Confederation Line (Stage 1) | In Service 1.0

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

But wasn't Gloucester Centre built as TOD when the Transitway opened?

Gloucester Centre opened first in 1988. Blair Station opened in 1989.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

Probably because of the time period in which it was built; back in the 20th century transit was seen as dirty and gross and malls wanted nothing to do with it. That's the reason why Lincoln Fields mall has no connection to the station there, likely the reason with Blair as well.

This was certainly not the case in Ottawa. Before the Transitways opened, transit stops were located immediately next to main mall entrances including at Lincoln Fields. The old 61 an 62 bus routes used to pull into Westgate, Carlingwood and Lincoln Fields and ended at Bayshore although there buses had to stay on the street because of the parking garage. The problem is that Lincoln Fields predated rapid transit and entrances were not conveniently located to the Transitway station. Distance was not reasonable to build a pedestrian overpass.

[Truenorth00]

LRT offers redemption here. Gloucester Centre has been sliding. Transit could add some life into the place. Along with real TOD around the mall. Just look at the RioCan apartment developments.

[Truenorth00]

So what's the over/under on service before Labour Day.

I look at those construction pics and I don't even see how they'll be close to deliverable by Victoria Day.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

This was certainly not the case in Ottawa. Before the Transitways opened, transit stops were located immediately next to main mall entrances including at Lincoln Fields. The old 61 an 62 bus routes used to pull into Westgate, Carlingwood and Lincoln Fields and ended at Bayshore although there buses had to stay on the street because of the parking garage. The problem is that Lincoln Fields predated rapid transit and entrances were not conveniently located to the Transitway station. Distance was not reasonable to build a pedestrian overpass.

My impression was that a pedestrian overpass was intended but the Lincoln Fields mall management refused to allow it because of transit stigma.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

So what's the over/under on service before Labour Day.

I look at those construction pics and I don't even see how they'll be close to deliverable by Victoria Day.

The mayor did confirm after the postponement of the service date announcement this week that opening day is definitely still in 2018, but wouldn't say more.

[Reecemartin]

[Deleted]

[OtrainUser]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

A few questions/ comments:

How are the entrance and exit options? I was impressed by the platform width in the picture of St. Laurent and have my hopes up (2+ exist per station?)

Any plans to electrify the trillium line?

Any plans to run 24 hour service?

I find the entrance and exit options ok especially at Lyon station. The confederation line will be shut down for a few hours overnight for daily maintenance so routes 75 and 59 will provide the overnight service just like they do now as the 95 cambrian and 97 Bayshore/Bells Corners.

Electrifying the Trillium line is a long way off since that would cost at least 1 billion to do along with double tracking it.

One thing that pisses me off is that despite how far behind Rideau is they still should be focused on finishing the other stations first that are nearly done. To me there is no excuse to not starting the Confederation line on time. They should put the tracks and wires through and then finish stations like Hurdman to Blair and Lyon to Tunney's in the west and start the damn thing while they complete the rest. It shouldn't be that hard to do

[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

Any plans to run 24 hour service?

They have a page outlining operating hours.

24 hour metro/rail services are a rarity, even in very large cities like Toronto and Montreal.

[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by OtrainUser

Electrifying the Trillium line is a long way off since that would cost at least 1 billion to do along with double tracking it.

And they'll probably do them separately in two 18-month closures over the span of 6 years.
#OnTrack2031

[Catenary]

Originally Posted by OtrainUser

One thing that pisses me off is that despite how far behind Rideau is they still should be focused on finishing the other stations first that are nearly done. To me there is no excuse to not starting the Confederation line on time. They should put the tracks and wires through and then finish stations like Hurdman to Blair and Lyon to Tunney's in the west and start the damn thing while they complete the rest. It shouldn't be that hard to do

Sounds like a nightmare. How are the trains supposed to get from the MSF to the west end? What if you want to travel from Westboro to St. Laurent, just take a bus to Tunney's, switch to the train, back to bus, back to train? If you manage to run trains past the incomplete stations, what if you work at Rideau? Do some buses continue to downtown and not others? How do you communicate that to passengers, only to change it again in 2 months?

The issue with a long duration soft launch is that you don't save any money by running fewer buses, but you have to pay to run a significantly under-used train. It's one thing to have a couple weeks of soft launch, but jumping through hoops because you want to see the train running only hurts its reputation, and that of OC Transpo.

[kmcamp]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

A few questions/ comments:

How are the entrance and exit options? I was impressed by the platform width in the picture of St. Laurent and have my hopes up (2+ exist per station?)

Any plans to electrify the trillium line?

Any plans to run 24 hour service?

Most underground stations have at least two exits, but most stations all go from the platform to a common mezzanine and from there multiple exits. The only station I can think of that has separate platform exits at opposite ends is Rideau.

The Blair exit is awkward to Gloucester center, but I remember in the olden days you used to be able to go through that little building, but that's long since gone.

Service isn't going 24 hours, it will stop around 2am and for a 4 hour period it'll be replaced by extended Rapid routes.

[kmcamp]

Found a new video online of a running Citadis that I had posted over on UrbanToronto:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Owhw6E9pI6k&feature=youtu.be

Also I kind of like the Metrolinx livery on the Citadis...

[OtrainUser]

Originally Posted by Catenary

Sounds like a nightmare. How are the trains supposed to get from the MSF to the west end? What if you want to travel from Westboro to St. Laurent, just take a bus to Tunney's, switch to the train, back to bus, back to train? If you manage to run trains past the incomplete stations, what if you work at Rideau? Do some buses continue to downtown and not others? How do you communicate that to passengers, only to change it again in 2 months?

The issue with a long duration soft launch is that you don't save any money by running fewer buses, but you have to pay to run a significantly under-used train. It's one thing to have a couple weeks of soft launch, but jumping through hoops because you want to see the train running only hurts its reputation, and that of OC Transpo.

They successfully did it when the Transitway was being built during the 80's and 90's and i don't see a problem why they can't use the same principle here as well. Remember the transitway didn't open all at once, certain sections were opened while the rest were under construction and transit ridership increased during that time. Right now with what we have is a nightmare and at least opening the Confederation line as soon as possible will shorten commute times compared with what we have now.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

My impression was that a pedestrian overpass was intended but the Lincoln Fields mall management refused to allow it because of transit stigma.

If that was the basis of their decision, with a Woolco store and then a Walmart store being the prime tenant, no wonder Lincoln Fields is a basket case today.

[daud]

was listening to 1310news interview with Mayor Watson. He would not commit to LRT being open by election time in October-he would only commit to sometime in 2018.

Does anyone have any really rough idea of when they are looking to open the confederation line yet?

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

The problem is that Lincoln Fields predated rapid transit and entrances were not conveniently located to the Transitway station. Distance was not reasonable to build a pedestrian overpass.

So instead they built a fence between the station and the mall to force you to walk all the way to Carling. Before they built the sidewalk and crosswalk on the southbound platform, it was common for people to sneak around the station, jay-walk across the parkway and then push down the fence to get into the mall parking lot.

[OtrainUser]

Originally Posted by daud

was listening to 1310news interview with Mayor Watson. He would not commit to LRT being open by election time in October-he would only commit to sometime in 2018.

Does anyone have any really rough idea of when they are looking to open the confederation line yet?

I heard a bus driver mention to another person that he expects the confederation line to start in December.

[Truenorth00]

They will have some kind of trial or soft opening before the election. Just watch. No way they all want to run without showing the biggest piece of infrastructure in the city's history too the public.

[lrt's friend]

If it's not ready, it's not ready. I just reflect on how much more work is needed at Rideau station from being right across the street during the holidays.