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Wow… we really are almost there. I’ve been lurking on this thread for at least a year now reading updates and discussions, and it really feels like the grand finale is close. Just, beyond exciting!
 
LOL its about time. Eglinton and lesie portal.
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Modify the LRVs with a wedge plow, problem solved.

AoD

Wouldn't be a problem if we had constructed the line as a subway. Just saying. :cool:

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The time for discussing how the line should have been built is 14 years gone. It's a waste of time to talk about. The only thing to talk about now is what steps can be taken to mitigate the shortcomings of the line in its present form.

The first question we should be asking ourselves is why is the line nearly flush with the roadway to begin with? Putting up a raised concrete or steel divider can't prevent access to the trackway in all circumstances, but could have prevented this particular incident.
I'm late to the party here, but isn't grass the best low-cost mitigation here? is this a section slated for grass, given the concrete isn't flush with the rails for emergency access?
 
I'm late to the party here, but isn't grass the best low-cost mitigation here? is this a section slated for grass, given the concrete isn't flush with the rails for emergency access?

I am not sure how grass would keep anyone from entering the tracks - considering even rumble strips didn't do so on Queen's Quay. What will truly get that job done is an unforgiving licensing system that keep people with no business on the road away from them.

AoD
 
I am not sure how grass would keep anyone from entering the tracks - considering even rumble strips didn't do so on Queen's Quay. What will truly get that job done is an unforgiving licensing system that keep people with no business on the road away from them.

AoD
I think a huge patch of green has the best chance of catching someone's eye rather than more concrete and steel measures in an already busy visual environment.
 
I'm late to the party here, but isn't grass the best low-cost mitigation here? is this a section slated for grass, given the concrete isn't flush with the rails for emergency access?
Grass is not in the cards for this section. In part because they can't due to the bridge immediately to the east, and in part because they seem to try and avoid it at the portals, probably due to how poorly it would do in such a shady area.

Dan
 
I am not sure how grass would keep anyone from entering the tracks - considering even rumble strips didn't do so on Queen's Quay. What will truly get that job done is an unforgiving licensing system that keep people with no business on the road away from them.

AoD
Politically I don't think you're ever going to be able to create meaningful barriers to idiots getting licenses. We have to design for the drivers we have, not the ones we wish the system would put on the road.

The rumble strips aren't enough as you can still drive over them, what's needed are car traps that have a ramp at the entrance so if you come to your senses you can back out. Paint it electric pink, make it reflective, do everything to try and give them a clue, but know that some are clueless. For those, make sure to disable them before they get too far down and need specialized cranes to remove. Design so that any tow truck can get them out of there quick and service can be restored, the hours long shutdowns of the Union loop for this are unacceptable.
 
I think the goal is mid-December because it's better optics for Metrolinx and the Ontario government to say it opened in 2024, even if it's just barely.

Between mid-December and January 2025 I'd prefer January because of that lol.
Late December also gives them a trial period with a lighter than normal passenger volume, so if there's some catastrophic service issues discovered they have a bit of time to throw resources at a quick fix before the passenger demand picks up again in January.
The risk-averse Metrolinx would probably like that. It would be like a natural soft open, especially with Christmas Day landing on Wednesday this year you have a lot of very low commuter days the rest of the week.
 
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I scrolled up to Thursday and don't see any posts on last Thursday's Metrolinx Board meeting. Here's the time-marked link to what CEO Phil Verster said about the Eglinton Crosstown LRT:


cc @Northern Light in case I missed anything. I haven't seen any media reports covering this.

From the transcript via YouTube (with some light editing for clarity; emphasis added):
  • I have to share with you that our focus on Eglinton Crosstown LRT remains relentless, and we continue to make progress.

  • We are working together with our supply chain with CTS and with a combination of other suppliers to make sure that we can open this line as soon as possible but open it safe and punctual. We've been giving you updates on the five key points on that at technical reviews and consistently.

  • Let me do that again:
    • [Firstly] on physical construction broadly done. City of Toronto is completing the inspections and we are tending to and clearing minor defects as they are identified;

    • Secondly, testing and commissioning. Our site acceptance testing is now at 91.4% and the really crucial one, system integration testing, is at 69.2%. [These are] really important deliverables. While I talk about testing commissioning, I want to talk about the signaling and train control system which is like the nerve center that moves trains around and make sure that trains are safe relative to one another, safe relative to the operation, and operating punctually.
      • The signaling train control system is the most important system. Trains don't steer themselves, saying the obvious, it's the train control system that steers trains and move trains. The release five (5) was a software version that had several software defects in it, and in May-April-May we had a real breakthrough with release six (6) which removed substantially removed defects to the extent that infrastructure was declared ready by us for train-the-trainer and for crew training to start, which was an important precondition from our colleagues in the TTC and from ourselves and that has started.
    • Third area that's really important is therefore the operator training because that is now a very important part of the critical path. 17 trainers have now completed the train-the-trainer program. To give you a sense of this, the train-the-trainer program then translates into operator driver training to get 95 operators trained so that we can get to a completion of training and [so that] services can start in in year - - in the months to follow;

    • The fourth area that's really important is the certification of design. That's really the paperwork. This is an important piece of work where construction certificates must be issued to us by CTS. There are 46 of these construction certificates of which five have been issued. This is systematic steady progress. Clearly, the construction certificates can only be issued after all of the testing is done and all of the deficiencies [are] closed out. So the sequence there is really important. This is the certification that the asset is safe and the asset is what we have bought. It's really important to complete that; [and]

    • The last area [fifth] that's also positive to share is occupancy permits whereby the facilities [are] certified by the City of Toronto as safe to be occupied. We now have 36 of the 40 occupancy certificates which is also steady and relentless progress. So learning from [the] Ottawa [LRT opening], we are planning to when we get to substantial completion to have a bedding-in [breaking-in] period probably two (2) to three (3) months whereby we'll run the full service and at capacity and make sure that we:
      • Iron out all of the operational issues that may exist between maintenance teams;
      • Crews running assets;
      • Trains performing as they should;
      • System performing as they should; to
      • Make sure that on opening day we run a service that is punctual [to] the customers and the market's expectation.

  • We are not declaring an opening date yet but we will declare an opening date three (3) months in advance of that first day of [revenue] service when we expect to run our first [revenue service] trains.
 
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