, where there are still buses taking passengers from station A to B (albeit on the ground and slower), the RAV Line does not offer that.

If the RAV f*cks up, it literally f*cks up and a couple hundred thousand commuters can go walk across the Oak St bridge.

[LoneI2anger]

Unlike the current Skytrain system, where there are still buses taking passengers from station A to B (albeit on the ground and slower), the RAV Line does not offer that.

If the RAV f*cks up, it literally f*cks up and a couple hundred thousand commuters can go walk across the Oak St bridge.

all the way into richmond?! thats not bad at all =P. man its like there are more and more problems coming up with this line as i further read into it. if problems are that bad on the canada line i guess then can always resend those blines again. but like you said, it wont be readily available as the expo line ones.

is there any reasoning to no lane switching??? when trains f up currently, they can simply alternate directions through one lane. although crazy slow, its moving and not a complete halt

man and to think that i was all hyped up about this line, there are so many faults with it!

Edited July 17, 2009 by LoneI2anger

[nitronuts]

WHAT!? are you kidding me!!! did they honestly not learn anything from the expo/millenium line? technical difficulties happen, and honestly i can say that ive been trapped waiting in a train for short to long periods of time at least once or twice every other week.

now there wont be any track switches or those middle lanes to store tracks?! god itll be hell on that line. unless that line's technology is more sophiscated and fail proof than the current system, i dont think this line will work out at all 8|

There are track switches, just less of them and partly because of cost cutting and partly because of technical challenges (i.e. the stacked tunnels just south of Broadway and until King Edward). There's a track switch in downtown of course, though it's at Waterfront. I believe the next track switch is at Broadway, not too sure though. There is for sure a track switch at Oakridge/41st, Bridgeport Statuib obviously, and another at Sea Island Station. I've been told that proportionally, there are less track switches compared to the Millennium and Expo Lines.

There are absolutely zero train storage tracks along the line. None.

Well, both SkyTrain and the Canada Line use the same computer automation....known as the Seltrac IS Drverless ATO. Besides that, only the physical elements are different...the tracks and the train. SkyTrain's acceleration, movement, and brakage are all dependent on the magnets on the track...the trains have very little moving parts compared to conventional trains. The Canada Line is a conventional train, lots of moving parts....acceleration, movement, and brakage are all dependent on the gears of the train. I'd wager that the latter will have more breakdowns because of more moving parts.

Had we chosen SkyTrain, the same trip from downtown to Richmond or YVR would probably have taken 20-minutes because of the higher acceleration of SkyTrain. Though it has the same max. speed, the Canada Line trains have a slower acceleration....travel time is 25-minutes from terminus to terminus or terminus.

[nitronuts]

The massive 1,300 car park and ride at Bridgeport Station:

Bridgeport Station

[LoneI2anger]

very cool nitronuts, and thanks for the great answers, pretty darn knowledgeable of this stuff. remind me of a younger me when i used to looooove trains and want to know everything about them and then grow up to be a conductor! haha

[nitronuts]

Aberdeen Station

Sea Island Station

YVR Station...the most impressive of all the stations

[nitronuts]

Tri-Cities' Evergreen transit line will get built: minister

Last Updated: Friday, July 17, 2009 | 10:04 AM PT

CBC News

The B.C. government says the Evergreen Line will get built, and it is telling TransLink to find its share of the money for the new rapid transit line for the Tri-Cities area northeast of Vancouver.

"We're not even contemplating not moving forward with the Evergreen Line," B.C. Transportation Minister Shirley Bond told CBC News on Thursday.

Bond repeated the province's commitment to the $1.4-billion project after the regional transit authority announced Wednesday that it's facing a $450-million deficit and doesn't have the money to cover its $400-million share of the new SkyTrain line's cost.

But Bond did not elaborate on how she expects TransLink to raise the money. Instead, she said TransLink needs to figure out for itself how it will come up with its share.

"We believe that TransLink has some options that they need to look at. They need to look at their own internal expenses as well to make sure that they're managing efficiently," Bond said.

"TransLink has to go back and look at the plan that they're creating and try to find a way to include it in a more moderate option," Bond said.

TransLink does have several options to raise the cash, and in recent years it has floated proposals to raise more funds, such as parking taxes and vehicle levies, but those proposals have faced strong public opposition.

But Gordon Price, the director of Simon Fraser University's city program, blames the province for TransLink's funding shortfall.

"The province has almost put TransLink in an impossible position. It's given it very high requirements and expectations, particularly addressing provincial requirements — greenhouse gases comes to mind — but they won't give TransLink the tools it needs to do it," Price said.

Residents frustrated by delays

Some residents of the Tri-Cities area — which is made up of Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody, plus the two villages of Anmore and Belcarra — say they are frustrated by years of delays since the project was first put proposed.

"It's beyond my understanding how a community that is growing as fast as Coquitlam is cannot get what they've been promised for 15 years in the way of transit," resident Jeannine Silvistrone said.

Businessman Colby Lee, who opened his Three Dog Bakery in Coquitlam four months ago, said he feels it's all a political game.

"I think it's probably a political push to try and get more money, but ultimately it's going to be the people of the Tri-Cities that are going to be held hostage," he said.

Lee said he hopes TransLink does not adopt a parking tax, which "is ultimately also going to hurt the local businesses," to pay for the line.

Greenhouse gas cuts

Any cancellation of the transit line could jeopardize the province's ambitious plan to cut carbon emissions in B.C. by a third by 2020, but Bond reaffirmed that those targets will also be met.

"If we look at transit ridership across the province, we're looking at an increased ridership on BC Transit of 15 per cent in some communities, so we're fixed on making sure we do hit our targets," she said.

TransLink is expected to make a final decision on the Evergreen Line's future in October.

[LoneI2anger]

whoa, yvr is insane! very nice. are these stations finalized? like no more changes, they look pretty bland. all these design are really similar to the millenium lines with their all-glass stations but those stations all had unique designs with something that stood out. like the brentwood mall station, ive always loved the design of that and wooden ceiling that lined the top is amazing

[nitronuts]

whoa, yvr is insane! very nice. are these stations finalized? like no more changes, they look pretty bland. all these design are really similar to the millenium lines with their all-glass stations but those stations all had unique designs with something that stood out. like the brentwood mall station, ive always loved the design of that and wooden ceiling that lined the top is amazing

Yea, well they were on a budget. And don't expect the private sector to do more than what they have to as stated in the contract, they'll of course do the bare minimum.

I believe what's left is public art, especially one large First Nations piece for YVR Station. The glass-facades for the stations are a safety and aesthetic feature....not to mention saves lighting costs.

I agree, Brentwood is my favourite station in the region.

[nitronuts]

Woman tries to keep SkyTrain doors open with shopping bags

She falls as her bags get stuck

Roberta Graham VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) | Saturday, July 18th, 2009 6:18 am

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - A reminder to wait for the next SkyTrain if you're running late. TransLink's Drew Snider says a woman tried to get on the train as the doors were closing and used her shopping bag to block the doors from closing. Snider says it didn't work and the train started leaving.

He says she ran alongside the train, holding the bag before letting it go and falling. She wasn't seriously hurt.

"When somebody holds the doors open that causes them to try to close and then they bounce back and then they try to close again. If they try to close too many times without closing successfully, the computer will lose contact with the train."

Just that can shut the train down and then stop trains behind it as a safety measure. It can also delay service.

SkyTrain's new cars a hit with passengers

They're sleeker and more spacious inside

By Rebecca teBrake, Vancouver Sun

July 4, 2009

A sleeker, more spacious train is coming down the SkyTrain tracks.

TransLink is testing its new second-generation Mark II train cars; the first of them, dubbed Train 306, started travelling on the Expo Line on Friday.

The new train stands out because of its sleek new grey and blue exterior, matching the look of TransLink's buses.

But the real difference is on the inside.

"I am impressed," said passenger Gloria Dadpour, who commutes from Coquitlam. "This is a really nice train."

The new cars have more space for standing passengers, wheelchairs, scooters, strollers and bikes.

"I travel with the little guy, so it's hard to manoeuvre on old trains," said passenger Sherri Turlock, who was pushing her 13-month-old son Logan in a stroller.

More space means fewer seats, but the seats that remain are ergonomically designed with higher, curved backs.

There are more overhead hand-holds in the centre of the train for standing passengers.

The previous version of the trains did not have overhead grab bars down the middle of the cars, which encouraged passengers to crowd near the doors, TransLink spokesman Drew Snider said.

Another user-friendly feature is a simplified electronic map that uses blinking lights to show passengers the train's location.

The new cars are part of a 48-car order from Bombardier.

They will be added to the existing fleet on the Expo and Millennium lines in longer, four-car trains, meaning a faster, more comfortable commute for passengers, Snider said.

The new cars could boost SkyTrain's capacity by 30 per cent -- a desperately needed increase, he said.

"When you see the crowding on the platforms at Broadway and Metrotown and some of the other stations along the line, you know you have to get people cleared off, otherwise they'll figure out other ways of getting into work, like taking their car," Snider said.

The new train cars are the third generation of SkyTrain cars.

The first-generation Mark I cars, distinguished by their boxy shape, had lots of seats but little room to manoeuvre, making it hard to get on and off the train.

The next version, the Mark II, had a sleeker, more rounded shape. But it reduced the amount of seating and the number of hand-holds along the middle of the train.

The latest version, called second-generation Mark II, tries to address some of the shortcomings of previous versions.

The new cars have a total price tag of $193 million, shared by the federal and provincial governments and TransLink.

The entire fleet will be on track by the 2010 Winter Olympics.

rtebrake@vancouversun.com

© Copyright © The Vancouver Sun

Edited July 18, 2009 by nitronuts

[lionsfan™]

is it free with a upass?

[-SN-]

I was on the new car a few days ago on the way to work - it's beautiful. Everything about it is just perfect - especially the extra hand rails all over the place. The seats are A+.

The Canada Line looks like crap. I have a feeling all the budget cutting measure will bit them in the donkey. Translink has its problems, but it runs the SkyTrain quite well. I sincerely hope the Evergreen line is SkyTrain.

[nitronuts]

^ yes, it's free with a U-Pass.

[BuckyHermit]

Woman tries to keep SkyTrain doors open with shopping bags

She falls as her bags get stuck

Roberta Graham VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) | Saturday, July 18th, 2009 6:18 am

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - A reminder to wait for the next SkyTrain if you're running late. TransLink's Drew Snider says a woman tried to get on the train as the doors were closing and used her shopping bag to block the doors from closing. Snider says it didn't work and the train started leaving.

He says she ran alongside the train, holding the bag before letting it go and falling. She wasn't seriously hurt.

"When somebody holds the doors open that causes them to try to close and then they bounce back and then they try to close again. If they try to close too many times without closing successfully, the computer will lose contact with the train."

Just that can shut the train down and then stop trains behind it as a safety measure. It can also delay service.

[PowerIce]

If it doesn't reach Abbotsford, I don't really care.

Sure it's nice though, first Canadian city to have one.

[ChelseaFC]

If it doesn't reach Abbotsford, I don't really care.

Sure it's nice though, first Canadian city to have one.

I wonder if the West Coast Express will expand any time soon. Abbotsford is out of the Greater Vancouver Area, but still thousands of commuters head in and out.

[nitronuts]

I wonder if the West Coast Express will expand any time soon. Abbotsford is out of the Greater Vancouver Area, but still thousands of commuters head in and out.

The West Coast Express has very limited capacity expansion facilities because it runs on a track that it rents for $80-million a year. A lot of its revenues goes towards paying for that. That, and the fact that CP Rail is quite uptight. Thankfully, the contract is up for renegotiation in 2014 so i think it's quite likely the WCE will see drastically improved service.

Ideally, i'd have bi-directional service all day...not just 5 trains running the peak direction in the morning and afternoon rush. A train every 15-minutes from 6am to 8:30am. Then, every 30-minutes from 8:30am to 4pm. And back to 15-minutes from 4pm to 7.30pm. From 7.30pm to 10pm its every 30-minutes, and from 10pm to 1am it's every 45-minutes. That's weekdays. Saturdays and Sundays/holidays would obviously see lower frequencies.

And this would be viable if they ran shorter trains (dump the bi-level carriages), to be replaced with a higher frequency service.

I love Bombardier Talent trains, they run on diesel:

[Buggernut]

And this would be viable if they ran shorter trains (dump the bi-level carriages), to be replaced with a higher frequency service.

I love Bombardier Talent trains, they run on diesel:

But then, they'd have to run longer trains to compensate for the lost per car seating, and need longer platforms too. How about running shorter trains with fewer cars during slow times instead?

I believe the WCE trains we have now are made by Bombardier. And isn't the trend for commuter transport system towards electrification, for less emissions and faster acceleration/top speed?

[ThePointblank]

But then, they'd have to run longer trains to compensate for the lost per car seating, and need longer platforms too. How about running shorter trains with fewer cars during slow times instead?

I believe the WCE trains we have now are made by Bombardier. And isn't the trend for commuter transport system towards electrification, for less emissions and faster acceleration/top speed?

1. Depends on situation with the current loads as experienced; would more frequent trains decrease loads per train?

2. The current WCE carriages are made by Bombardier (more precisely, they are the Bombardier Bi-level Coaches). The trains themselves are a mix of General Motors Diesel F59PHI locomotives and MotivePower Industries MPXpress locomotives. The Bombardier Talent's are Diesel Multiple Units; there is no dedicated locomotive, instead the entire train itself propels itself. This has certain advantages, like higher acceleration, identical train performance even with longer or shorter trains, and increased reliability.