Amare
Senior Member
It's not so much me believing it (because I didnt and one could tell there's no way it can be opened this year given the current construction state on Finch), it's more of Metrolinx peddling inaccurate project completion dates.
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W. K. Lis
Superstar
Measure 100 times, cut twice.
cplchanb
Senior Member
well clearly even 100 measurements apparently wasnt enough....
honestly i have a feeling that they are also trying to milk every last dollar out of this project now that all bridges have been burnt.
Bordercollie
Senior Member
But 3mm out of scope before heat expansion. Which could bring it to 6mm which could lead to a derailment.
You have to factor in the margin of error based on correct specs.
This is the kind of thing that resulted in the delays of the TTC Flexity cars. If the panels don't fit how do you build the cars?
Maybe there is a 1mm tolerance but if they are 2mm out of spec it's not going to fit. So do you then build cars that have 3mm tolerance? Do you want them to rattle themselves to pieces?
The stupid part about all of this is this line is based on standard gauge, nothing special. Did they calibrate the machines wrong? One cross over or one section I can understand, but the whole line? Clearly the inspectors from Metrolinx must have been drunk or something.
cplchanb
Senior Member
The big question here is how widespread is it
If it's only for a short section then it's not the end of the world but if it's widespread through the entire line where there's grass then it's an absolute disaster. At that stage I don't think any free repairs would fix the harm in time and reputation.
Bordercollie
Senior Member
I'm sure that the grass can be removed somehow to perform maintenance. They are likely in containers or something.
cplchanb
Senior Member
the iirc the grass is hooked up to an irrigation system... its a big undertaking... itll cost millions to fix over the stretch
Bordercollie
Senior Member
How did they install sleepers, lay track, secure the track, perform Geometry testing without figuring out that the track was out of spec by 3mm. There must have been a reason why they did this. Screwing up this bad is a colossal size.
Bordercollie
Senior Member
Here is some information about the tolerances within the gauge. It says only when it exceeds 100mph does it matter within 3mm. However that's based on the track originally being up to spec. Which in this situation it's not. I wonder if they could change the angle of the rail to bring the heads closer or apart by 3mm to bring it within spec?
Attachments
cplchanb
Senior Member
Exactly... at Tram speeds I honestly don't think it would matter. It's only for hsr where it would be very noticeable.
Any subject matter experts here?
W. K. Lis
Superstar
The designed maximum speed of the Flexity Freedom light rail vehicle is 80 km/h. We'll see if they'll follow the posted speed limit or not.
Bordercollie
Senior Member
It will be if the track exceeds that threshold for whatever reason, which could cause a derailment. Would you accept a new car that had miss-algned wheels and the dealer says it's fine dont worry about it?
T3G
Senior Member
I think whether it will be a problem or not it will depend on the design of the vehicle's wheel treads.
It's not unheard of for track to be laid slightly out of gauge, though I'd assume it's rare in a rapid transit system, since they usually have a more standardized approach to doing things. The example I know of occurred on a narrow gauge railway in Wales in 1951:
en.wikipedia.org
However, I am no expert on the wheel design of the Flexity and whether they have sufficiently wide wheel treads for this to not be a concern.
It's not unheard of for track to be laid slightly out of gauge, though I'd assume it's rare in a rapid transit system, since they usually have a more standardized approach to doing things. The example I know of occurred on a narrow gauge railway in Wales in 1951:
Sir Haydn (locomotive) - Wikipedia
However, I am no expert on the wheel design of the Flexity and whether they have sufficiently wide wheel treads for this to not be a concern.
That wasn't the question.
Jonny5
Senior Member
Steve Munro has a comment on this yesterday, and he notes he's not completely certain, but it was "I believe that the problem has been misrepresented as one of gauge when the real issue is the rail profile which does not match the wheels on the new cars. This is similar to a problem with track in Ottawa, and the fix involves grinding the railhead to change the profile, not relaying all of the track."
Admiral Beez
Superstar
So, square peg, round hole? Honestly, we’ve been running trains in Canada since 1836, and in 2023 our procurement people can’t reliably mate up wheel and rail profiles?