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CTrain - S200 (series 9) cars


LRT

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Great shots Nick! Definitely looking forward to the vids! Thanks for sharing. :D

I had assumed it was going to be out for the whole day after the media event... Hopefully they bring it back out again soon!

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As promised, here is my video montage from this morning. The first portion is a ride from Tuscany to Dalhousie with Mayor Nenshi operating the train (before a dedicated operator took over at Dalhousie). The rest of the video is a ride from Erlton to Canyon Meadows before my camera battery died.

As some of you can tell, the S200 sounds almost identical to a Series 8 at higher speeds (same motors?), but the propulsion itself makes a very cool sound! As mentioned, the lack of HVAC noise renders the propulsion sound very easily audible from inside the train. Station announcements are nice and loud too, and (as yet another improvement over the Series 8's) the operator's PA microphone is loud and clear!

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57 minutes ago, Nick B said:

As promised, here is my video montage from this morning. The first portion is a ride from Tuscany to Dalhousie with Mayor Nenshi operating the train (before a dedicated operator took over at Dalhousie). The rest of the video is a ride from Erlton to Canyon Meadows before my camera battery died.

As some of you can tell, the S200 sounds almost identical to a Series 8 at higher speeds (same motors?), but the propulsion itself makes a very cool sound! As mentioned, the lack of HVAC noise renders the propulsion sound very easily audible from inside the train. Station announcements are nice and loud too, and (as yet another improvement over the Series 8's) the operator's PA microphone is loud and clear!

Noticed numerous changes that make the s200s really great. The propulsion sounds like the series 8s but a lot louder and different start up. I am quite happy that those vents on the side are gone. Speakers sound crystal clear, door lights seem to work. The information displays look cool. Makes me feel like Im riding the Tokyo Metro (much of their trains have LCD information signs).

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I rode the train from Lions Park to Tuscany and back, matching the schedule above. They feel very new, smooth, quiet. The seats are... not bad, certainly an improvement over the Series 8, although one day I'd like to ask exactly what Siemens uses to figure out if a seat will fit or be comfortable... All in all, I like them. I especially loved sitting behind the driver's cabin and watching the view of the tracks through the front windows.

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Managed to catch it and took a ride from University ->Tuscany->Somerset->Tuscany->Brentwood. Here's a brief review I wrote for Reddit, so some of it is old news to you guys:

 

Positives:
You can finally see out the front of the train without creepily looking over the driver's shoulder through the older cars' tiny window.

Very smooth acceleration/deceleration - the previous gen trains had a brake mechanism that was quite a bit jarring just as the train was stopping.

"Infotainment" displays along the ceiling showing time, direction, and next stops.

Seats have a grippy texture to keep you from sliding along them - think Fisher-Price yellow+red buggies' plastic shell. (photo attached)

Door frames light up Green to denote unlocked state, Red to show locked. No more running to the train only to frantically press a locked button!

Floor near the doors permanently slopes downwards to near-platform level to make it easier for buggies and wheelchairs. There are reports of that not all stations are the same height, making this a less perfect solution than it could be.

More robust overhead hand grips - they are springloaded to flip out of the way until you need them. They can use more of them, though.

The standing buttrests either side of the articulated section actually work quite well, though the next-stop display above some of them do interfere with your head.

And they just look good.

Negatives:
The Infotainment displays on the ceilings extend quite a bit downwards, making it awkward for tall people, especially since they're right next to the already-low door frame.

The perimeter seats along the edges have a backrest that's too low for some and will irritate the backbone. The fore-aft seats behind the driver's cab are fine, though, as they have a much higher back.

The door buttons flash red if you put your finger on them while the doors are locked. This gets confusing when the train arrives on a platform and people press the button before it's unlocked, expecting it behave like the old ones - "what does flashing red mean? Is the door out of service?" This is exacerbated by what seems to be a longer-than old trains' period between the driver press his unlock button and the doors actually unlocking.

The destination signs along the sides display the next station even before you leave the current one without any statement before flashing it, making it confusing as to which station you're actually at for those who are unfamiliar.

There's nothing to hang on to in the middle of the door sections - no vertical nor horizontal poles to hold on to.

WP_20160705_16_08_24_Pro.jpg

WP_20160705_18_33_01_Pro (2).jpg

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I rode today's last train from downtown to Somerset. The new door closing tones are much nicer than the harsh beeps of the SDs. I guess they couldn't remove the buzz when braking but the reduced HVAC noise is welcome. During my ride on 2401, the station announcements were too loud almost to the point of being distorted.

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The door beeps had 2 different chimes the usual SD160 sound and the S70 style buzz. 

Did anyone notice that every door is wheel chair accessible? That explains no stanchion bars being in the way.

The S200 uses the different inverter that explains that cool windup sound at startup and braking. Also the disc brakes do not apply until 3 kph unlike the SD160s 7kph 

The doors do have a bit of a delay when they unlock that's because the operator has to give a full braking application and no motion is detected before the doors unlock. And yes the series 8 used to be that way until a recent software change.

Lots of positive feedback!

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We've been using this thread since the announcement of the s200s. Let's keep it alive until it is simply fades away series 8 thread did. No need to have two separate threads are renaming this one. Let's just leave it alone.

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