Metro Vancouver Transit Discussion

[Reecemartin]

Well at that 100 million dollar price point it really isn't that expensive in the grand scheme of things so does it really have to be a UBC Line or Gondola argument?

[Metro-One]

Burnaby`s strange attitude towards the Gondola project wont help its chances though.

The city almost seems to be against it (well, the mayor at least) from what i remember. Seriously, the mayor of Burnaby is bonkers sometimes and all over the map with policies.

[Kisai]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

Burnaby`s strange attitude towards the Gondola project wont help its chances though.

The city almost seems to be against it (well, the mayor at least) from what i remember. Seriously, the mayor of Burnaby is bonkers sometimes and all over the map with policies.

Corrigan picks fights he know he won't win, be it the oil pipelines or transit projects because they aren't NDP projects. That's it. The SFU Gondola, the Cameron Skytrain station, the lack of any low-income housing... that's all Corrigan picking a fight with the province.

[Large Cat]

Originally Posted by Kisai

Corrigan picks fights he know he won't win, be it the oil pipelines or transit projects because they aren't NDP projects. That's it. The SFU Gondola, the Cameron Skytrain station, the lack of any low-income housing... that's all Corrigan picking a fight with the province.

Which is messed up, because those are some of the only good transportation-related projects the Liberal provincial government has advocated for... (I don't mean the pipeline)

[Kisai]

http://www.metronews.ca/news/vancouver/2015/11/19/no-governance-changes-to-translink--minister.html

By: Matt Kieltyka Metro Published on Wed Nov 18 201

No governance changes to TransLink: Minister

The minister responsible for TransLink, Peter Fassbender, has told Metro Vancouver mayors there will be no restructuring of the cash-strapped transit authority.

TransLink’s governance will not change.

That’s the message Peter Fassbender, the newly appointed minister responsible for TransLink, delivered to Metro Vancouver mayors at a recent meeting.

Speaking at an Urban Development Institute event on Thursday, Fassbender said he has resisted calls from mayors to put the transportation authority back in the hands of elected officials and away from its appointed board.
“One of the issues that people talk to me about, and the mayors have, is that the governance structure needs to be redone again,” Fassbender said. “I clearly said to the mayors I am not prepared to change the governance again on the TransLink board, or in the relationship of the mayors’ council, or the relationship with the provincial government. I don’t believe governance is the issue.”

Instead, Fassbender said his focus is on making the current structure work.

...

Oh good, that means we get to see the Mayors dig in their heels again. I was not fond of the idea of handing the Mayors back Translink because it would mean going back to the pre-RAV situation again and nothing being built ever again.

Also:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/brit...p-to-fund-transit-in-bc/article27382657/

Road pricing could be the next step to fund transit in B.C.
FRANCES BULA
VANCOUVER — Special to The Globe and Mail
Published Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015 9:10PM EST

The B.C. government is willing to consider charging drivers for when and how far they travel to raise money for public transit, Communities Minister Peter Fassbender said Thursday, though he cautioned such a system would be too complex to put in place before an expected round of federal infrastructure spending.

The priority now is getting a share of the $20-billion in new money that the federal Liberals promised during the recent election campaign, Mr. Fassbender said following a speech to the region’s development industry.

“We have to make sure we are ready to take advantage of the opportunity right now,” he said after an address that emphasized the need for an integrated, sustainable transit system in the region.

“I believe the mayors clearly know this is a timely opportunity.”

The TransLink mayors’ council brought up the prospect of mobility pricing following a plebiscite earlier this year in which voters in the Vancouver region rejected a transit sales tax. The tax had been proposed as a way to raise the money needed for $7.5-billion in transit improvements throughout the region, outlined in a comprehensive mayors’ plan.

The plan counted on getting $2-billion apiece from the federal and provincial governments.

Mr. Fassbender didn’t suggest mobility pricing would have to be approved through a referendum, as Premier Christy Clark did last month.

...

So maybe we're getting mobility pricing?

[WarrenC12]

BC Liberals are kicking the can down the road, again.

They insisted on a "democratic" referendum for additional funding, destined to fail. Then when it was clear the #1 concern among the public is the governance and structure of Translink, they now insist there will be no changes.

It's clear they don't give a shit, and it seems like they have calculated it isn't worth enough votes to do anything.

[Express691]

Red Bravo (Susp. package) at Surrey central; no Sktrains at Surrey Central/King George.
Service has resumed 9:36pm

[WarrenC12]

Sparks seen from a train near Stadium Station (previously reported as a fire). Trains are stopped, service only running between Columbia and VCC per twitter.

2015 is looking like another rough year for Skytrain reliability.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Sparks seen from a train near Stadium Station (previously reported as a fire). Trains are stopped, service only running between Columbia and VCC per twitter.

2015 is looking like another rough year for Skytrain reliability.

From TransLink:

Due to problems with power at Stadium and Main street stations, Expo and Millennium train service is not running from Waterfront to Broadway Stations Eastbound and Westbound.

Service is operating from Broadway station east to King George and back to Broadway. The Millennium line is running from VCC/Clark to Columbia and back.

I was on the Metrotown platform right around then and had to wait a bit longer than usual for a train. Other than the wait it wasn't much different than usual rush hour loads.

[logan5]

Originally Posted by Express691

Red Bravo (Susp. package) at Surrey central; no Sktrains at Surrey Central/King George.
Service has resumed 9:36pm

Cluster Fuck (power failure) at Stadium and Main St station.

[logicbomb]

I'm completely ignoring social media. So much stupidity.

I want to see how many riders are lost due to these shutdowns - even when it doesn't inconvenience them. Seems like none of my friends use transit anymore.

[MIPS]

Originally Posted by logicbomb

I'm completely ignoring social media. So much stupidity.

I want to see how many riders are lost due to these shutdowns - even when it doesn't inconvenience them. Seems like none of my friends use transit anymore.

Ugh, this public transit is terrible! I'm buying a car!

-Nobody in Vancouver, ever.

I doubt we lose people en mass when small breakdowns occur. Mind you, they just replaced all the power rail in that area. Could be an installation fault.

[Mac Write]

Service is now operating eastbound from Stadium station.

[dpogue]

Normal service has now resumed.

[zivan56]

From this link:
http://globalnews.ca/news/2359909/power-problem-causing-skytrain-delays/

I saw units 002 and 003 in the reports stuck in the area where the issue occurred.

These are all very early MK.I trains from 1984 as per this page:
http://www.barp.ca/bus/bctransit/vancouver/skytrainroster.html

Perhaps the issue was age related? The electrical system on these older trains is magnitudes more complex and less reliable than the newer trains.
It even has the original livery, which most likely indicates it hasn't been refurbished and is probably headed for the scrap yard soon.

EDIT: looks like someone on twitter confirmed it was one of the units attached to 003:
https://twitter.com/PoCoello/status/669289484786135040/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

[dpogue]

Originally Posted by zivan56

From this link:
http://globalnews.ca/news/2359909/power-problem-causing-skytrain-delays/

I saw units 002 and 003 in the reports stuck in the area where the issue occurred.

These are all very early MK.I trains from 1984 as per this page:
http://www.barp.ca/bus/bctransit/vancouver/skytrainroster.html

Perhaps the issue was age related? The electrical system on these older trains is magnitudes more complex and less reliable than the newer trains.
It even has the original livery, which most likely indicates it hasn't been refurbished and is probably headed for the scrap yard soon.

EDIT: looks like someone on twitter confirmed it was one of the units attached to 003:
https://twitter.com/PoCoello/status/669289484786135040/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The issue was that the power collector equipment underneath the train was badly damaged on train 001-002/003-004 somewhere between Waterfront and Main Street. Badly enough that some of the collector shoes were torn off the train, one of which got stuck in the power rails by Stadium (which is what caused the sparking and smoke that were the originally reported problem).

Several other trains also suffered less severe damage to their power collectors. Vehicle technicians had to get underneath the train and move the collector shoes out of the way to prevent them catching on anything on the way back to the yard.

The track between Waterfront and Main Street was closed while they were getting the damaged trains out of the area and doing an inspection along the guideway to see what might have caused the collector shoe damage.

[xd_1771]

That train's on the eastbound track, huh. Then it isn't connected to the power rail replacement project - it was the westbound track closed last night with trains single tracking on the eastbound track, everything was smooth. Perhaps we'll find out more tomorrow.

In the meantime I'm quite surprised that even though I was caught in this delay today - started commuting out of King George Station to the Main St Station area at 2:50PM (meaning I had to go through the worst right at the beginning where none of the trains were running) the total delay accumulated was around 60 minutes.

Which adds up to be less than the 90 minutes delay I had dealing with all of the cancelled trains and delays, when I was in Japan last week trying to get from Maibara to Kyoto on the Tokaido-Sanyo Line... (Maibara is 140km away from where the incident was at Sannomiya in Kobe and yet I still got hit with major delays! Ugh!)

At least this time we were orderly enough not to break open doors or anything! Japanese people would be scoffing at how things were last year... we could learn a thing or two...

http://en.rocketnews24.com/2015/11/21/vi...ons-are-orderly-%E3%80%90video%E3%80%91/

• Video Link

[MIPS]

I'm increasing my bets in an installation fault. The last time we dropped a shoe it was because it snagged on a worn joint. I forget if the last one was the incident near 22nd street or the one east of Main Street but both happened on old portions of the power rail just before they were replaced.

[Mac Write]

I thought that last and only time a train "dropped" anything and de-railed while in revenue service was the morning King Goerge tail track derail?

[MIPS]

Just before we started the power rail and bracketing replacement I recall at least two incidents of shoe damage. There was also an emergency repair they had to do when a new section of rail came loose but I can't remember if that also caused damage or not. It was all in the last two years.