Well isn't this alarming for Eglinton? I know we are getting the Alstom trainsets but Eglinton is supposed to handle passenger demand many times more than Ottawa.
Instantaneous capacities will be lower (5-8K PPHPD on opening), but that doesn't mean total ridership won't be high, the corridor already sees 150K PPD, and that is anticipated to double over the next decade. This is actually far worse for scheduling if vehicles are built with adequate capacity because it means longer dwell times at multiple transfer stations.
We also have to remember that a Flexity freedom is between 1/2 and 2/3s the size of a Citadis, and with only two-car trains, we might actually be worse off than Ottawa from a crowding standpoint (especially since they vastly overstate capacities for LRVs). I still don't know what they're thinking opening the line with just 2-car LRV trains (when they probably need 3 car trains)
I think this is your point about single choke point, which applies to non-downtown bus routes as well. Ottawa is in trouble as it cannot run enough trains to run the subway efficiently and reliably, a serious miscalculation.
There was also a serious error in assumptions made about Tunney's Pasture station. Too many passengers transferring at one location. This system is not robust enough as it is today to handle this and has been a concern of mine for ages. We are talking about at least 100,000 passengers transferring between buses and rail at one station. This is why Tunney's is the worst affected of all by the rail problems.
And then on top of that, Line 2 also backed up this morning at Bayview station. Not sufficient capacity to handle peak demand.
Since additional trains may not be available soon, some downtown bus service needs to be brought back to relieve pressure off the trains in the short term until a longer term solution is found (more trains)
Any comments about the Eglinton cross town should realize one thing. It is not necessarily the rolling stock. Just make sure there are enough trains to begin service without excessive crowding. Ottawa cut down the number of trains from 15 to 13 because of reliability problems assuming that 600 passengers should fit on each 2 car train. Alstom may be overstating reasonable capacity. Never plan for crush loading. .
Rolling stock certainly still plays a role, it's not as simple as just adding more trains. With a lower capacity vehicle, you need to schedule operators, anticipate more delays since the addition of vehicles increases the number of points of failure in a system, platform heights and door sizes/numbers affect station dwell times, among many other things. They just cheaped out with this system. Even if they fix things in the short term, that won't stop ridership from growing.
I would bet money that the scramble you see at UWaterloo is not close to what you see at UOttawa, given the size of the trains involved, numbers of students and the short dwell time. These faults are only happening at busy core stops and the interchanges. No faults yet at St-Laurent, Cyrville, Tremblay or Pimisi.
You should still consider the size of the trains and the design of the system when making that statement. I would argue UW is a lot worse because of the lack of frequencies (leading to far more people rushing trains), the abysmal exit placement (it's so bad people from E5-7 regularly walk the tracks to get to the station and I personally walk through the ring-road fence to get to DC). The insanely small platforms, and most importantly, the fact that the vast majority of riders on the train at the time are getting on/off at UW. It's not uncommon to see a southbound train with 5-10 people fill up to crush-load capacities (200+) people at UW station during the x:30 times in the afternoon (though it really depends on the day, the weather, and the presence of a road incident).
Ottawa also got another thing right, they properly integrated their bus services with the train line. There are some design issues, yes, but overall, the system works. Had the region better-integrated bus services with the Light Rail (especially at UW, Northfield, Laurier/Waterloo Park, Central, and Block Line), you'd see even more crowded trains at UW (since it would then be a huge transfer hub for Waterloo, and would encourage more students/staff to use the train. One of the reasons iON is actually convenient for me is the fact that Conestoga mall has a bus terminal.