Confederation Line (Stage 1) | In Service 1.0

[CityTech]

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

Riding the line end to end, it's really noticeable how ridiculously twisty, slow and noisy the stretch between Tremblay and Hurdman is. Given that there was a lot of open space to work with, couldn't Hurdman station have been built more angled towards the northeast to get rid of the s-curve?

They did some straightening of the alignment when it was converted didn't they? Its noticeable in the via station where the train clearly passes under the road in a different spot than the Transitway did.

[PHrenetic]

Originally Posted by CityTech

They did some straightening of the alignment when it was converted didn't they? Its noticeable in the via station where the train clearly passes under the road in a different spot than the Transitway did.

Good Day.

Some minor realignment, yes, but mostly for technical reasons of minimum curve radius. It mostly follows pretty closely the old RoW because that's all what was allowed from NCC. They allowed a bit just east of Hurdman so as to get a wide road-capable underpass for future development.
The most significant bit was, as you noted, Tremblay itself, and again only for technical because they just could not shoehorn it into the old parallel-to-the-VIA station front inside the loop, and they needed to rebuild part of the bridges anyway, so to save some cost, they moved it and rebuilt only the north end of the eastern loop bridge. Result, a bit of an S-curve east of the station coming to, and passing under, the eastern loop bridge on the way to the stretch beside the 417 to St.Laurent.

EnJoy!

[Kitchissippi]

They straightened it east of Tremblay, but the two bends that make the s-curve east of Hurdman feels like the tightest radii in the line. The train almost strains and groans to negotiate them. By comparison, the turn east of Rideau is almost unnoticeable.

[CityTech]

Which is funny because I recall from the planning sessions that the turn to and from Rideau was so tight that they called it the "innovation zone" because the contractor would have to get creative. Yet both the turn and the grade change are barely noticeable around there. The train is *fast* in there. I remember when the draft schedule said it would take 7 minutes to go from uOttawa to Lyon.. in reality, every time I take it, it only takes 5.

[rocketphish]

Originally Posted by zzptichka

Via Matthew Fleury:

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

They straightened it east of Tremblay, but the two bends that make the s-curve east of Hurdman feels like the tightest radii in the line. The train almost strains and groans to negotiate them. By comparison, the turn east of Rideau is almost unnoticeable.

I noticed exactly the same thing. The section between St. Laurent and Hurdman had the speed reduced significantly to negotiate all the curves.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

1) Moodie is specifically about the thousands of military and civilian personnel working at the Nortel campus. And has the added benefit of making a second yard cheaper and more accessible, while also reducing the VMT on buses from Kanata and Stittsville.

Also, FWIH, the land needed to build a bus loop at Bayshore large enough to act as a terminus, was going to be very expensive, so in the end it cost the same (or at least very similar) to extend the line to Moodie as keeping it at Bayshore (they could borrow the land for free from the NCC at Mooide).

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by midriser

Just a few days ago, I got back from a trip to Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic. I took 10+ long distance and regional trains, from flagship high speed services like the DB ICE and ÖBB/ČD RailJet, to international EuroCity services, to InterCity services, and down to local stopping trains. Not once did I have to go through any kind of ticket check, barrier, or security procedure before getting on a train.

Anyone could access any platform at every station I went to, including large central stations in places like Frankfurt, Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, Prague, Salzburg, and Vienna. The only time tickets were checked were actually on the train when it was well underway.

Last year I went on a trip to the Scandinavian capitals + Helsinki, and there weren't any restrictions to accessing train platforms there either.

I've seen ticket barriers to access train platforms in the UK, but haven't seen them anywhere else that I've been in Europe.

When I was in Amsterdam a year ago, Central Station required you to scan your ticket to get to the tunnel leading to the platforms. It wasn't like this the previous time I was in Amsterdam many years ago. There was a second tunnel that the general pubic could use to get to the back side of the station.

Brussels Midi, Cologne, or London Paddington didn't require you to scan your ticket to get to the platform though, so it certainly seems to vary from station to station.

[rocketphish]

City tallies up Confederation Line's first week

Blair Crawford, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: September 21, 2019



OC Transpo has added extra buses, more special constables and deployed additional supervisors and customer service staff at Tunney’s Pasture and Blair LRT stations to ease congestion as the city assesses the Confederation Line’s first week of service.

A Week 1 summary issued Friday by transit boss John Manconi said the Confederation Line had made 2,450 train trips as of the end of day Thursday, covering some 30,000 kilometres without any major incident. The report did not give any figure for the number of passengers carried.

Feedback from the customers has been positive, Manconi reported, with travellers saying their commute time has been reduced and praising the system’s reliability, wayfinding system and ease of use. Passengers have also been impressed on the system’s public art, cellular and Wi-Fi service and its “connectivity” for pedestrians and cyclists.

Although Manconi says there have been no major issues with the trains, stations or fare gates, he did list some “minor issues” that have cropped up. One train was delayed eight minutes when the driver had to reset the brakes and one train was delayed when a passenger held open a door. There have also been “short disruptions” on some escalators and elevators.

In another incident, two people were caught trespassing on the tracks and were arrested and charged with bylaw offences. And customers continue to complain about bad smells in the Parliament and Rideau stations.

But the biggest problem seems to be at the transfer points at Blair and Tunney’s Pasture when hundreds of train riders jostle for space on buses that fan out from the east and west endpoints of the Confederation Line. OC Transpo is reminding passengers they don’t have to tap their Presto cards when boarding a bus inside the paid fare zone. Overhead, drones are surveying commuters’ movements to identify chokepoints and solutions to the congestion.

OC Transpo is also reminding passengers not to hold open the doors of the train, something it says is both unsafe and causes delays for all passengers.



With Week 1 behind it, OC Transpo is preparing for its next big test. That occurs on Monday, Oct. 7 when the existing bus routes that are currently running in parallel with the LRT will end. Manconi called it “the largest and most significant change in OC Transpo’s history” and said the agency will be watching closely as late adopters take the train for the first time. Red-vested O-Train ambassadors will continue to be on hand to help.

More information is also available by calling 613-741-4390, online at OCTranspo.com/Ready-For-Rail or by following @OC_Transpo on Twitter.

[email protected]
Twitter.com/getBAC

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/city-tallies-up-confederation-lines-first-week

[rocketphish]

Pair of raccoons move into Pimisi LRT station, start renovating
'Love birds' spotted ripping out insulation from roof

Laura Osman · CBC News
Posted: Sep 20, 2019 12:57 PM ET | Last Updated: September 20

City officials keep telling the public they want people to live close to the new Confederation Line, and it appears a pair of raccoons have taken that message to heart.

Twitter user Philip Wouda discovered the "love birds" making themselves at home in the ceiling of the new Pimisi station Thursday night, and they already seem to be renovating.

Wouda said he was taking his first-ever trip on the LRT line and had mistakenly gotten off at Pimisi when he spotted the raccoons climbing a grate to the station's ceiling.

He got on the elevator to get a better look at what the critters were up to and saw tufts of insulation had been pulled out.

"There was a good amount of insulation out of there," Wouda told CBC News. "A good couple of raccoons' worth."

He let officials know right away.

"Better fix this one quick before they destroy all the good work!" Wouda tweeted at Mayor Jim Watson and former transit committee chair Coun. Stephen Blais.

It appears the raccoons' stay may be brief, though, as OC Transpo has already said its staff will respond to the "unwanted guests."

The city has informed Rideau Transit Group, the conglomerate responsible for building and maintaining the line, about the raccoons, said Troy Charter, the city's director of transit operations.

Preventative measures are being explored, Charter said.



https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/raccoon-lrt-pimisi-station-insulation-1.5291273

[DarthVader_1961]

I liked the train experience.. fast, easy to use... the big belly flop us transferring to buses at Tunney's.. slow connections.... October 7 is going ti be interesting.

[lrt's friend]

I really don't understand the strategy regarding the placement of next stop digital displays on the trains. On the train this evening, there was a digital display on both sides of one articulation, but not the others. As a result, we were facing forward on the train and you could not see any next stop signs unless you turned around in your seat, which is not that practical. Are the trains not fully finished and some of the digital signs have not been installed yet? It seemed that the installation was inconsistent.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by DarthVader_1961

I liked the train experience.. fast, easy to use... the big belly flop us transferring to buses at Tunney's.. slow connections.... October 7 is going ti be interesting.

I was talking to one lady this evening who had some mobility issues and she complained about the length of walk from the station at Tunney's in order to make the bus transfer.

[OtrainUser]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

I was talking to one lady this evening who had some mobility issues and she complained about the length of walk from the station at Tunney's in order to make the bus transfer.

I find Hurdnan station is worse than Tunneys when it comes to that. I timed my walking distance from the train platform and it was 4 min or the equivalent of 2 blocks. Obviously the planners don't take transit otherwise they should have seen how bad this would be for people with mobility issues.

[CityTech]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

I was talking to one lady this evening who had some mobility issues and she complained about the length of walk from the station at Tunney's in order to make the bus transfer.

Originally Posted by OtrainUser

I find Hurdnan station is worse than Tunneys when it comes to that. I timed my walking distance from the train platform and it was 4 min or the equivalent of 2 blocks. Obviously the planners don't take transit otherwise they should have seen how bad this would be for people with mobility issues.

The distances are required to ensure the bus loops can handle the volume of bus traffic.

If the bus loops were smaller and the buses stopped closer together, they'd form massive bus congestion as buses would have to queue up to reach the platforms slowing down bus operations to a crawl. Given the number of bus routes at Tunney's that's just not practical. The old Hurdman station (pre-2015) was like this and it was awful, buses used to get stuck for ages waiting for their turn at the platform.

At Tunney's they have the most distant bus stops from the train platform reserved for peak period only buses so the loop effectively becomes smaller outside rush hour when it doesn't need as much space. And then after 9pm when bus frequencies drop they merge into a single stop by the train entrance.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Well yeah. In Israel the security is always there even if you don't see it!

You even see it in Ottawa at times.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by CityTech

If the bus loops were smaller and the buses stopped closer together, they'd form massive bus congestion as buses would have to queue up to reach the platforms slowing down bus operations to a crawl.

The bus loops could remain the same size as they are, but could have been situated better relative to the rail station. Had Hurdman been designed so that the station's entrance to the bus loop was centred on that loop, the maximum walk distance would have been half what it is now for the most remote bus platform.

[Reecemartin]

[Deleted]

[lrt's friend]

Last night, I noticed confusion that arose at Rideau Station because there were down escalators from street level but not to platform level. People were searching for the down escalator to the platform and staff had to tell them that there were none. We didn't apply the same design standards throughout the same station.

[AuxTown]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

Our video from the opening day of the OTrain has arrived! We also visited all the Trillium Line stations on opening day! Enjoy and consider subscribing!

https://youtu.be/5qh93LWDBdU

Great video, thanks for visiting!