O-Train Line 2/4 [Stage 2 | Greenboro to Limebank/Airport] | In Service

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by McC

That’s not a quote.

It is a quote from the article I referenced. I did a cut and paste. It is true the author did paraphrase what Manconi said if that’s what you mean.

[J.OT13]

The Trillium Line will forever be an ongoing project. If the City continues with these very expensive "upgrades" that do next to nothing to improve service in the long run, along with stupid ideas like giving every institution its own station (just watch them give RCR its own spur), we're screwed for life. The line will continuously be out of service for sporatic periods the way it's going now.

The City should have shut it down for a few years in order to double track the entire length and electrify for LRVs. And then extend south, bit by bit.

I'm hopeful that City staff gives council a reality check and straight-up rejects a Civic Station. And maybe, if we're really lucky, the winning Stage 2 Trillium proponent will have included double track to Carling and re-alignment under the street with entrances on both ends. But that is beyond wishful thinking.

[Reecemartin]

[Deleted]

[J.OT13]

Soooo... Moose??

[Reecemartin]

[Deleted]

[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

Moose was commuter peak only no?

The Trillium Line will very likely be electrified someday and also uses DMUs it has the potential to be much better than Moose.

They want(ed) to run hourly trains from 5 to midnight (or something like that).

MOOSE isn't opposed to electrification in any way, it's just waaaaaayyyyy past the scope of what they're working on right now.

[Reecemartin]

[Deleted]

[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

Has there been any progress with Moose at all? Any suggestion that it might actually happen

I think they recently went to a new potential investor, but otherwise no.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

Has there been any progress with Moose at all? Any suggestion that it might actually happen

There's already a pretty extensive thread on this.

[kmcamp]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

With the current direction, things are going with Flirts and the Airport Spur maybe it makes more sense to turn the Trillium Line into a regional rail line? (With relatively high frequencies and even longer trains) You could have several branches North and South of the river all feeding a new expanded station at Bayview, while the trunk section is offered frequent service.

Arguably it already works like a German regional rail train, even using the same kind of signaling equipment and trains. German regional rail is a complementary system to urban metros and trams. But the city is trying to have it both ways, designing it as a rail line, but selling it as a light rail urban trunk

[Reecemartin]

[Deleted]

[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

If you think about it even with only 2 tracks into and out of Bayview you could service a bunch of 15 minute regional lines, an interesting idea imo.

Part of MOOSE's plan would involve a bypass west of Bayview (presumably with its own platform(s)) since the bi-levels they want to use can't fit under the Albert Street bridge.

Bayview is certainly the best... or rather only option for any kind of regional commuter rail hub, but of course it'll probably never happen.

Edit: Speaking of the Albert Street bridge, I wonder if they'll regrade the Trillium Line tracks during Stage 2 back to being lower than they currently are. I can imagine the next-to-no clearance between the trains and the bridge might cause trouble with future electrification projects... plus they can avoid dealing with MOOSE as far as Albert Street is involved.

[Catenary]

Originally Posted by OCCheetos

Edit: Speaking of the Albert Street bridge, I wonder if they'll regrade the Trillium Line tracks during Stage 2 back to being lower than they currently are. I can imagine the next-to-no clearance between the trains and the bridge might cause trouble with future electrification projects... plus they can avoid dealing with MOOSE as far as Albert Street is involved.

That would be tough - the lower level of Bayview station is level with the existing and future Trillium line platforms. Lowering the track would require ramps down from the lower concourse level.

It could be done most easily with tracks that end at Bayview, but would be a challenge for through tracks.

[kmcamp]

Originally Posted by Catenary

That would be tough - the lower level of Bayview station is level with the existing and future Trillium line platforms. Lowering the track would require ramps down from the lower concourse level.

It could be done most easily with tracks that end at Bayview, but would be a challenge for through tracks.

Or....crazy idea... Moose could give up the idea of using bilevels and use the FRA complaint FLIRTs as well. No special exemption required and no need to worry about platform compatibility. Stadler is the only manufacture that seems to be targeting the North American market by adding that compliance

[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by kmcamp

Or....crazy idea... Moose could give up the idea of using bilevels and use the FRA complaint FLIRTs as well. No special exemption required and no need to worry about platform compatibility. Stadler is the only manufacture that seems to be targeting the North American market by adding that compliance

I don't disagree with that. Heck, if they somehow get their act together fast enough maybe they can even tack their order on to the end of OC Transpo's and cut the costs down?

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by kmcamp

Or....crazy idea... Moose could give up the idea of using bilevels and use the FRA complaint FLIRTs as well. No special exemption required and no need to worry about platform compatibility. Stadler is the only manufacture that seems to be targeting the North American market by adding that compliance

I believe they only comply with the FRA's "Alternative Equipment Crashworthiness Standards" which replaces the previous practice of approving wavers but still limit their use on conventional rail lines.

[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by roger1818

I believe they only comply with the FRA's "Alternative Equipment Crashworthiness Standards" which replaces the previous practice of approving wavers but still limit their use on conventional rail lines.

As far as I can tell, Texrail will be using their FLIRTs in regular freight traffic. PTC and crash energy management seem to have played a big part in allowing that to happen.

Neither VIA nor CN seem to have any plans to implement PTC any time soon... so... hmmm.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by OCCheetos

As far as I can tell, Texrail will be using their FLIRTs in regular freight traffic. PTC and crash energy management seem to have played a big part in allowing that to happen.

Neither VIA nor CN seem to have any plans to implement PTC any time soon... so... hmmm.

I thought otherwise about TexRail but you might be right (they are using segments of existing infrastructure belonging to the Fort Worth and Western Railroad, Union Pacific Railroad, Trinity Railway Express (TRE) line and Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s (DART) Cotton Belt rail line, but I don't know if there will be freight operations at the same time of day as passenger service).

For those who are interested, here is a video of a walk through and features of their FLIRTs. It shows the stairs between sections and the diesel section and some other features that may not exist on the Trillium Line trains.

• Video Link

[Reecemartin]

[Deleted]

[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

Given I don't think any of the stations on Line 2 have any bathrooms maybe onboard bathrooms isn't so bad an idea...

Bayview and Limebank (as well as the Airport) will have bathrooms.