[Daveography]

Rode the Metro line for the first time this afternoon. Sorry some of the shots are quite dark, my phone doesn't have a sense of good exposure, even after I tell it what to expose for.

I love this bizarro structure:

It was slow as heck, but still pretty convenient for getting to Kingsway or NAIT even just from Central Station, and reasonably well used even midday afternoon. That said, the sooner they can sort this thing out and getting it operating at its designed speeds, the better.

 

[bennessb]

I really appreciate that the digital display says "Metro Line: Get Ready", like they just want you to know that improvements are coming.

 

[Daveography]

Metro Line LRT could be at full speed by May
The Metro Line LRT could be operating at full speed by May once a safety audit into signalling contractor Thales is complete, Edmonton city councillors were told Wednesday.

Adam Laughlin, general manager of integrated infrastructure service, said he expects the report by Rail Safety Consultants will allow the system to move to full capacity.

However, he said this timeline depends on whether the rest of the audit uncovers issues that can't be resolved.

Full Story (CBC Edmonton)

 

[Daveography]

Edmonton Metro Line traffic fix could cost up to $95 million
A redeveloped high-density Kingsway Mall could give Edmonton a good reason to raise the troubled Metro Line above Princess Elizabeth Avenue, says a new city report released Thursday.

Council asked city staff to look at how much it would cost to raise or tunnel the new LRT line to NAIT at the congested intersection, after hearing motorists were getting stuck at the lights up to 10 minutes during rush hour. The new report says tunnelling under the intersection would cost $95 million, simply raising it would cost $51 million, while raising it with a station connected to Kingsway Mall would cost $88 million.

“We have some options,” Mayor Don Iveson said. “Kingsway Mall previously was not really interested in looking at the train coming across their property. Now they are and are looking at transit-oriented development or redevelopment for the mall.

Full Story (Edmonton Journal)

 

[Daveography]

Kingsway's change of heart could mark major shift for transit in Edmonton
Kingsway Mall has rewritten its master plan to embrace LRT and could soon add high-density residential space, offices or more retail if Edmonton picks that transit line for new investment, the mall’s general manager says.

And it could mark a major shift in Edmonton’s treatment of transit. Susan Denney said the mall wouldn’t shunt transit riders to the far corner of the parking lot.

“Ideally, if we were to do something, we want to make it as convenient and accessible to the customer as possible,” she said. “Public transit in Edmonton as a whole has changed and grown and gained more traction. All of that has got us looking at this a little differently.”

Full Story (Edmonton Journal)

 

[Daveography]

City council to learn if Metro LRT signalling system safe to run
City council may finally get a definitive answer today on whether the signalling system on the Metro LRT Line is safe to use, allowing the city to run the line at full speed and frequency.

City staff are expected to present the results of an external audit into the safety documents provided by Thales Rail Signalling Solutions, the contractor responsible for the line's signalling system.

Delays on the signalling system and problems with the safety documents have kept the line from running properly since April 2014, when it was initially supposed to open.

Full Story (CBC Edmonton)

 

[Daveography]

Edmonton's Metro Line LRT won't run full speed until August
A safety audit on the Metro Line LRT signalling system found it’s still not safe to run trains at full speed through at-grade intersections, council was told Tuesday.

City officials received the safety audit from Rail Safety Consulting on Friday. It found safety crossing arms are still sometimes coming down late at the road crossings, which could cause an accident if a train was running at full speed. As a result of the audit, city officials said signalling company Thales Canada is now committed to making software improvements to address reliability.

It recommended trains continue to operate no faster than about 25 kilometres per hour at the intersections, or as fast as an operator can safely go and still stop in time if he or she sees an object on the track. The trains can run full speed between at-grade intersections, but with five intersections on a 3.3-kilometre line, city officials couldn’t say how much of an improvement that will actually make.

“Our hope is that we have the system operating as intended before school starts,” said Adam Laughlin, head of infrastructure. That means running at 40 to 50 kilometres an hour, what the city calls Plan B. But he expects it will take until the first quarter of 2017 to reinstate full frequency on the Capital Line to Clareview, or Plan A.

Full Story (Edmonton Journal)

 

[Daveography]

Paula Simons: Edmonton's Metro Line continues to break our hearts
Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day.

I don’t think Macbeth was speaking about Edmonton’s accursed Metro Line. But certainly, the dysfunctional northern LRT line has been haunting our city and our city council with a grim persistence Banquo’s ghost might envy.

The train, creeping up its 3.3 kilometres of track at a top speed of 25 km/h, mocks us every day with its petty pace, as it putt-putts between MacEwan University, Kingsway Mall and NAIT.

But it’s not just the slow pace of the train itself that’s driving Edmontonians mad. It’s the constant promises that the problem is going to be fixed any day now. (Really!)

Because despite those repeated assurances that the Metro Line’s woes are almost, almost behind us, despite the growing list of senior city bureaucrats who’ve lost their jobs over this debacle, we never seem to get to our simple goal: the correct operation of a little three-stop spur line. A line that was supposed to be fully operational by April 2014.

Full Story (Edmonton Journal)

 

[Daveography]

Metro Line Increases Speed

As of Sunday, June 19, Metro Line trains will be increasing speeds, including at the pedestrian crossings at 108 Avenue and 113 Avenue. Remember:

• Cross tracks with caution
• Look both ways
• Clear tracks
• Do NOT cross tracks when gates/signals active.

Trains will be permitted to run between 107 Avenue and Kingsway Avenue at 35 km/h and between 111 Avenue and the crossing at 106 Street at 50 km/h.

This is an important step forward in improving Metro Line LRT operations.

Temporary speed restrictions are still in effect over the roadway crossings, which will require trains to slow to 25 km/h over any intersections that meets with traffic.

Schedule

• Three car trains run every 15 minutes
• NAIT schedules have changed. Trains will now wait longer at NAIT instead of holding as long as they have been at the MacEwan station. There will still be a temporary - but shorter - hold at MacEwan while Metro Line trains wait for the right-of-way to get onto the Capital Line track.

http://www.mailoutinteractive.com/Industry/View.aspx?id=813063&q=1049607884&qz=572fed

 

[chrisvazquez7]

Metro Line from driver's POV:

 

[Daveography]

@chrisvazquez7 That's fun; did you convince the driver to set up the camera for you?

 

[chrisvazquez7]

@Daveography Nope. I was in the cab with him. I emailed ETS and they approved it. Got escorted by two peace officers and everything. It was really cool

 

[chrisvazquez7]

And second and third video. I will be uploading videos all the way to Century Park, but won't post them here. Subscribe to me on YouTube if interested

 

[Daveography]

@chrisvazquez7 That's awesome! Is that you rocking out in the bike shirt in the reflection (tunnel vid)?

Still neat to think I was in part of that tunnel while it was under construction as part of EPCOR Tower:


LRT Tunnel by Dave Sutherland, on Flickr


LRT Tunnel by Dave Sutherland, on Flickr


EPCOR Tower & LRT Tunnel by Dave Sutherland, on Flickr

 

[chrisvazquez7]

@chrisvazquez7 That's awesome! Is that you rocking out in the bike shirt in the reflection (tunnel vid)?

Haha no! That was another transit enthusiast that just happened to be on the right train. You can't see me but I'm inside the cab with the driver.