Quote:
Originally Posted by 1overcosc
Hmm? Currently it's every 15 minutes... being upgraded to 8.5min in a month or two.
The only real headache zone for double tracking would be the Dows Lake tunnel... the rest of the route could be doubled fairly easily.
Gladstone & Walkley won't cut down frequency. The travel time increase from the current expansion plan is because of the addition of two extra stops on passing sidings. When the time comes for those two new stations, they'll simply extend the passing sidings to them (it just so happens that the Walkley & Gladstone station sites are very near the new sidings), meaning the number of times the train stops will remain the same. What this really says, of course, is that it would have made far more sense for the city to just build the two new stations as part of the current plan.
If we run into a capacity crunch, we could couple up some extra cars before having to double track.
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First of all, when they first announced the service expansion for the O-Train, they said service frequency was going to be every 8 minutes. The latest statement (obviously as a result of train testing) has indicated that service frequency will be every 9 minutes.
We are doubling the number of trains but instead of service going from every 15 minutes to every 7.5 minutes, it is going to every 9 minutes because trains have to stop at two additional passing tracks.
When we add two additional stations, trains will be stopping two additional times. Even if this means 30 seconds more at each new station, it means that the limit of 4 trains that the single track can handle will at best run every 10 minutes. This is what I am talking about.
And with the possibility of two south branches, service levels are going to be at best every 20 minutes on each branch even during peak periods. This doesn't match current bus frequencies.
Even the addition of a second car to each train means that every station and every passing track needs to be retrofitted. As we have seen with the O-Train, every improvement affecting track has resulted in a protracted shut down of service and a ridiculous implementation time.
As far as double tracking is concerned, there are numerous headaches. Yes, the Dow's Lake is the worst, but a number of bridges need to be replaced or doubled, we may need extensive additional blasting through bedrock and there is the question of the Ellwood diamond and whether that needs to be eliminated and grade separated in the long-term. I know some have said that this can occur with trains in operation but history of the O-Train does not support this. The original double tracking proposals indicated a 3 year full shutdown. I expect a substantial shutdown especially with the option available of shifting riders to the Southeast Transitway during a construction period.
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