J_gordo said:
Are the track switches heated along the VLSE? I’m curious to know whether the mechanical issues today were caused by frozen switches
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The switch points appear to be heated. Not sure if the switch machine mechanical components are. Areas with direct fixation trackage (Muttart crossover and the OMF crossovers and entry/ exit switches) could have blowers like ETS uses to help keep turnouts clear of snow build up, but they don't.
 
I drove a large portion of the VLSE today and I honestly have no idea how they’re going to get this back up and running anytime soon. There are entire sections, specifically at road crossings, where the tracks are completely covered with a THICK layer of ice. Other portions are entirely snow covered. How is there nothing to prevent this from happening in a winter city?! The warmer weather should help, but it’s only sticking around for a couple days before it drops well below zero with more snow. I did not notice any work being done to try and clear the tracks, though it’s possible work was being done at sections I did not pass/cross.
 
There was a lot of snow over Christmas, so there is a large ice buildup in some spots. I just hope transit and other workers out clearing the ice in the problem locations.
 
How long has the VLSE not been running for?

I ran by the Muttatt stop today and the tracks were completely covered with snow for large sections. ☹️

(On the plus side, the MUPs in both Mill Creek and the river valley have been well plowed.)
 
scyeg said:
I drove a large portion of the VLSE today and I honestly have no idea how they’re going to get this back up and running anytime soon. There are entire sections, specifically at road crossings, where the tracks are completely covered with a THICK layer of ice. Other portions are entirely snow covered. How is there nothing to prevent this from happening in a winter city?! The warmer weather should help, but it’s only sticking around for a couple days before it drops well below zero with more snow. I did not notice any work being done to try and clear the tracks, though it’s possible work was being done at sections I did not pass/cross.
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Trains are running today. I assume it was regular service, although I can't be 100% sure. I did see a train that was seemingly on schedule when I stepped out of my house to look, and I have watched them on the 75 St/ Whitemud Drive traffic camera. Of course, there is a chance these were out of service trains for some reason. Although, I didn't see any buses on 75th St which would have been LRT replacement if the trains weren't in service.. ETS/ TransEd have remarkably bad incident communication, so although the VLSE was seemingly down all day yesterday, there was no update that everything was back up and running today.

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While this image predates this most recent dump of snow, and the photo doesn't really convey what it looked like in person, there was a remarkable amount of snow around the tracks but trains were fine.

To the best of my knowledge, the big problems have been issues with the crossovers. I feel part of the problem is that the City specified embedded track in the first place, but then I am curious if TransEd choose the best options from all possible vendors for the turnouts that are embedded. London Trackwork supplied the special trackwork for the VLSE. Certainly, having open trackwork at the just the crossovers would have simplified things. Indeed, on the NLRT Blatchford Extension, all of the rails are embedded except at the crossovers, so seemingly ETS/ The City didn't want embedded crossovers. Although I haven't seen that crossover in person yet, I can see from satellite images that it certainly has a standard looking blower to help keep the switch points and general area snow free, and likely has a standard switch machine.

I do think TransED has cheaped out on snow removal equipment, although I don't know exactly what they have either. At this point I haven't seen anything that would seem to indicate they have equipment like the Cameleon flangeway cleaners, or RPM Tech blower trucks like ETS has. I have seen a light duty utility vehicle with hi-rail wheels being used to clear trackwork, and a friend has seen a hi-rail skid steer. Both have rotary booms. Really disappointed the day I got stuck at Strathearn because of switch problems Downtown and then seeing TransEd hadn't cleared out Quarters crossovers yet.

The Project Agreement includes a section on developing a Winter Maintenance Strategy, so either TransEd is unable to follow through on this strategy, or the City signed off on a sub-par strategy.

And just before I made this post I checked the 2022 LRT Design Guidelines:
"Embedded turnouts and crossovers are not permitted on Mainline track. In sections of embedded Mainline track, turnouts and crossovers should be designed as slab mount direct fixation track with elastomeric grout pads, although direct fixation on concrete plinths may be permitted."
 
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