Metro Vancouver Transit Discussion

[squeezied]

Do you feel the need to belittle other people to justify your questionable opinions?

[city-dweller]

I agree the governance structure 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵. But you can't compare Translink to other crown corporations. Have they stopped their capital building programs? Have they been audited to death? Do people from around the world come to see how ICBC or BC Hydro operate?

I think part of the frustration with Translink being an "old-boys club" is the perception that they agree with their "buddies" in the government. They depend on the government to do anything big so of course they don't public criticize. When Port Mann was announced, I was at the public forum where the translink rep had to defend the entire process that was dropped on their laps. Ditto Compass and other PROVINCIAL projects that were torpedoed in. The province always shows up for the credit but not the pain. The irony of blaming Translink for the expo system issues this year when the optimization from province supported audits led to deferring upgrades that were on the books. Translink hates the province, but will never call them out for the interference. They depend on them for capital expansion. If there is a relationship its sure an abusive one where the victim covers for the abuser.

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by city-dweller

...The province always shows up for the credit but not the pain. The irony of blaming Translink for the expo system issues this year when the optimization from province supported audits led to deferring upgrades that were on the books. Translink hates the province, but will never call them out for the interference. They depend on them for capital expansion. If there is a relationship its sure an abusive one where the victim covers for the abuser.

Well said!

[WarrenC12]

B-b-b-b-b-but car allowances!!!

[officedweller]

Update:

Update: Canada Line train fire caused by electrical failure
Translink shut the Richmond line down on Thursday
Graeme Wood
Richmond News December 20, 2014 05:59 PM
Updated: December 22, 2014 04:23 PM

A Canada Line train car experienced an electrical failure causing an onboard fire at Aberdeen station Saturday afternoon, Translink confirmed in a statement Monday.

...

“A full investigation is being conducted to determine the root cause. In the meantime, all Canada Line trains will be inspected, and a modification to the train component that caused Saturday’s problem will be made to prevent reoccurrence. The Canada Line train is designed to have a very low risk of fire,” stated Translink spokesperson Cheryl Ziola.

...

Ziola said the fire came from below and the train car floors are fireproof.
...

[MIPS]

Ziola said the fire came from below and the train car floors are fireproof.

This is why I said that an emergency evacuation of the train in this situation wasn't necessary. It was an electrical flare-up and at no time were the passengers or the train in any real danger.
Control starts receiving reports of a fire, the train begins reporting problems and at that point they can kill the power to the section.

[GlassCity]

So I believe the closing date for the Broadway and Surrey mass transit RFPs was December 20. Does anybody here have any idea, maybe from past experiences, when we'll hear anything about it and how much we'll get to find out?

[WBC]

Burrard Station escalator is fixed!!! And it only took 6 months!!! Woooho...I am guessing that Santa brought parts from the North Pole (where these are apparently made).

[ssiguy]

I had the misfortune of having to take the Canada Line about a week or so ago.

I had never actually been on the Canada Line in the Richmond section as coming from White Rock all the buses go to Bridgeport and why the hell would someone go to Richmond if they didn't have to?

Anyway, I was totally shocked at what I saw. The Richmond Brighouse Station as I already knew was only one track and one-sided platform. What shocked me is that the buildings are right up against the line and station itself..............they have left absolutely no room to actually widen the station or twin the tracks! All this time I just assumed there would have been lots of room to do it but there is none. They were actually building right up against the platform and the tracks align with other taller buildings along #3 Road. How on Earth did they get away with this and seeing the buildings along the route are a local planning matter, why didn't Richmond allow easy clearance for a larger/wider station and doubling of tracks? How the hell are they going to increase capacity on the Richmond section when there is no way to expand the line/station?

Heads should roll over the incompetence and lack of vision that went into this line.

[recurrence]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

I had the misfortune of having to take the Canada Line about a week or so ago.

I had never actually been on the Canada Line in the Richmond section as coming from White Rock all the buses go to Bridgeport and why the hell would someone go to Richmond if they didn't have to?

Anyway, I was totally shocked at what I saw. The Richmond Brighouse Station as I already knew was only one track and one-sided platform. What shocked me is that the buildings are right up against the line and station itself..............they have left absolutely no room to actually widen the station or twin the tracks! All this time I just assumed there would have been lots of room to do it but there is none. They were actually building right up against the platform and the tracks align with other taller buildings along #3 Road. How on Earth did they get away with this and seeing the buildings along the route are a local planning matter, why didn't Richmond allow easy clearance for a larger/wider station and doubling of tracks? How the hell are they going to increase capacity on the Richmond section when there is no way to expand the line/station?

Heads should roll over the incompetence and lack of vision that went into this line.

A future extension will have to be tunneled under that segment.

[Metro-One]

Sometimes I can't tell if a post is suppose to be comical or not....

ssiguy is making whining and making hyperboles about the Canada line again, big surprise.

How would expanding the station house further east help anything? If any addition is to be made at Brighouse the logical position would be to add another platform on the west side of the track (one side offloading, another side loading)

Also I highly doubt the Canada Line will ever need to be expanded further south than where it terminates currently.

[ssiguy]

The Canada Line is already at capacity. The line is packed and is only 4 years old. Translink may say other wise using their "crush" load numbers but those numbers assume no one carries bags which is a tad moronic on a line that serves a lot of students and goes right to the airport.

The itsy, bitsy smallest amount of forethought would have provided room to simply add another platform at the same station as opposed to having to build an expensive and time consuming new station. The Canada Line late night only serves Richmond every 20 minutes and only every 10 minutes in the evening..........pathetic frequency for a "rapid" transit line.

Ultimately it's Richmond's fault in terms of that section not wanting double track and being stupid enough to allow buildings to go right up against the station so adding a platform is impossible. Of course that is a political decision and politicians wouldn't be caught dead taking the line and to hell with the people that do.

[Spork]

The line is well under capacity (25% of ultimate capacity, I believe), and has been a resounding success beyond the original, reasonable expectations. Additions can be made to reach ultimate capacity (extending each platform by 10m, adding a middle "C" car, and increasing frequencies significantly) that mean that the line won't be outgrown for some time.

By the time that a new line is required, it is likely that Richmond and Vancouver would be better suited for a parallel North-South service along, for example, Garden City and Oak.

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

uh, maybe I'm missing something, but at Brighouse, wouldn't you leave the current platform intact and just build another one over the road? considering the current is over the sidewalk.

[WarrenC12]

Dropping an extra $B on the Canada Line, despite being impossible given the political climate of the time, would have also been a waste. It has plenty of capability to expand, and will in due time (assuming the funding vote is approved).

[ssiguy]

I know they can increase capacity but it's going to be damn expensive.

They can't add any more trains on the Richmond route {it's not needed on YVR portion} because the long stretch of only one rail line and boarding/exiting on only one platform. Also brings up the problem of Waterfront where there are 2 platforms but one is kept for emergencies meaning that all trains {Richmond & YVR} have to use just one platform.

Some stations like Waterfront are already 50 meters but can't accommodate the middle train. The middle cars mean that a certain amount at each end will be in the tunnel itself and not on the platform but the rail tracks diverge right at the end of the platform at waterfront meaning a costly reconfiguration.

Whether it's more trains/frequency or longer stations it will be neither cheap nor easy to solve Campbell's and Richmond's short sighted vision.

Even if Translink was given an extra 20 trains tomorrow it couldn't put them all into service due to the one platform configuration at R/B and Waterfront. The only thing they could reasonably do would be to run short-turn trains from Van City Centre to Bridgeport.

A lot of the traffic gets off at Bridgeport but that of course would do nothing for the long suffering in Richmond. I guess some could short turn at Lansdowne to at least serve more Richmonders.

If this tax doesn't pass then Van/Rich should be forced to place a moratorium on all development along the line until the capacity issue is addressed.

Busy subway systems often require waiting 2 or 3 trains in big cities in order to get on the train during rush hours but I have NEVER even heard of the scenario that recently happened at R/B where people were being forced out of the station as the station itself was at capacity.

[jlousa]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

I know they can increase capacity but it's going to be damn expensive.

They can't add any more trains on the Richmond route {it's not needed on YVR portion} because the long stretch of only one rail line and boarding/exiting on only one platform. Also brings up the problem of Waterfront where there are 2 platforms but one is kept for emergencies meaning that all trains {Richmond & YVR} have to use just one platform.

Some stations like Waterfront are already 50 meters but can't accommodate the middle train. The middle cars mean that a certain amount at each end will be in the tunnel itself and not on the platform but the rail tracks diverge right at the end of the platform at waterfront meaning a costly reconfiguration.

Whether it's more trains/frequency or longer stations it will be neither cheap nor easy to solve Campbell's and Richmond's short sighted vision.

Even if Translink was given an extra 20 trains tomorrow it couldn't put them all into service due to the one platform configuration at R/B and Waterfront. The only thing they could reasonably do would be to run short-turn trains from Van City Centre to Bridgeport.

A lot of the traffic gets off at Bridgeport but that of course would do nothing for the long suffering in Richmond. I guess some could short turn at Lansdowne to at least serve more Richmonders.

If this tax doesn't pass then Van/Rich should be forced to place a moratorium on all development along the line until the capacity issue is addressed.

Busy subway systems often require waiting 2 or 3 trains in big cities in order to get on the train during rush hours but I have NEVER even heard of the scenario that recently happened at R/B where people were being forced out of the station as the station itself was at capacity.

There is some serious misinformation in this post, information that you have been told is incorrect and shown. This is a moderator warning at this point and if you continue with this false posts they will be deemed as trolling and you will be suspended. Thread carefully.

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

They can't add any more trains on the Richmond route {it's not needed on YVR portion} because the long stretch of only one rail line and boarding/exiting on only one platform.

Absolutely false. I posted in August describing why they can go down to 90 second headways on the shared segment of the line even though the Richmond and YVR tail segments are single tracked. Right now the combined service is every 3-4 minutes, so that means they can more than double the number of trains (and therefore more than double the overall capacity of the line) without making any station or track changes. All they need to do is buy the rolling stock and fund the addtional trips.

You were participating in that discussion, so you either have a short memory or for some reason it seems like you're deliberately trying to mislead people.

[Kisai]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

uh, maybe I'm missing something, but at Brighouse, wouldn't you leave the current platform intact and just build another one over the road? considering the current is over the sidewalk.

IMO... Assuming the the pylons could support the weight, double-tracking-stacking is likely the best option. If not, there is always building a parallel segment nearby as an option.

Then again it is Richmond, where development is not supposed to be happening. Between earthquake liquefaction, flood risk, and airport line of sight, property speculators are going to be in for an expensive lesson.

I wouldn't put too much stock in development driving capacity exhaustion.

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by GlassCity

So I believe the closing date for the Broadway and Surrey mass transit RFPs was December 20. Does anybody here have any idea, maybe from past experiences, when we'll hear anything about it and how much we'll get to find out?

Reading the RFP docs suggests it will be awarded in January, and the work should be completed by the end of summer.
This is just for the initial technical services to create the reference case and do the initial planning and engineering for the Broadway extension to Arbutus.

This is just the first round of technical planning for the new subway line.
Where are the stations going to be?
Where are the tunnels going to be?
How does it connect to VCC station?
How does Arbutus get built so a future extension can be done?
How much will this cost (ballpark educated guess)?


Future RFPs in 2016 will delve into the gritty details of engineering the tunnels. stations, portals, elevated tracks, more detailed (and presumably accurate) costs and financial planning.