webfil

On 4/2/2021 at 3:47 PM, webfil said:

over 135 M$ were invested to refurbish the rail up to Port-Daniel―Gascons (2017-2022, with totally new bridges in Caplan and on the Port-Daniel sand bar to be erected this year). The rest is budgeted for Chandler subdivision (2021-2025). The Amiral tourist train is expected to return to Gaspé in 2024 and freight in 2025. Aside from the work on the closed portion (Caplan-Gaspé), Cascapedia sub (Matapédia-Caplan) has seen major work since 2018 to enhance safety and higher operating speeds

So the timeframe for the return of trains to Gaspé has somewhat been skewed. 2024 is now the objective for the reopening to Port-Daniel. The bridges over Cascapedia river were finished early, but the completions of the other structures were delayed due to geotechnical issues (most notably maritime erosion). Here is a pic from the MTQ of the Caplan bridge, completely rebuilt as for dozens of them until Gaspé.

Other pictures : https://www.transports.gouv.qc.ca/fr/projets-infrastructures/structures-infrastructures/infrastructures-ferroviaires/rehabilitation-chemin-fer-gaspesie/Pages/photos-rehabilitation-chemin-fer-gaspesie.aspx

Source : https://www.transports.gouv.qc.ca/fr/salle-de-presse/nouvelles/Pages/troncon-caplan-port-daniel-gascons-2024.aspx

Transdev is the lowest, with 24.1 M$. Transbus bid was 27.3 M$, Bell Horizon 29.6 M$ and Fleur-de-Lys 30.3 M$. If the bid was not conform, wouldn't the page had stated it?

12 hours ago, Frozen Yogurt said:

To note is that all future hybrid orders (through 2024) have been cancelled due to budgetary constraints: the 42 series we will receive next summer will be our last ever hybrid buses. The fleet may gradually shrink in size, if they cannot afford to keep the oldest buses for longer.

I cannot find the info pertaining to this. Can you point to the page?

All I can find is page 15, where it is stated that the electrification follows its way.

Bad plastics, bad doors, bad welding, bad wires; the cars the Caisse was delivered are crap. Can you believe this? I can. (Hi, Ottawa!)

WYPFIWYG; what you pay for is what you get.

https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1839176/trains-voitures-rem-caisse-defaut-securite-inde-alstom

9 hours ago, West Island Transit Fan said:

Caught the 1st gen LFS at Exo La Presqu'île, 1233! On the 16:32 7 departure from Fairview.

Definitely not a first generation, but still a nice catch.

Orléans is adding two new afternoon departures to their Ottawa service, one in each direction.

The Van Hools are working. I see them day, night and weekends.

I took them a couple of times on routes 1 and/or 18 and/or 19 (can't remember precisely, though it was in lower town). Except for the seat config that makes it look like an empty box on wheel, the UX is similar to a Nova for the common user (I'm not into engine sounds and transmission types and the usual geeky stuff).

Is it me or 35 minutes from Vendôme to Côte-Vertu is far off?

Keolis Orléans Express is contemplating the idea of taking over the Ottawa Montréal route, and is currently sending surveys to its customership.

On 4/2/2021 at 5:56 PM, InfiNorth said:

I'm not familiar (beyond timetabling and basic history) about the demographic that used the Chaleur. Was it primarily tourist as the Canadian has become or was it used by locals a lot as well?

I'd say locals first, maybe with added tourist influx during peak periods (July-August). To the contrary of the Canadian, the fares and the schedule made the train competitive with the buses on medium- and long-distance, but with added comfort and amenities :

• Montréal to Gaspé
  • by train, 2011 : ≥125 $
  • by bus, 2021 : 135 $
• Montréal to Rimouski
  • by train, 2019 : ≥75 $
  • by bus, 2021 : 95 $

As for the schedule, the train would depart Gaspé in the afternoon and arrive in Montréal mid-morning the next day, while three bus would depart Gaspé per day, with one overnight run with departure from Gaspé around 9 PM and arrival in Montréal early in the morning the next day. The bus is thus quicker, but only for the portion east of Mont-Joli.

33 minutes ago, Mark Walton said:

Métropolitain Sud garage was also on Marie Victorin, as is GALO.

Permis 2594-A was awarded to Metropolitain Sud, located at 118 boulevard Industriel (now 205 Rue du Parc-Industriel). Location is now ironically occupied by car dealers. The last remnants were demolished between 2009 and 2011.

2 hours ago, Mark Walton said:

How old is GASH? Does it date back to RTL's founding, as CTRSM, in 1974?

Also, is GALO the former Métropolitain Sud garage?

GASH was completed in 1975; GALO in 1989. I don't know where was Métropolitain Sud garage.

2 hours ago, Urban Sky said:

No worries, I just wanted to highlight that (just as with Gaspé or on Vancouver Island), it will take considerable investments into the infrastructure before a return of passenger operations becomes viable - and that is the responsibility of the respective host railroads and of the various levels of government, not VIA...

To the contrary of Red Deer sub and SVI, Chemin de fer de la Gaspésie (property of the government, operated by the regional municipalities) is undergoing a overhaul of critical infrastructures : 250 M$ were allocated to fully reopen the railroad from Matapédia to Gaspé : over 135 M$ were invested to refurbish the rail up to Port-Daniel―Gascons (2017-2022, with totally new bridges in Caplan and on the Port-Daniel sand bar to be erected this year). The rest is budgeted for Chandler subdivision (2021-2025). The Amiral tourist train is expected to return to Gaspé in 2024 and freight in 2025. Aside from the work on the closed portion (Caplan-Gaspé), Cascapedia sub (Matapédia-Caplan) has seen major work since 2018 to enhance safety and higher operating speeds :

• Railwork
  • 70,000 new ties and many more anchors and spikes replaced;
  • Installation of 5 km of continuous welded rail;
  • New ballast;
  • New signal lights;
• Bridges
  • 130'-long bridge replaced over Kempt river in Restigouche-Partie-Sud-Est township;
  • 2 completely new bridges (415' and 580') in Cascapédia―Saint-Jules, paralleling the century-old ones (expected to open in 2021)

The main issue is on VIA side, as whether rolling stock and personnel will be available to provide for the Chaleur reinstatement upon completion of work. Apart from having no VIA train right now, I don't think the situation in the Gaspé is close to being comparable to Edmonton-Calgary or Vancouver Island services.

The bird has left the nest

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKmnXVkn8Me/?igshid=6ftnx4mklsla

Orléans Express is suspending all its departures except for 3 return trips between Québec and Montréal, and 1 between Québec and Rimouski.

https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/regional/2021-01-27/trajets-d-orleans-express-suspendus/nos-regions-sont-encore-prises-en-otages.php

WHY IS MY SCREEN SHOUTING?

1 hour ago, 2044 said:

Apologies if this is common knowledge: are the REM trains built/being built completely in France?

No, in India.

Leaked info : North and eastward extension (gare Centrale―Marie-Victorin and Gare Centrale―Pointe-aux-Trembles) to be announced tomorrow. 2 new routes :

• Gare Centrale to Montréal-Nord via René-Lévesque (aerial), Notre-Dame, Dickson, hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont (underground), Lacordaire
• Gare Centrale to Pointe-aux-Termbles via René-Lévesque, Notre-Dame, Dickson, then Sherbrooke (unclear if former Longue-Pointe subdivision/exo ROW is part of the project).

Stay tuned.

What happened to the branching scheme that was previously announced?

On 11/26/2020 at 4:24 PM, GTAmissions1 said:

Here is the photo version along with printable link:

https://www.octranspo.com/images/files/stage2/future-otrain-network-map.pdf

Short version:

1: Algonquin College to Trim Station (red)

2: Bayview to Limebank (Riverside South) (green)

3. Moodie to Trim (gold)

4. Airport to South Keys (blue)

With route numbers and colour codes to better identify lines. Especially with how much bigger the rail network will be.

Do I get that Line 4 will essentially be a peripheral 3-station line most likely running on a famelic schedule, and that 2 connections will be necessary from the airport to downtown?

10 minutes ago, InfiNorth said:

Does anyone know any more information about the CN suspension of all services between Williams Lake and Squamish? How will this affect the Rocky Mountaineer (if it even survives the pandemic)? All I can find is that CN has suspended services and that the mill in 100 Mile House at Exeter is closed... surely that one mill can't have been their sole customer?

I don't think you have the right topic, pal. There has been no railroad in Newfoundland for quite a long time before the pandemic.

Found them! Here are the preliminary scenarios, presented to the BAPE : https://archives.bape.gouv.qc.ca/sections/mandats/Reseau_electrique_métropolitain/documents/DA91.pdf

There is no coupling at Bois-Francs as I thought I remembered, but peak line capacity scenario has provision for 1m 30s frequency on system core, with short runs at Roxboro and Centrale.

15 hours ago, FelixINX said:

But I do agree that a full walk-through train would have been better from a passenger perspective.

Why? What is the difference? Azur cars have full boa conception because of capacity and venting issues with previous models. REM cars will be equipped with A/C, and trains will have 55-70% of an Azur's capacity (depending on method of calculation), whereas the expected global network demand is 15% of the metro (I do not have the data to spatialise this demand). Nevertheless, the peak line capacity on South Shore antenna (24kpax/hour/direction) will be comparable to Orange line's (22kpax/hour/direction)

I do no think the passenger gains anything from running empty trains all day, except from enjoyment of higher ride subsidy caused by higher costs of operation and maintenance.

16 hours ago, anyfong said:

I feel that it would be better to keep train lengths consistent throughout the day, in order not to surprise passengers with a shorter train (not everyone gets the train length indicators the first time).

All stations, fully accessible, will be equipped with PSDs that will have visual and aural signalling. Length between doors is continuous, coupler or not, so the train should be able to stop mid-station.

This is pretty much intuitive.

Platforms will be the length of 4 cars. The original scenario had provisions for running 2-car trains north of Centrale between 9 AM and 3 PM, as well as some (un)coupling at Bois-Francs, hence the short trains. It might still be the case, though I can't find any document to corroborate that.

Note that the capacity of a REM car (150-200 pax) is significantly superior to an Azur car (122 pax).

Looking closely, I don't see overhead power in the garage neither. No worries : they must have tractors for hauling trains around.

Transit returning to Le Haut-Saint-Laurent in 2021 : new routes will serve Godmanchester, Howick, Huntingdon, Ormstown, Sainte-Barbe, Très-Saint-Sacrement, Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague, Saint-Stanislas-de-Kostka and Sainte-Martine, with service to Mercier (potential exo connection) and Salaberry-de-Valleyfield (potential Société de transport de Salaberry-de-Valleyfield connection and cégep service). Areas unserved by the new routes will have dial-up services to connect with fixed route.

https://www.journalsaint-francois.ca/un-nouveau-service-de-transport-verra-le-jour-dans-le-haut-saint-laurent/