News   GLOBAL  |  Apr 02, 2020
 8.4K     0 
News   GLOBAL  |  Apr 01, 2020
 39K     0 
News   GLOBAL  |  Apr 01, 2020
 4.7K     0 

It's a shame that the rest of the Kitchener line won't be electrified.

Maybe once the third track through downtown Brampton and the Silver Grade Separation are done it will be more of a possibility. Maybe CN would be okay if the wire was under only one dedicated track for GO between Bramalea and Georgetown?
 
In addition, there are 12 other railways which operate Bombardier BiLevel coaches, and there may be opportunities to sell off a few units here or there. It would be quite cost-effective to fill those needs by having a standing order for EMUs with a few delievered each year as required. As new EMUs arrive, they could displace the electric locomotives on the core local services. Those would be redeployed onto express services as the outer portions of lines get electrified.
That was my thinking too. The Bombardier Bi-Level is such a great design that it has become almost the defacto rolling stock choice for new commuter rail services in North America. I'm sure a metro area looking to either start a service or expand upon a minimal service (thinking SunRail or something like that) would be eager to scoop up some of the coaches that GO no longer needs. Commuter rail outfits in their infancy, especially in the States, look to do stuff on the cheap, so saving a few million bucks in rolling stock cost could cover an additional station or two for them.

Refurb them now to extend their lifespan, and then sell them to recoup a good chunk of that refurb cost once they're no longer required as part of GO's fleet.
 
The other option, that admittedly starts to cut into the performance of EMUs would be to look at bilevel power cars. It seems like two trailers to each power car is probably reasonable if space can be found at all, and we’re accepting locomotive like performance anyway.

As much as the bilevel is a standard we’ve got a huge fleet, that’s aging but a long way from worn out. There’s really not a market that would dispose of much more than a rounding error in terms of the overall fleet. It would be nice if we could convince Metra to take them en masse I suppose, but it also seems like the FRA isn’t enamoured with bilevels anymore.
 
I wonder if the actual bid package from Alstom will be released to the public realm. What made them the winning bid? Are they technically better or they just undercut the loser on price?
 
I wonder if the actual bid package from Alstom will be released to the public realm. What made them the winning bid? Are they technically better or they just undercut the loser on price?
May get a short form of non-commercially sensitive info - operational, maintenance, and performance standards, plus outlining any at risk revenue.

I don't think that will contain what you want.

What you might be able to get with a target: the final score sheets with $ amounts redacted. How Metrolinx weighted performance standards, risk, cost, etc.
 
I don't see the problem with electric locomotives to start. For RER sections they should be single level EMUs but those can be phased in. The DD trains right now are in great shape and it would be a scandalous waste of precious transit dollars to ditch them. Thou they will be slightly slower than EMUs, they will still be MUCH quieter, have less vibrations, and still have de/acceleration levels that would blow the current diesels out of the water. Electric loco also enjoys the same benefits of EMUs in terms of no emissions, cheaper to maintain, and cheaper to run.

When the EMUs begin to arrive they should still keep their DD trains. Let's be serious, many EMUs {especially that are acting more like subways in places like Toronto} are just glorified Metro trains. They are built for efficient urban transit which is great but due to this they are usually designed the same way. I wouldn't want to spend 90 minutes on one of those things lest it kill my ass and God forbid I need to go to the bathroom. This is where DD are ideal, they offer more of the comfort needed on longer haul routes.

The ONLY thing that ML should consider buying right now in term of coaches is each train having a low-boarding single level connecting cars of probably 2 to 3 cars depending on the length of the train. These allow for very fast boarding for the mobility impaired or for people who are just going a couple of stops as opposed to them hanging around the doors like they always do. Dallas DART did this for their LRT system.
 

Includes a short video with people from the consortium speaking.

Images in the post:

1650555551314.png


1650555594520.png


1650555673474.png
 

Includes a short video with people from the consortium speaking.

This article gives details on where they see schedules and travel times going and is clear about electric locomotives - there's no mention of EMUs. If you haven't read it, I think you'll want to.
 
Those speed ups are huge
it's much better travel time improvements than what they were thinking of in the business case by the sounds of it too - making allusions that Oakville GO will be about 25 minutes from Union for example, compared to the expected 31 minute travel time in the business case.

This is a substantial improvement in essentially every way, and is very, very exciting.

What is odd though is that Pickering GO is alluded to also be 25 minutes from Union, despite that being the projected travel time in the Business Case. So the travel time savings clearly aren't universal across all lines.

Things like frequent, sub-1hr travel times to Hamilton, 1.25hrs to Barrie, etc. will also be revolutionary in easing travel around the region.
 
it's much better travel time improvements than what they were thinking of in the business case by the sounds of it too - making allusions that Oakville GO will be about 25 minutes from Union for example, compared to the expected 31 minute travel time in the business case.

This is a substantial improvement in essentially every way, and is very, very exciting.

What is odd though is that Pickering GO is alluded to also be 25 minutes from Union, despite that being the projected travel time in the Business Case. So the travel time savings clearly aren't universal across all lines.

Things like frequent, sub-1hr travel times to Hamilton, 1.25hrs to Barrie, etc. will also be revolutionary in easing travel around the region.
About pickering, trains run express from it, so other than top speed, i dont see how much it could change. even EMUs shouldnt affect it that much
i bet they changed around the schedules. the GO business case was quite complex in the scheduling of express services for LSW
 
it's much better travel time improvements than what they were thinking of in the business case by the sounds of it too - making allusions that Oakville GO will be about 25 minutes from Union for example, compared to the expected 31 minute travel time in the business case.

This is a substantial improvement in essentially every way, and is very, very exciting.

What is odd though is that Pickering GO is alluded to also be 25 minutes from Union, despite that being the projected travel time in the Business Case. So the travel time savings clearly aren't universal across all lines.

Things like frequent, sub-1hr travel times to Hamilton, 1.25hrs to Barrie, etc. will also be revolutionary in easing travel around the region.
I'd reserve judgment on the travel times until actual track testing. So many things need to go right in order for these better than business case scenarios to work. There's a few low hanging fruits like ROWs. I wonder if it'll mean running 6 or 8 car trains during rush on the lakeshore
 

Back
Top