Metro Vancouver Transit Discussion

[madog222]

Originally Posted by spm2013

Would you just need to touch that flat piece of metal in the guideway to get electrocuted or is the power somewhere else?

Translink attendants are directing people to walk to the closest station, that hopefully means the power is turned off.

[quobobo]

I have it on good authority (a coworker's dad is an engineer who works on Skytrain control systems) that this will be resolved in two hours or less.

He says there was a power outage in the computer control centre - this was completely unrelated to the issue last week. The control centre is back up now but they need to manually drive trains to each station before they can turn the entire system back on. Train attendants are in the process of doing that now.

[Pinion]

Finally being in an area ignored by translink pays off!

[jsbertram]

If the staff have to visit every train and walk passengers back to the nearest station, it suggests to me a power issue (otherwise the staffer could manually drive the train to the nearest station).

This may also explain why they can't VOX to the trains & passengers to keep them informed.

[queetz@home]

Originally Posted by jhausner

I do think people will question Translinks redundancies in the computer systems and age alone. I mean running OS2 up until 2012? Thats a bit excessive given it was out of date and unsupported 10 years earlier. Still for a nearing 30 year old system, it has been pretty reliable.

The system is aging and it is surprising they never had a backup system in place ever. The fact that shutdowns of this magnitude weren't happening often prior to over two weeks ago is pure luck, and at the end of the day, it is extremely negligent to have no backup system in place for an aging automated system, whether its a rail line, a web hosting system or a data centre.

As we rely more and more on automation, and with the advent of hacking, system glitches and just overworn component over time, it makes me wonder why those overpaid Translink Execs didn't bother to put a backup system in place as part of standard operational procedure, something that is common place with businesses that also rely heavily on automation.

Can you imagine if the system of a financial institution, say RBC, were to have a catastrophic system failure, how would the financial records of millions of people would be recovered without a backup system?

Even if the two incidents didn't happen lately preventative measures should have already been in place since its common sense that any electronic system do break down. And as I said it before, these over paid idiots would rather make adequately functional but old and ugly stations pretty, rather than to allocate the necessary funds to make an aging system more reliable.

Contrary to someone earlier saying "let it pass", doing nothing is unacceptable, and given the amount of tax dollars we pay for this all or none rail system (either it completely runs or completely shuts down), EVERYONE should be expecting that these incidents never ever happen again on normal circumstances (exception are "acts of God" situations such as severe weather and earthquakes, or even criminal incidents like hacking or a terrorist attack).

[Metro-One]

Good thing people have kept on fighting to restrict Translink's budget over the years

What is the reason this time. This is why I don't use Microsoft

And Queetz, if it is a power issue then it does not make a difference if a system is automatic or not. A driver system could also not move if power is lost to the system, unless they have diesel trains.

[spm2013]

They could start by having a website that responds during heavy usage.

[Vancity]

Originally Posted by go_leafs_go02

The Skytrain network (everything) is in a system wide hold until further notice.



https://twitter.com/news1130traffic/status/491304110885711873



https://twitter.com/TransLink/status/491305308095254528



https://twitter.com/TransLink/status/491305947508137984



https://twitter.com/WoodfordCKNW980/status/491309628811005952

This is laughable in a sad way.

[whatnext]

Oh dreambrother808, where art thou?

[jsbertram]

In New York last month, the signal system computers for the subway system had a 'power bump' that caused their computers to reset. All the train signals on the entire system automatically went to "full stop" mode, causing every train on the system to perform an emergency stop. No trains could move until the signals allowed them to move - even though the trains still had power and operators driving them.

When power was restored, the mechanical relays used on the lines built before WWII just performed their restart (as they were designed to do) and *click *click *click, the relays for the train signals started working in a few minutes and the trains resumed their runs.

However, on the train lines that relied on modern computer systems, the computers took over an hour to restart, 'self-test', and then re-establish their communications to the signals so trains could start running again.

[spm2013]

We should build steam locomotive Skytrain cars!

[queetz@home]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

Good thing people have kept on fighting to restrict Translink's budget over the years

What is the reason this time. This is why I don't use Microsoft

And Queetz, if it is a power issue then it does not make a difference if a system is automatic or not. A driver system could also not move if power is lost to the system, unless they have diesel trains.

There was no power outage in Metro Vancouver as far as I know.

And if the power issue is just on Skytrain, did Translink not pay the Hydro bill?

Originally Posted by jsbertram

However, on the train lines that relied on modern computer systems, the computers took over an hour to restart, 'self-test', and then re-establish their connections to the signals so trains could start running again.

Its been over an hour...

[spm2013]

Originally Posted by queetz@home

There was no power outage in Metro Vancouver as far as I know.

And if the power issue is just on Skytrain, did Translink not pay the Hydro bill?

Wow, great analysis. When the story about the power outage comes off I'll be sure to read it again for a laugh.

[spm2013]

TransLink BC
@TransLink
When using our trip planner, make sure you select "Don't Use Skytrain" to get results for buses only: ow.ly/i/6iQYk ^LA

Too bad your website is dead.

[go_leafs_go02]

Translink still has no estimated time for when service can be restored.

[Smooth]

What I imagine is going on at the Skytrain control centre right now...

[GeeCee]

The Millennium line is now running between VCC and Sapperton.

[Metro-One]

hahahahaha! Love it! The grandfather of all GIFs...

[SFUVancouver]

We need a plucky young adult who knows Unix to get in there with a 3D navigation interface and find the right box to fix everything; deus ex machina.

Jurassic Park reference undermined by page break...

[logan5]

When Evergreen starts running I presume all electronics will be separate from the Expo Line? If that's the case, one line could pick up the slack for the other if there was a shutdown, after Evergreen comes online. Lougheed would be the mustering point for those Surrey/Coquitlam bound, depending on which system failed. Not ideal, but far easier than bussing people all the way from Vancouver.