Millennium Line - Evergreen Extension | Completed

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by twoNeurons

What kind of issues? frequency issues?

Question I have... would a spur be a 3rd platform ( like Lougheed ) or will it completely avoid Coquitlam Central Station?

An old drawing I saw has the poco / mission extension have its own platforms, with the future eastbound (to Mission) platform on the outer south side of the poco / mission tracks. The future westbound (from Mission to VCC) platform is on the north side of the poco / mission tracks - making a triangular wedge-shaped platform space shared with the existing northbound (to Lafarge) platform. The existing westbound (from Lafarge to VCC) platform is on the outside north of the Lafarge/Douglas tracks.

[officedweller]

Some suggested wrong-railing trains through the station to get common destination trains (to Vancouver) to the centre platform. Otherwise you'd have 2 separate platforms for Vancouver-bound trains (and a low frequency there would be dire consequences to being on the wrong platform, though there could be "next train at Platform ___" signs)). (i.e. that's the reason for the criss-cross at Lougheed Station).
But if they do stick to right-running trains, you'd have a cross-platform transfer from Maple Ridge to Douglas-LaFarge.

The main question was - for a low frequency station, why didn't they do a Bridgeport Station scenario with the switch east of one centre platform @ Coquitlam Central?

Discussion on page 211 of this thread:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=165814&highlight=poco&page=211

Originally Posted by nname

...

Last time, we prebuilt a platform at Lougheed station for the Evergreen Line. This time, the drawing shows that we will be building 2 stub tracks and 2 support columns for future Poco extension that might not happen before the end of this century... Seems like our provincial government is quite committed to build skytrain everywhere


And this is what I gather from Appendix I - the potential track map for the line! This document is even older though (dated 2011) - it still have Cameron station, so I just put it in!

Note: VSF = Vehicle Storage Facility... it is actually just lots of parallel tracks

Originally Posted by nname

Well, they could have and indicator at concourse to tell passenger which side they should go for the next train, I've seen some of those in HK MTR. Or maybe they'll make the entire Evergreen line to run on the left hand side of the track so both side of the center platform goes toward Vancouver. Something like this:



But actually, I'm more interested in the shape of the center platform. According to the plan, it will eventually become something like:



It would be almost 20 meters wide at the widest part! Oh, I almost can't wait for the PoCo extension, just to see what this funky platform look like when it is completed...

Construction pics at Page 337:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=165814&highlight=poco&page=337

Originally Posted by nname

Have a chance today to walk and check out the progress of the construction. I always feel the most interesting segment is between the tunnel portal to Coquitlam Central station, as they are far away from major roads and fewest photos are available...

Coquitlam Central Station


This shows how far the track is going to go, where the guideway on far-right will be long enough to park a train and serve as a spur (pocket) track. The gap between track 2 and 3 seems pretty small to put another platform in there..


Track switches west of the station


Another view west of the station. Although its elevated, the guideway is quite low

[TransitJack]

For some reason I wasn't able to view the Global shot, but did see this link on youtube for the City of Port Moody that shows the line Lafarge to Burquitlam:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEbNCTueZrs

The switches and track at Lafarge and more so at Coquitlam Central seem more complicated than necessary. Ex Lafarge Lake switches seem to slow arriving departing trains (similar to when arriving into Lougheed Town Centre from Braid) versus having a more simpler design of a diamond crossing at Canada Line's Waterfront station.

At Coquitlam, I realize it is to accommodate a future extension to PoCo, however, the design seems very cumbersome and likely necessitate trains arriving into Coq. Central from Ioco to slow more with the sharp curve into 2 switches.

Was intersting to see the VSF as it is much larger than I thought. Seems to be at least 3 storage lanes able to hold at least 2 x 4 car trains each, hard to say for sure.

I see that at the tunnel portal near Burquitlam there appears to be an access point that could be used to have a high-rail truck gain entry. Not sure if this is purely construction related or perhaps maintained for access during engineering hours without the need to send rail-borne equipment out from Burnaby.

Looking forward to opening day and taking a ride on the new section.

[dpogue]

Originally Posted by TransitJack

For some reason I wasn't able to view the Global shot, but did see this link on youtube for the City of Port Moody that shows the line Lafarge to Burquitlam:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEbNCTueZrs

The switches and track at Lafarge and more so at Coquitlam Central seem more complicated than necessary. Ex Lafarge Lake switches seem to slow arriving departing trains (similar to when arriving into Lougheed Town Centre from Braid) versus having a more simpler design of a diamond crossing at Canada Line's Waterfront station.

At Coquitlam, I realize it is to accommodate a future extension to PoCo, however, the design seems very cumbersome and likely necessitate trains arriving into Coq. Central from Ioco to slow more with the sharp curve into 2 switches.

Was intersting to see the VSF as it is much larger than I thought. Seems to be at least 3 storage lanes able to hold at least 2 x 4 car trains each, hard to say for sure.

I see that at the tunnel portal near Burquitlam there appears to be an access point that could be used to have a high-rail truck gain entry. Not sure if this is purely construction related or perhaps maintained for access during engineering hours without the need to send rail-borne equipment out from Burnaby.

Looking forward to opening day and taking a ride on the new section.

Oooh, thanks for the video link!

The switches at Lafarge are mostly set up for easy crossing over from the outbound to the inbound. Expect Lafarge outbound to be used pretty much only for storage or taking trains out of service.

Switches at Coquitlam are going to be weird. Possibly weirder than Lougheed even. Yes there will be speed restrictions there.

I believe the VSF has 5 storage lanes (one of which includes space at each end) and one line into the small maintenance shop.

That access gate at Burquitlam should be a hyrail for maintenance vehicles to access the guideway if needed. There are similar ones in New West, at Waterfront tail, in the Edmonds yard, and between Commercial and Renfrew.

[Express691]

What is the change in altitude between Burquitlam and the northern portal of the tunnel? It could be used as a reference when determining speed and gradients. Although the audio is bad, someone said the train managed to do 75kph uphill.

[Olden Retreiver]

Originally Posted by Express691

What is the change in altitude between Burquitlam and the northern portal of the tunnel? It could be used as a reference when determining speed and gradients. Although the audio is bad, someone said the train managed to do 75kph uphill.

Should be able to do well over 100kph downhill then

[Alex Mackinnon]

Originally Posted by jsbertram

Saw the Global report. Reporter mentioned that his ears popped in the tunnel, surmising it was because if the elevation change

be prepared for complaints.

That pressure differential is probably mostly because of the dynamic pressure of the train entering and exiting the tunnel. Unless that reporter is especially sensitive to elevation changes.

The train moves fast, but the grade isn't that steep. Cars definitely go up and down hills faster. Just look at the Cut on Hwy 1.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Alex Mackinnon

That pressure differential is probably mostly because of the dynamic pressure of the train entering and exiting the tunnel. Unless that reporter is especially sensitive to elevation changes.

The train moves fast, but the grade isn't that steep. Cars definitely go up and down hills faster. Just look at the Cut on Hwy 1.

Ya same thing happens on the Canada Line entering the Cambie tunnel as it exits north out of the Marine Drive station. Really bad when some clown leaves a few windows open.

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by Alex Mackinnon

That pressure differential is probably mostly because of the dynamic pressure of the train entering and exiting the tunnel. Unless that reporter is especially sensitive to elevation changes.

Yeah, I occasionally get ear pops when the SkyTrain enters the tunnel between Sapperton and Columbia (coming from the Sapperton direction where the train's going the fastest).

[officedweller]

Presumably the active platform will be the one on the left of this shot from 2015 - which will provide for a straight shot on exiting the station.

Most Expo Line centre platform stations are designed with straight line entrances and curved exits. That's so they brake on the straight segment and traverse the curve when they are going slowly anyways (starting from the stop). So Lafarge Lake Douglas Station is opposite to that.

The need for curves is to accommodate the centre platform.
For the Canada Line Waterfront Station, the twin bored tunnels are already separated by a "platform width" - so there are no curves.
I recall that when Lougheed Station was built with switches for the future PMC extension, the replacement of an X-crossing with dual switches saved a lot of money.
I don't know if you can fit an X-crossing on closely adjacent tracks or whether you need to separate then first (i.e. can the "X" have very acute angles, or would that catch wheel flanges?). If you need to separate them first, that may impact property acquisition (i.e. single column changes to bent).

Originally Posted by officedweller

A couple months old by a good overhead view of the track at Lake Lafarge - Douglas from Bosa's Evergreen:

https://instagram.com/p/1hEva2iUdT/

[nname]

There are no X crossing anywhere on the Expo and Millennium Line. Not sure if it is because BCRTC don't like it, or a technical limitation of Bombardier ART system.

[MIPS]

I see that at the tunnel portal near Burquitlam there appears to be an access point that could be used to have a high-rail truck gain entry. Not sure if this is purely construction related or perhaps maintained for access during engineering hours without the need to send rail-borne equipment out from Burnaby.

It's maintenance access for vehicles and the loading/unloading of materials without returning to the OMC. There's others at the turnaround at Waterfront, East of Commercial/Broadway on the Millennium line and one just before the tunnel between New Westminster and Columbia.

[officedweller]

City of Port Moody posted a forwards video from Lafarge Lake Douglas to Burquitlam:

• Video Link

[Jebby]

Is the train running at normal operating speed in that video? Seemed really slow for the first few stations.

Also, there sure are a lot of switches along the line

[Metro-One]

Seems to be a little slow just until after Coquitlam Station, after that seems normal skytrain speed.

Seeing how it is not in revenue service yet, I would not expect it to be operating exactly as it will be on opening day.

It also did not stop at any stations!

[Waders]

Was the train running on the wrong side of the track?

[Metro-One]

Yeah, it was wrong railing too.

[Geof]

For anyone who thinks this train isn't needed, the mess this morning due to an accident that closed Barnet Highway was something else. It appeared to me that every east-west route in north Burnaby was jammed: obvious ones like Lougheed, Hastings and Gagliardi (it was solid traffic from Como Lake up over the mountain to Hastings), but also partial and secondary routes like Parker, Broadway (the Burnaby one, not the Vancouver one), and Eastlake. I ended up taking streets like Forest Grove and Venables to get anywhere. And this was the mess after 9:30 and after the accident cleared. I figured the need for Evergreen was secondary to Broadway - but obviously it's still necessary, just less desperate than the ridiculous situation on Broadway. (And obviously no road building could really help, short of resurrecting the old plan to smash through Burnaby and Vancouver with a freeway along Burrard inlet.)

[Jebby]

Originally Posted by Geof

For anyone who thinks this train isn't needed

I don't think I've seen anyone on here say that.

The only arguments I've seen are saying that the M-Line extension all the way to UBC should have been built first, but this was built first due to political considerations instead of prioritizing projects based on need.

[WarrenC12]

So the Broadway line is the undisputed next in line. Surrey should be #2 IMO but I expect that is not an opinion shared by all...