Metro Vancouver Transit Discussion

[cganuelas1995]

Holy 🞵🞵🞵🞵 how long does it take to fix an escalator?

[stump]

Originally Posted by cganuelas1995

Holy 🞵🞵🞵🞵 how long does it take to fix an escalator?

Maybe it's the same company fixing the escalators at Metrotown. Pretty sure some of them are going on 6 months.

[cganuelas1995]

Originally Posted by stump

Maybe it's the same company fixing the escalators at Metrotown. Pretty sure some of them are going on 6 months.

The one at Vancouver City Centre is down and I often see people crowding around it and all the steps have been taken off and it's been like that for a week now.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by cganuelas1995

Holy 🞵🞵🞵🞵 how long does it take to fix an escalator?

This article says 2 weeks to fix if the part is on hand in TransLink's warehouse.
In the other article below, it talks 4-5 days just to annually inspect an escalator, so a repair would likely involve all the inspection steps, plus investigation, repair and testing, plus sourcing the parts.

https://globalnews.ca/news/1009722/skytr...o-fix-because-special-parts-were-needed/

Aging escalators a key reason for 'maintenance in progress' signs
Bruce Constantineau, Vancouver Sun 03.21.2015 |
...
Escalators break down and just like any complex piece of machinery, they require regular maintenance that can keep them out of service for hours, days or a lot longer if there’s a problem in getting the right replacement parts.

“They’re a moving piece of machinery and anything that moves is bound to have problems,” said Norm Langerhorst, the wayside maintenance director for the B.C. Rapid Transit Company. It’s the operating company for the Expo and Millenium line SkyTrain. “These are the first things our customers see when they come into our system, so if they don’t get that ride and they have to use the stairs instead, I can understand their frustration.”

Langerhorst and his team of 31 technicians and support staff are responsible for maintaining 76 escalators on the two lines, some of which have been around since 1985. The Canada Line’s 38 escalators are maintained by elevator/escalator manufacturer Schindler.

One of the lengthiest escalator shutdowns in SkyTrain’s history occurred when the 109-step up escalator at Commercial-Broadway station was out of service for six months in 2013.

Maintenance workers fixed several problems in the unit before determining the escalator needed a new bull gear, the mechanism responsible for moving a chain along the track. The part had to be ordered from Germany and took several weeks to arrive before the machinery could be resolved.
...

Langerhorst said many of the 30-year-old escalators on the Expo line were rated to last just 20 years, so they require more maintenance because they’re living on borrowed time.

TransLink has occasionally taken parts from one working escalator — causing it to temporarily shut down — to fix a busier broken escalator. But that’s a last-resort scenario.

Langerhorst said TransLink officials are increasing their inventory of escalator parts. Work on a longer-term solution begins in August 2016 with the start of a five- to eight-year program to replace many Expo Line escalators.

The program will cost an estimated $16 million for 26 new escalators — including eight at Metrotown station, four at Commercial-Broadway and four at New Westminster station.

Annual inspections of SkyTrain escalators usually last four or five days and involve taking the unit apart, checking all working parts, replacing gear box oil and cleaning away everything that falls below the steps into the escalator’s inner workings.

Regular cleaning of an escalator’s underside is extremely important, as authorities determined that a fatal 1987 fire on a wooden escalator in London was caused, in part, by the accumulation of flammable debris beneath the unit.
...
Langerhorst said maintenance workers regularly collect 50 kg of debris during an escalator’s annual cleaning — including dirt, coins, screws, nails, jewelry, keys, credit cards, watches (or what’s left of them) and anything else small enough to fall through the tiny crack between the moving steps and the unit’s skirt board.

http://www.vancouversun.com/Aging+escalators+reason+maintenance+progress+signs/10907689/story.html

[cganuelas1995]

Originally Posted by officedweller

This article says 2 weeks to fix if the part is on hand in TransLink's warehouse.
In the other article below, it talks 4-5 days just to annually inspect an escalator, so a repair would likely involve all the inspection steps, plus investigation, repair and testing, plus sourcing the parts.

https://globalnews.ca/news/1009722/skytr...o-fix-because-special-parts-were-needed/


http://www.vancouversun.com/Aging+escalators+reason+maintenance+progress+signs/10907689/story.html

Ok but that doesn't explain the lack of effort the Canada Line attendants are taking to get people away from crowding around the stairs.

[dpogue]

Originally Posted by cganuelas1995

Holy 🞵🞵🞵🞵 how long does it take to fix an escalator?

It depends why the escalator is shut off.

Every escalator needs to undergo an inspection at least once a year. There are 76 escalators (as of 2015, that number has surely increased) which means that there will be at least one escalator under maintenance in any given week, possibly two. This is generally when you see them completely disassembling the escalator and all its steps.

Newer escalators are often still under warranty from the manufacturer, so BCRTC technicians aren't supposed to touch them. They have to call the manufacturer and have them send out their own technician to do any repair work.

Escalators are required to be shut down in several (surprisingly common) situations for safety reasons, including whenever two of the metal teeth side-by-side on the comb-plate are missing, whenever a plastic step is chipped or cracked, whenever someone falls on the escalator, whenever the escalator makes grinding metal noises, or whenever smoke comes billowing out from underneath.
The escalators also sometimes stop as a result of people playing with the emergency stop button, power surges, and random equipment issues.

Because SkyTrain was built in several stages (and subsequent renovations) there are several different types of escalators from different manufacturers, which means that keep a stockpile of parts is harder and more expensive that it might initially look. It also means that it's not always possible to swap parts between escalators.

They have already replaced escalators at several of the renovated Expo Line stations (Main St, Joyce, Metrotown, and New West at least) and part of the 10-year plan is to replace escalators at most other Expo Line stations.

[retro_orange]

A couple months ago I was on an escalator at one of the skytrain stations (can't remember which one) and this guy was ahead of me and as soon as he got to the top he hit the emergency stop button and quickly ran on the train.

I'm guessing there's more special dicks like him out there.

[cganuelas1995]

Originally Posted by retro_orange

A couple months ago I was on an escalator at one of the skytrain stations (can't remember which one) and this guy was ahead of me and as soon as he got to the top he hit the emergency stop button and quickly ran on the train.

I'm guessing there's more special dicks like him out there.

A couple of weeks ago, there was a guy standing on the stairs at Vancouver City Centre station, just chatting on his phone, as people were going up and down it, since the escalator is down.

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by dpogue

Every escalator needs to undergo an inspection at least once a year. There are 76 escalators (as of 2015, that number has surely increased) which means that there will be at least one escalator under maintenance in any given week, possibly two.

This reminds me of the Granville Street Bridge. Apparently there's a crew whose job it is to paint the bridge. It takes them 10 years to get from one end of the bridge to the other, and when they're done they start over again. Talk about job security...

[cganuelas1995]

Originally Posted by aberdeen5698

This reminds me of the Granville Street Bridge. Apparently there's a crew whose job it is to paint the bridge. It takes them 10 years to get from one end of the bridge to the other, and when they're done they start over again. Talk about job security...

Something something unions...

[dreambrother808]

Something something unsubstantiated rumours...

When is the last time someone saw this supposed crew actually painting the bridge?

And god forbid there is someone inspecting escalators. How dare working-class rubes have job security ensuring public safety.

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by dreambrother808

Something something unsubstantiated rumours...

When is the last time someone saw this supposed crew actually painting the bridge?

The Granville Street Bridge maintenance was mentioned by former City of Vancouver Chief Engineer Peter Judd in a 2009 video that showed the interior of the galleries above the Burrard Street Bridge. Unfortunately I can no longer find the video...

[Reecemartin]

I've been in Montreal this week and once again I am wondering why the TTC's new trains but moreso the Mark III's are so underwhelming.

While the new trains have nicer windows and a newer look compared to the Mark II's they lack pretty much any other improvements over newer Mark 2's.

The Montreal Metro's new AZUR trains not only look stunning inside but also have FANTASTIC interiors. Rather than having the light up maps we have they have actual lcd screens displaying the tim to the next station, the next few stations, and a live status indicator. It all seems a lot nicer and makes me wonder why the MArk III's werent also equipped with a similar system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Usk9J-tpzTA

[Bobert]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

I've been in Montreal this week and once again I am wondering why the TTC's new trains but moreso the Mark III's are so underwhelming.

While the new trains have nicer windows and a newer look compared to the Mark II's they lack pretty much any other improvements over newer Mark 2's.

The Montreal Metro's new AZUR trains not only look stunning inside but also have FANTASTIC interiors. Rather than having the light up maps we have they have actual lcd screens displaying the tim to the next station, the next few stations, and a live status indicator. It all seems a lot nicer and makes me wonder why the MArk III's werent also equipped with a similar system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Usk9J-tpzTA

I'll be honest, at the frequencies we run at most of those things seem like useless expenses. I would prefer they improve and unify way-finding across the system first.

[cganuelas1995]

I really wanna see Google Maps to add all the bus routes and the SeaBus to the transit view. Other cities have that 🞵🞵🞵🞵.

[officedweller]

Of interest - platform gates installation somewhere in ???
- posted at GRIDS Vancouver:

http://www.sankei.com/photo/story/news/171107/sty1711070001-n1.html

[Pinion]

Originally Posted by cganuelas1995

I really wanna see Google Maps to add all the bus routes and the SeaBus to the transit view. Other cities have that 🞵🞵🞵🞵.

We've had that for a long time...? Unless I am misunderstanding what "transit view" is.

[MIPS]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Of interest - platform gates installation somewhere in ???
- posted at GRIDS Vancouver:

http://www.sankei.com/photo/story/news/171107/sty1711070001-n1.html

Not happening until the Mk I is phased out...in about 15-20 years.
Frankly I'm still in opposition to them.

[cganuelas1995]

Originally Posted by Pinion

We've had that for a long time...? Unless I am misunderstanding what "transit view" is.

Click on that menu button and then click on transit.

[ilikeredheads]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Of interest - platform gates installation somewhere in ???
- posted at GRIDS Vancouver:

http://www.sankei.com/photo/story/news/171107/sty1711070001-n1.html

that's in Tokyo Metro. As mentioned already, we won't have them in our systems until the Mark 1s are phased out, even though platform screen doors are a good safety feature. There's a reason why they are being installed in many transit systems in the world.