The Great Canadian Transit Thread

[Chadillaccc]

Here is the proposed interior design for the new Ctrain LRVs.





Along with some different views of the livery options:





source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2013/09/11/calgary-new-transit-cars-tr.html


The city has placed the order worth $200 million for 60 Light Rail Vehicles to be delivered between early 2015 and late 2016. 60 LRVs works out to a total of 15 four-car trains. A pretty good addition to our already massive fleet.

[LeftCoaster]

Love the trains, especially the seating, with no seats jutting out into the space. Should really help capacity and allow the middle of the trains to fill up properly.

TTC could learn a thing of two for their interior fit-out.

[Chadillaccc]

I like how they have the lean bars, or whatever they're called, so people can rest their butts on the padded bar, but still be standing and saving space, very good idea. Especially in a city where 4-car trains won't even cut it They will certainly help, but I have a sneaking suspicion that they will still be packed full every morning and evening. The layout of these new trains reminds me somewhat of the layout of the Hyundai Rotem ART vehicles on Vancouver's Canada Line.

[Innsertnamehere]

There are "standing" seats at the ends of the new TTC subway cars, but only 6 per train so they are rarely used.

4 car trains are fairly large for Calgary. Is anything longer even possible? Wouldn't they start to get too long for downtown blocks?

Toronto runs 6 car trains on all subway lines except for Sheppard where there are 4 car trains. The Eglinton LRT will run 3 car trains and the Finch and Sheppard LRTs will run 2 car trains. GO runs either 8 car, 10 car, or 12 car trains depending on the time of day and the level of demand.

[Chadillaccc]

4 cars is the maximum we can do while the train is still at-grade through downtown, unfortunately. They may be long "for Calgary" but we need longer, we do have like 310 000 people a day riding it after all. Once the 201 is buried under 8th Avenue in (hopefully) 15 - 25 years, we will be able to expand all stations on the 201 line to 5-car trains, hopefully coupled with a plan to grade-separate the entire line, and in my hope, bury the Stampede Stations as well. There are currently no plans to bury the 202 line, and the future 203 line is expected to be built underground through the core.

[Riise]

The perch seating pads are going to be a nice addition. They have them on the Underground and I love being able to comfortably lean when I'm standing. They'll also be helpful by reserving space for luggage in the wheelchair spaces during off-peak hours.

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

Love the trains, especially the seating, with no seats jutting out into the space. Should really help capacity and allow the middle of the trains to fill up properly.

TTC could learn a thing of two for their interior fit-out.

Forget that. The grab bars down the middle is a far larger obstacle than extra seating. I don't understand the need for driver's compartments
at both ends of the tram either.

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

There are "standing" seats at the ends of the new TTC subway cars, but only 6 per train so they are rarely used.

4 car trains are fairly large for Calgary. Is anything longer even possible? Wouldn't they start to get too long for downtown blocks?

Toronto runs 6 car trains on all subway lines except for Sheppard where there are 4 car trains. The Eglinton LRT will run 3 car trains and the Finch and Sheppard LRTs will run 2 car trains. GO runs either 8 car, 10 car, or 12 car trains depending on the time of day and the level of demand.

Sheppard has had 6 car trains for a while, no?

[The Chemist]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

I don't understand the need for driver's compartments
at both ends of the tram either.

Um, so they can be operated as a single unit and reverse direction at the end of the line. Pretty standard stuff here.

[Innsertnamehere]

If they aren't dual ended you need loops, like the Toronto streetcars have.

Sheppard never ran with 6 car trains. Rather, they "roughed in" the platforms for 6 car trains but only actually finished the distance for 4 car trains. (with the plan to open it to 6 car trains when the entire line was constructed) they also "roughed in" a spanish solution triple platform at Sheppard-Yonge, which I'm sure anyone who has ever ridden the Sheppard line is aware. (considering that there is essentially a giant, unreachable concrete platform in the middle of the station) that "solution" will of course be a waste of money as not only is the Sheppard extension not going to be built, even if it was the ridership levels would never have even come close to needing the triple platform layout. Sheppard may eventually get 6 car trains though, if the Sheppard West extension gets constructed and interlined to York U (which it should be), it would need 6 car trains to operate on YUS tracks.

The unused central platform;


http://www.blogto.com/city/2013/03/this_unused_ttc_subway_platform_awaits_more_riders/

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by The Chemist

Um, so they can be operated as a single unit and reverse direction at the end of the line. Pretty standard stuff here.

Seriously!?!

It's the C-train; not C-tram.

[Innsertnamehere]

umm what? trams operate with a single cab, trains operate with dual cabs.. even GO trains with single engines still have cabs in their rearmost car to allow for operations running backwards..

[ssiguy]

What exactly is the length of a 4 car CTrain in meters?

The Canada Line only have 40 meter Metro cars and the stations were suppose to be expandable to 60 meters to allow for 3 car trains but Campbell cut back and now the most the stations can be expanded to is an unbelievably small 50 meters.

Thank god the Expo, Mill, Evergreen SkyTrain stations are all built to 70 meters and all easily expandable to 100 meters.

[Chadillaccc]

The medium-aged model, introduced in 2000, will be 99.2 meters long with 4 cars. I don't know the dimensions of the S200 LRVs that were just ordered, but I'd imagine somewhere around 100 meters too. The first gen. trains are 97.1 meters.

[Chadillaccc]

Also, I think the platforms are being extended to 110 meters, maybe 105.

[The Chemist]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Seriously!?!

It's the C-train; not C-tram.

Which would be fine if Calgary Transit was designing and building its own rolling stock. Since it's not, Siemens has to build these to a standard that will sell to more than a single operator - which means the ability to operate as a single LRV as this may be useful to operators with lower traffic than CT, which means operator cabs are necessary at both ends.

If there was a market LRVs with a driver's cab at only one end, you can be sure that one of the major builders of LRVs would already have built one.

[Chadillaccc]

It's true. Even Calgary Transit uses these features, you might even say they use it often, but I don't know the frequency of use. It isn't uncommon to see a single LRV being driven across the city to a maintenance facility.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

The absolutely gorgeous new model of train that Calgary just spent $200 million on. Delivery starts in 2015, full delivery by 2016/2017.

Here are the livery choices, so far on the online poll on CTV.ca, the "Buffalo" design is winning.



Bow livery


Buffalo livery


Mask livery







Fully story and source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2013/09/11/calgary-new-transit-cars-tr.html

That's how it should be; online vote. OC Transpo and the clowns at City Hall are choosing Ottawa's design.

I much prefer Clagary's designs to Ottawa's. Here are the options, and again, the population has no say;

[IMG][/IMG]

The chosen design is the lower left. Quite frankly, I hate them all. The whole lot of em' are too busy but, if I had the deciding vote, I would choose the center left which is the same design as OC's buses.

I also prefer Calgary's seating arrangements providing more comfort for standees and a better seat configuration to maximize capacity.

[Chadillaccc]

I guess the one they chose is the lesser of 6 evils, but yeah. Also, while our interior arrangement seems great, it is only out of necessity. Ottawa won't have nearly the ridership and over-capacity issues we have currently, at least not for years and years. By the time Ottawa puts in its first new order for trains, probably ten years or so after the line has been operational, they will(hopefully) choose an interior design that caters to larger capacity rather than comfort.

[Canadian74]

I like Mask or Bow, Buffalo looks too similar to what we have now (Series 8). But knowing Calgarians, Buffalo will likely win (hope I'm wrong).