O-Train Line 2 [Stage 1 | Bayview to Greenboro] | In Service

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by Catenary

I won't go into how useful the system is, but it should be noted (again) that there is no schedule. The trains operate as quickly as they can, usually every 10-12 minutes.

That was not my observation today

Departures at 00, 12, 24, 36 and 48 and that is the posted times on the electronic board at Greenboro.

A floating (or unpredictable0 schedule) is even more useless if you are expected to transfer.

[acottawa]

I think part of the problem is the GPS provides no clues as to what is going on for routes that haven't started yet (which is most local buses leaving transitway/LRT stations). Inbound it is fine, you wait at home watching the little map and walk to the stop when the time comes. Outbound you have no idea what's going on, if the scheduled bus is waiting at the station ready to depart on time, delayed on its previous route, waiting for the driver to finish a break, etc. It would be nice if they would provide the status of scheduled outbound buses.

[TransitZilla]

Originally Posted by kmcamp

It's been a long time since I've had to take a local bus on the end, but I never had luck in making a connection to a 30 minute local bus. I spent a lot of time waiting around Place D'Orleans station in my teens having just got off the 95 to see my local bus pull away. Now I always park-and-ride, and never ride the local. I can't believe the city thinks it would be a good idea to get rid of the Greenboro park-and-ride. Local buses are horribly inconvenient.

Just goes to show the importance of frequency. Every 30 minutes just isn't good enough for most people.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by bradnixon

Just goes to show the importance of frequency. Every 30 minutes just isn't good enough for most people.

Outside of a few key routes, that's all we will ever get in suburban areas. Put on articulated buses or double deckers if necessary but there is no way there will be more than 30 minute service.

It has made a huge difference since they cut service from every 15 minutes to every 30 minutes with the route optimization. It is a big turn-off for using transit when you just miss a connection.

The future is, you have to make connections more and more. In other words, be turned off more and more.

I have said it many times. I don't know how this builds ridership.

[Catenary]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

That was not my observation today

Departures at 00, 12, 24, 36 and 48 and that is the posted times on the electronic board at Greenboro.

A floating (or unpredictable0 schedule) is even more useless if you are expected to transfer.

You must have happened to find a day when the schedule and the operating times aligned, but this isn't usually the case. There is a reason there is no schedule posted at the stops, the digital data is just filler content so the apps show something.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by Catenary

You must have happened to find a day when the schedule and the operating times aligned, but this isn't usually the case. There is a reason there is no schedule posted at the stops, the digital data is just filler content so the apps show something.

As I said, totally useless when you require to transfer to a suburban bus route. Imagine, what is coming when this is the primary route south of the airport that requires a transfer or a car to reach your final destination with no amenities whatsoever other than a bus shelter. At least Greenboro has shopping. I can just see the poor ridership potential.

But hey, poor design leads to poor results. Surprise, surprise!

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by bradnixon

Just goes to show the importance of frequency. Every 30 minutes just isn't good enough for most people.

Which is why those transfer points from frequent(ish) LRT to local routes, many of which are labelled "frequent" even though they are not, need to have amenities IMMEDIATELY nearby, if not be destinations in themselves.

An undue or unexpectedly long transfer wait can be mitigated if the waiting passenger can go run a life-errand or two during that up-to-30-minute gap.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

As I said, totally useless when you require to transfer to a suburban bus route. Imagine, what is coming when this is the primary route south of the airport that requires a transfer or a car to reach your final destination with no amenities whatsoever other than a bus shelter. At least Greenboro has shopping. I can just see the poor ridership potential.

But hey, poor design leads to poor results. Surprise, surprise!

Greenboro has shopping, but it's unbelievably poorly-oriented to the two transit stations at either end of the mega-strip-mall that they anchor (or are anchored by).

[OCCheetos]

The train sets seem to have been turned around. Previously the bike car was the southernmost car, but today the two trains that I caught (C4 and C9) had it as their northernmost car.

I can only imagine that they must have started using the newly upgraded track on the south side of the Walkley diamond.
I wonder why though.

Edit:

Here's a picture of C4 with C4-2 at the northern end (it's leaving from Greenboro), and here's another picture of C4 with C4-2 at the southern end (waiting at Bayview). I was under the impression that they only ever used the northern track of the Walkley diamond which means the train turning around shouldn't have been possible.

[PHrenetic]

Good Day....

standard railway practice, esp. in LRT transit systems -
they turn them 180 in order to balance out the wear-and-tear on the trainsets,
given that they are in most systems just shuttling back-and-forth between one-way terminus stations.
The Confederation line trainsets will be similarly turned on occasion in the Belfast yard -
hence the loop of track in the MSF (although the MSF access wye would have served the purpose just as well).

EnJoy.

[Catenary]

Originally Posted by OCCheetos

The train sets seem to have been turned around. Previously the bike car was the southernmost car, but today the two trains that I caught (C4 and C9) had it as their northernmost car.

I can only imagine that they must have started using the newly upgraded track on the south side of the Walkley diamond.
I wonder why though.

Edit:

Here's a picture of C4 with C4-2 at the northern end (it's leaving from Greenboro), and here's another picture of C4 with C4-2 at the southern end (waiting at Bayview). I was under the impression that they only ever used the northern track of the Walkley diamond which means the train turning around shouldn't have been possible.

They used to wye the trains twice a year or so. You're correct that the new southern connecting track is now in service, so train orientation is random now, depending on how each trainset left the yard. The addition of wheelchair spaces at both ends of the train a couple years back was in preparation for this, the bike areas should similarly be adjusted so both ends can be used by bikes.

[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by PHrenetic

Good Day....

standard railway practice, esp. in LRT transit systems -
they turn them 180 in order to balance out the wear-and-tear on the trainsets,
given that they are in most systems just shuttling back-and-forth between one-way terminus stations.
The Confederation line trainsets will be similarly turned on occasion in the Belfast yard -
hence the loop of track in the MSF (although the MSF access wye would have served the purpose just as well).

EnJoy.

Originally Posted by Catenary

They used to wye the trains twice a year or so. You're correct that the new southern connecting track is now in service, so train orientation is random now, depending on how each trainset left the yard. The addition of wheelchair spaces at both ends of the train a couple years back was in preparation for this, the bike areas should similarly be adjusted so both ends can be used by bikes.

That's good to know. I guess once they have trains coupled together for Stage 2 it won't matter which connecting track they use.

[kmcamp]

Originally Posted by OCCheetos

That's good to know. I guess once they have trains coupled together for Stage 2 it won't matter which connecting track they use.

At Greenboro today I see they finally have a platform level departure time display for the O-Train line. It's kind of nice they went with LCD instead of the LED signs they used in renderings for the Confederation Line. I also see they've done a really half-a**ed job on signing the new Line 2 stuff. Greenboro and Mooney's Bay have new signage, then it looks like they kind of gave up half way through doing Carleton and ignored Carling. I do like the new Confederationline-eque style though done on the cheap.

[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by kmcamp

At Greenboro today I see they finally have a platform level departure time display for the O-Train line. It's kind of nice they went with LCD instead of the LED signs they used in renderings for the Confederation Line. I also see they've done a really half-a**ed job on signing the new Line 2 stuff. Greenboro and Mooney's Bay have new signage, then it looks like they kind of gave up half way through doing Carleton and ignored Carling. I do like the new Confederationline-eque style though done on the cheap.

It's a shame that the sign is practically useless because the times displayed there aren't live-updated. (Apparently live times for the Trillium Line are being considered for Stage 2.... Stage 2!! That's a long time.)

I also noticed that the train I was on today still called out "Confederation".

[Catenary]

Originally Posted by kmcamp

At Greenboro today I see they finally have a platform level departure time display for the O-Train line. It's kind of nice they went with LCD instead of the LED signs they used in renderings for the Confederation Line. I also see they've done a really half-a**ed job on signing the new Line 2 stuff. Greenboro and Mooney's Bay have new signage, then it looks like they kind of gave up half way through doing Carleton and ignored Carling. I do like the new Confederationline-eque style though done on the cheap.

They were trying to install the signage when it was -22. You can tell things weren't sticking well, I imagine they'll be back.

Originally Posted by OCCheetos

It's a shame that the sign is practically useless because the times displayed there aren't live-updated. (Apparently live times for the Trillium Line are being considered for Stage 2.... Stage 2!! That's a long time.)

I also noticed that the train I was on today still called out "Confederation".

I had a train in mid-December that already knew it was Mooney's Bay, so they must have missed one. At least the live signs will help with showing messages when the line breaks down.

[OCCheetos]

I take back what I said about the sign at Greenboro. Of all the signs, it's the most useful.
Whether the Trillium line follows a schedule or not, there's one thing that's always consistent: the train at Greenboro always departs at the listed time. (At least, for the last couple of weeks, it has).

[J.OT13]

Mooney's Bay Station.


https://twitter.com/rail613/status/951036690725994497

[rocketphish]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Mooney's Bay Station.


https://twitter.com/rail613/status/951036690725994497

How far is this from the beach, or the dragon boats?

[PHrenetic]

Good Day....

.... a REALLY loooonnnng walk.....

more like a bus transfer up Riverside or PoW !

To name this station Mooney's Bay is fraudulent advertising at best - more like an outright lie !

IMHO.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by PHrenetic

Good Day....

.... a REALLY loooonnnng walk.....

more like a bus transfer up Riverside or PoW !

To name this station Mooney's Bay is fraudulent advertising at best - more like an outright lie !

IMHO.

Why was it necessary to rename the station in the first place? Confederation for Confederation Heights seemed a good choice all along.

I think we need to start a campaign to rename Lees station to Lansdowne station, using the same logic as this renaming. After all, it is within the city's 5 km parameter for having rail service close by. Even better, rename Bayview station to Downtown west station. Close enough to downtown. Might as well make things as confusing as possible.