Confederation Line (Stage 1) | In Service 1.0

[TransitZilla]

^ I found some old concept images from the EA of what became the Confederation Line. Tunney's and Blair were originally designed as island stations with loops. Hurdman's design in the EA is almost exactly as it has been built, but it wasn't offset in the EA.

https://app06.ottawa.ca/calendar/ottawa/citycouncil/occ/2010/01-13/tc/ACS2009-ICS-PGM-0214.htm

Tunney's:


Hurdman:


Blair:

[J.OT13]

I think we dodged a bullet with Tunney's. That tunnel and the related vertical circulation linking the rail station with the bus loop would have been dangerously overcrowded. The up and down from the south side platform would have been very annoying as well. They would have needed a very wide underground concourse with multiple entry points to make it viable. Considering it's a "temporary" station, it might not have been worth the investment.

The Hurdman layout is superior to what we ended up with. Can't figure out why they had to change it.

For Blair, I feel like that would have been a far better layout, but it would have involved significantly more work for this bus loop over underground train platform design. Again, probably not worth the investment, though Blair will continue to serve as an important bus-rail station even after Stage 2, as opposed to Tunney's.

[J.OT13]

Coun. Meehan asks if RTG has received any LRT maintenance paymenets. No, but transport GM John Mancoi says RTG "might" be eligible for some payment for December and maybe April.

https://twitter.com/JonathanWilling/status/1252987206437912582

I feel like we owe them some interest payments for December, if they are "eligible".

[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

The Hurdman layout is superior to what we ended up with. Can't figure out why they had to change it.

IIRC it had to do with the station's proximity to the curve up towards Lees. I'm not 100% sure on that.

Otherwise, the station not being an island has to do with land ownership north of the station. The NCC has "plans" for that land.

[Brannwagon]

Originally Posted by OCCheetos

IIRC it had to do with the station's proximity to the curve up towards Lees. I'm not 100% sure on that.

Otherwise, the station not being an island has to do with land ownership north of the station. The NCC has "plans" for that land.

By the time the NCC's "plans" come to fruition, Hurdman station will be at the end of its lifecycle.

[PHrenetic]

Originally Posted by Brannwagon

By the time the NCC's "plans" come to fruition, Hurdman station will be at the end of its lifecycle.

Bad Day.

Yep.... that's just about right !

[Brittney D. Rolon]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I think we dodged a bullet with Tunney's. That tunnel and the related vertical circulation linking the rail station with the bus loop would have been dangerously overcrowded. The up and down from the south side platform would have been very annoying as well. They would have needed a very wide underground concourse with multiple entry points to make it viable. Considering it's a "temporary" station, it might not have been worth the investment.

The Hurdman layout is superior to what we ended up with. Can't figure out why they had to change it.

For Blair, I feel like that would have been a far better layout, but it would have involved significantly more work for this bus loop over underground train platform design. Again, probably not worth the investment, though Blair will continue to serve as an important bus-rail station even after Stage 2, as opposed to Tunney's.

Hello, I've also looked through the map. I agree with you that tunnel and the related vertical circulation linking the rail station with the bus loop would have been dangerously overcrowded, absolutely. I'm not sure about this maps. I will try to find here another one of this location. Not sure about some details.

[TransitZilla]

I went for a bike ride yesterday morning and while biking along the LRT line near uOttawa, I was passed by train 1138.

So it seems that sometime in the past few weeks, some of the new Stage 2 trains have been put into service.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by bradnixon

I went for a bike ride yesterday morning and while biking along the LRT line near uOttawa, I was passed by train 1138.

So it seems that sometime in the past few weeks, some of the new Stage 2 trains have been put into service.

Good to hear. I'm optimistic for the Fall.

[J.OT13]

Well it's about damn time!

[TransitZilla]

^ Probably the right call to take advantage of this opportunity.

Also it looks like R1 has been revised; it now uses Mackenzie King (to avoid Rideau construction) and it now looks like it serves Lees in both directions- before I thought it was eastbound only?

[Catenary]

Originally Posted by bradnixon

^ Probably the right call to take advantage of this opportunity.

Also it looks like R1 has been revised; it now uses Mackenzie King (to avoid Rideau construction) and it now looks like it serves Lees in both directions- before I thought it was eastbound only?

It was and wasn't - there was a shuttle up to Rideau planned so buses could skip lees heading west, but the only times R1 was implemented in that stretch was on weekends and holidays, so operations didn't implement it and just sent most buses through Lees. If it were ever implemented at rush hour, they now have R1 Express options to bypass it.

[sseguin]

Confederation Line Quarterly Memo to Council Q4 2019 and Q1 2020

https://www.otrainfans.ca/news/confederation-line-quarterly-memo-to-council-q4-2019-and-q1-2020

[rocketphish]

City expects to pay LRT contractor for some maintenance in late 2019

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: 1 hour ago • 2 minute read

The city doesn’t think it can hold back every dime from the Rideau Transit Group for rocky maintenance on the LRT system during the last few months of 2019.

In a memo to city council, rail construction director Michael Morgan told politicians there’s a good chance RTG will receive some kind of maintenance payment for that period.

The city hasn’t made maintenance payments to RTG for October 2019 through January 2020 in protest of the company’s performance.

“The city is currently working through the contract dispute resolution process for this period to ensure that we meet all of our contractual obligations under the project agreement,” Morgan wrote in the memo.

“Based on an initial review of the invoice period for October to January reflecting the system performance of September to December, we do expect to make adjusted maintenance payments to RTG.”

Morgan didn’t say in the memo how much the city figures it owes RTG, but he said staff will tell council first before transferring any money.

The city hasn’t received maintenance invoices yet for February and March 2020.

The only maintenance payments RTG has received from the city were $165,000 for the last day of last August, since the city only just received the completed system, and $4.99 million for September.

The Confederation Line opened to the public on Sept. 14.

The stability of the 12.5-kilometre LRT system took a nosedive starting in October, convincing the city to hold back maintenance payments from RTG, whose Rideau Transit Maintenance arm is responsible for the system upkeep under a 30-year contract.

The maintenance contract allows deductions to the payment based on service delivery and for months that was the one hammer the city was holding over RTG as it pressed the company to fix the long list of problems with the $2.1-billion LRT system.

The city has also been billing RTG for extraordinary measures required to prop the beleaguered LRT system, like a supplementary bus service. In addition, the city believes RTG should pay for the revenue lost during a transit fare freeze implemented to recognize customer dissatisfaction with the unreliable electric rail service.

It’s been clear, however, that RTG was going to dispute any decision by the city to not pay the company, or if the city claimed extra costs.

Council is waiting to hear how RTG is making out fixing all the problems with the LRT system since the city issued a notice of default on March 10. The city sent RTG a list of the problems and demanded a remediation plan by March 31.

However, when city staff reviewed the plan, they didn’t find timelines attached to the repairs or a date when LRT service would be stable.

OC Transpo has reduced transit service during the COVID-19 pandemic closures across Ottawa, including on the LRT system. Transpo shut down the LRT system all of last weekend, and will do the same this Saturday through Wednesday, to give RTG a massive opportunity to make necessary adjustments without having to worry about delivering trains for daily service.

Council is expected to receive an update on the LRT fixes during a meeting Wednesday.

[email protected]
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...cm/fb50a0a1-015d-4ac4-b434-3ae90dc246e2/

[J.OT13]

No shit we have to pay them something! Who at the City said we can not pay them? Oh right, Kanellakis I assume? How has he not been fired yet for proving terrible advice at every turn? Friends with the Mayor, got it.

[Brannwagon]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

No shit we have to pay them something! Who at the City said we can not pay them? Oh right, Kanellakis I assume? How has he not been fired yet for proving terrible advice at every turn? Friends with the Mayor, got it.

Half the outrage coming from the public that we've experienced up to this point could have been somewhat mitigated had City staff not made blind promises/assertions time and time again.

From accepting a system it knew was not ready (albeit they probably didn't expect this level of dysfunctionality), to claiming that we won't pay RTG a dime until the system works perfectly, etc... I wonder how much of it they were actually aware was false/impossible.

[TransitZilla]

I biked past Hurdman this morning and saw some heavy equipment working on the tracks on the curve just east of the station. Maybe working on something to ameliorate the noise & vibration issues on the S-curves?

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Brannwagon

Half the outrage coming from the public that we've experienced up to this point could have been somewhat mitigated had City staff not made blind promises/assertions time and time again.

From accepting a system it knew was not ready (albeit they probably didn't expect this level of dysfunctionality), to claiming that we won't pay RTG a dime until the system works perfectly, etc... I wonder how much of it they were actually aware was false/impossible.

The City's incompetence and secrecy is getting really old, really fast.

Originally Posted by bradnixon

I biked past Hurdman this morning and saw some heavy equipment working on the tracks on the curve just east of the station. Maybe working on something to ameliorate the noise & vibration issues on the S-curves?

I sure hope so. That is the most annoying part of the ride. That vibration gets in your head.

[PHrenetic]

Originally Posted by bradnixon

I biked past Hurdman this morning and saw some heavy equipment working on the tracks on the curve just east of the station. Maybe working on something to ameliorate the noise & vibration issues on the S-curves?

Good Day.

It kinda may well be..... per the post from Riley Brockington :

Confederation Line Update:
Rideau Transit Group Performance Plan - Update to Council
Transportation Services Department
April 8, 2020

http://rileybrockington.ca/confederation-line-update-rideau-transit-group-performance-plan/

on page 3 and 4 of 7 of the pdf :

•
RTG is currently facing a shortage of CVS (auxiliary power) units and there
are at least two vehicles impacted by the shortage. RTG is investigating the
root cause and is working through the backlog of units which require repair.
•
A number of short term modifications have been proposed by RTG that are
linked to the vehicle shortages and service interruptions that occurred over
the winter of 2019 2020:
–
Vehicle Brakes: upgrade on train control planned for May 2020;
–
Vehicle Passenger Doors: software upgrade planned for July 2020;
–
Vehicle Traction Power: changes to the circuit breaker controls (June
2020), modification of line contactors (April October 2020), and
replacement of inductors (July 2020 February 2021); and
–
Other software updates to infrastructure and vehicles.
•
As these updates will contribute to service improvements, the City will be
holding a planning session with RTG to accelerate this work.

and

•
A number of longer term modifications have been proposed by RTG which
are needed to address underlying reliability issues:
–
Overhead Catenary System: long term solutions required to resolve wire
drop events and irregular wear pattern on pantographs RTG has a
number of actions and investigations in progress;
–
Switch Heaters: upgrade and modification plan under review;
–
Vehicle HVAC: upgrade and modification plan under review;
–
Plans for updated infrastructure to address issues such as platform
heating, guideway intrusion systems, tunnel repairs, and resolution of
issues such as noise at Hurdman tracks are under review; and
–
Plans for updates to vehicle software systems including onboard cameras
and next stop announcements are under review.
•
As these updates may contribute to service improvements and additional
information is required on their scope and schedule for implementation, the
City will be holding a technical session with RTG to review these items.

EnJoy?

[OTownandDown]

Sounds like a good list of tasks.

As for the platform heaters, unfortunately if the embedded heat trace cables are not working, its near impossible to fix unless you remove and replace the concrete and cable system together. I don't think we'll see RTG replacing entire platforms anytime soon, so get used to salt and shovels (or we'll see a bunch of radiant overhead heaters, which was the dream of many people anyways).