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kevlo86

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All these photos captured on January 9, 2007.

2234aleft.jpg

Yesterday morning as I was walking to the Anderson Garage Dispatch after parking my car, an SD160 Consist pulls out of the Garage in front of me with new SD160 car #2234 as the middle car (of 3 cars) of that consist. I confirmed with Dispatch and a LRT Training Officer that yesterday was in fact 2234's first day of service. The Interesting part is that she went into service with fleet numbers and the round CT logos only. No Stripes. Attached is a photo that I took of 2234 last week in this same condition. A Photo of #2233 is also included. Enjoy!

2235b.jpg

2235b2.jpg

http://www.busdrawings.com/Transit/alberta...d160/2235b3.jpg

2233aleft.jpg

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Is anyone calling the all-white cars "ghosts", much as some current Vancouver trolley buses were called when they were all-white a few years ago, between color schemes?

Not yet anyways Mark. They haven't been out enough yet. 2234 was back in the shops again today. #2233 was apparently spotted out running in service on December 18, 2006. So I guess 2234 was not the first of the new batch to run in service after all.

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Not yet anyways Mark. They haven't been out enough yet. 2234 was back in the shops again today. #2233 was apparently spotted out running in service on December 18, 2006. So I guess 2234 was not the first of the new batch to run in service after all.

I seen one of them today i only got a glimse as i was in a +15.

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Calgary Transit launched a C-Train safety awareness campaign today:

It is going to air on local TV, there are two videos 30 seconds each.

The videos can be found at the following link

http://www.calgarytransit.com/CalgaryTrans...etyProgram.html

If only CT did P/R stuff like this with its other aspects of operations, such as new routes and service changes.

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Just found this on CT website

Calgary Transit has launched an aggressive recruitment campaign to hire over 200 new bus drivers during 2007. Due to Alberta's red-hot economy, Calgary Transit is short about 130 drivers right now and will need to hire an additional 100 new drivers throughout the year to implement 129,000 new hours of transit service approved by City Council for 2007.

If you like to drive and enjoy working with the public, this job is for you!

This is going to suck for custumers like myself. :D

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Just found this on CT website

Calgary Transit has launched an aggressive recruitment campaign to hire over 200 new bus drivers during 2007. Due to Alberta's red-hot economy, Calgary Transit is short about 130 drivers right now and will need to hire an additional 100 new drivers throughout the year to implement 129,000 new hours of transit service approved by City Council for 2007.

If you like to drive and enjoy working with the public, this job is for you!

This is going to suck for custumers like myself. :(

I don't see how this would "Suck" for you? What's worse? New Driver's being recruited or bus runs being cut because there are not enough drivers? I hear Operators calling in on the radio (After customers ask) to ask where a certain bus is that had not shown up. Control checks their records and sometimes responds with "Sorry, that bus was CUT today".

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I don't see how this would "Suck" for you? What's worse? New Driver's being recruited or bus runs being cut because there are not enough drivers? I hear Operators calling in on the radio (After customers ask) to ask where a certain bus is that had not shown up. Control checks their records and sometimes responds with "Sorry, that bus was CUT today".

I don't think it is so much that the hiring of new drivers that sucks, but its the very real possibility that the net gain in the number of drivers in 2007 will be way short of 200. As in by the end of this year there won't be 200 more drivers then there are now. Sure CT may be able to hire/succesfully train that many, but given a high turnover rate and retirement, we won't be left with 200 more drivers by the end of the year.

So hence what sucks is that service will take a hit because there aren't enough drivers, as you already mentioned.

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I don't think it is so much that the hiring of new drivers that sucks, but its the very real possibility that the net gain in the number of drivers in 2007 will be way short of 200. As in by the end of this year there won't be 200 more drivers then there are now. Sure CT may be able to hire/succesfully train that many, but given a high turnover rate and retirement, we won't be left with 200 more drivers by the end of the year.

So hence what sucks is that service will take a hit because there aren't enough drivers, as you already mentioned.

[/qu

So its going to suck when busses get cut. And new bus hours cant be added.

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I don't see how this would "Suck" for you? What's worse? New Driver's being recruited or bus runs being cut because there are not enough drivers? I hear Operators calling in on the radio (After customers ask) to ask where a certain bus is that had not shown up. Control checks their records and sometimes responds with "Sorry, that bus was CUT today".

CT better pay up to match the living cost cause the city is getting more expensive to live in.

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CT better pay up to match the living cost cause the city is getting more expensive to live in.

EXACTLY! I don't plan on leaving this job, but many Operators that are Junior to me in seniority, are planning on leaving for other jobs if our new Contract is not good. Recently, everyone in Calgary got an advertizement mailed and one of the things on the front page says "Break Out Of the 9 to 5 routine!!!" I had to get a laugh out of that one. I personally don't mind some of the crazy shifts we have here, but I don't think many will leave a 9 to 5 job for 2 and 3 way splits and split days off for a year to two. I believe many Senior Operators may retire soon after the new contract if it isn't that great.

I don't think it is so much that the hiring of new drivers that sucks, but its the very real possibility that the net gain in the number of drivers in 2007 will be way short of 200. As in by the end of this year there won't be 200 more drivers then there are now. Sure CT may be able to hire/succesfully train that many, but given a high turnover rate and retirement, we won't be left with 200 more drivers by the end of the year.

So hence what sucks is that service will take a hit because there aren't enough drivers, as you already mentioned.

Alright! Alright! :-)

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EXACTLY! I don't plan on leaving this job, but many Operators that are Junior to me in seniority, are planning on leaving for other jobs if our new Contract is not good. Recently, everyone in Calgary got an advertizement mailed and one of the things on the front page says "Break Out Of the 9 to 5 routine!!!" I had to get a laugh out of that one. I personally don't mind some of the crazy shifts we have here, but I don't think many will leave a 9 to 5 job for 2 and 3 way splits and split days off for a year to two. I believe many Senior Operators may retire soon after the new contract if it isn't that great.

When is your current contract up?

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Same thing in Edmonton. ATU has already agreed to a new contract. But there are still manpower shortages. It is common to hear Control making announcements asking if anyone wants extra work to call their Division Dispatch.

Oh boy, when will the managers give some fair share to pay up for the operators? I mean come on, the city is growing for Calgary but the pay is not high!

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Oh boy, when will the managers give some fair share to pay up for the operators? I mean come on, the city is growing for Calgary but the pay is not high!

On what do you base that criticism on? Notice that we don't know what the possibile higher new pay will be, nor do we know if the pay is increasing. 3 things could happen with new contracts

1. Wage goes down

2. Wage stays the same

3. Wage goes up

So until #1 and #2 happens, that criticism is highly unfair to those that you are directing it at (managers).

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On what do you base that criticism on? Notice that we don't know what the possibile higher new pay will be, nor do we know if the pay is increasing. 3 things could happen with new contracts

1. Wage goes down

2. Wage stays the same

3. Wage goes up

So until #1 and #2 happens, that criticism is highly unfair to those that you are directing it at (managers).

Unless the union rep. is weak to deal with. Who knows........ :blink:

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Hi All,

I'm new here, and thought I'd comment on a couple of things I read in this thread, even though some may be quite dated. Firstly, when it comes to Victoria Park Garage moving, it's eventually a done deal. The recent approval for start of work (and the funding in the captial report for $12M) means that the Control Centre, etc. will be moving to the new Heritage Operations Centre in 2008, and isn't holding the VIc Park move back. It will be where the Haysboro Health CLinic used to be (right accross from the South Calgary YMCA at the Heritage Bus Loop), and be part of a larger area redevelopment, including redesign of the bus loop itself. There will be a new garage south of 22x to replace some of VP and the buses that move from Anderson when it goes fully LRT. There will also be a smaller City Centre garage, rumoured to be on industrial land down by Renfrew Chrysler and the Pumphouse Theatre.

I also noted that someone mentioned the posted a tender for striping the new LRVs. Watch for a new design and colour scheme on the new cars, which has yet to be determined (and if they get the new ones working :blink:

As for the recent posts on the CBA at CT, what do you all think of the rumour going around that shows a $2/hr raise for CTrain operators? They're hoping to attract more volunteers to LRT, and keep people from leaving. As many of you know, it's not traditionally the most popular destination for operators (although I personally think it gets a very unwarranted bad rep).

Anyway, thanks for letting me respond, and I hope to have some great info exchange with you in the future.

Cheers!

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Unless the union rep. is weak to deal with. Who knows........ :blink:

Well exactly, who knows like you say. There are quite a few members here associated with Calgary Transit either currently or in the past. To make a criticism directed at Calgary Transit without anything to back it up is not only a very weak criticism, but you never know who you might offend. For all we know there could be a person working for either the union representing Calgary Transit or a member of the management staff from Calgary Transit.

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As for the recent posts on the CBA at CT, what do you all think of the rumour going around that shows a $2/hr raise for CTrain operators? They're hoping to attract more volunteers to LRT, and keep people from leaving. As many of you know, it's not traditionally the most popular destination for operators (although I personally think it gets a very unwarranted bad rep).

Anyway, thanks for letting me respond, and I hope to have some great info exchange with you in the future.

Cheers!

Hmm... $2 an hour raise for CTrain Operators! I just might have to go back. But If they actually do that, it probably wouldn't be worth it for me as I would probably be near the bottom of seniority as it would attract more Senior Operators to the Train. I only have about 250 Operators behind me in seniority and over 1100 ahead of me. Either way, I sure hope the rumour is going to be a reality!

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Hmm... $2 an hour raise for CTrain Operators! I just might have to go back. But If they actually do that, it probably wouldn't be worth it for me as I would probably be near the bottom of seniority as it would attract more Senior Operators to the Train. I only have about 250 Operators behind me in seniority and over 1100 ahead of me. Either way, I sure hope the rumour is going to be a reality!

Yeah, I think you'd see a lot of senior operators going to CTrain to boost their pension near the end of their careers (since I believe your pension is based on an average of your five highest salary years).

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name='CTrainDude' post='37507' date='Jan 30 2007, 12:48 AM'] Hi All,

I'm new here, and thought I'd comment on a couple of things I read in this thread, even though some may be quite dated. Firstly, when it comes to Victoria Park Garage moving, it's eventually a done deal. The recent approval for start of work (and the funding in the captial report for $12M) means that the Control Centre, etc. will be moving to the new Heritage Operations Centre in 2008, and isn't holding the VIc Park move back. It will be where the Haysboro Health CLinic used to be (right accross from the South Calgary YMCA at the Heritage Bus Loop), and be part of a larger area redevelopment, including redesign of the bus loop itself. There will be a new garage south of 22x to replace some of VP and the buses that move from Anderson when it goes fully LRT. There will also be a smaller City Centre garage, rumoured to be on industrial land down by Renfrew Chrysler and the Pumphouse Theatre.

<snip>

As for the recent posts on the CBA at CT, what do you all think of the rumour going around that shows a $2/hr raise for CTrain operators? They're hoping to attract more volunteers to LRT, and keep people from leaving. As many of you know, it's not traditionally the most popular destination for operators (although I personally think it gets a very unwarranted bad rep).

VP moving? That's the first I've heard of it. VP's not all that old either, it opened in 1983, replacing Eau Claire. All weekend bus service operates from VP. I knew buses would eventually be moved out of Anderson, but i always wondered where to? Where are Renfrew Chrysler and the Pumphouse Theatre, where the new city center garage will be?

What's the CBA?

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The Victoria Park community is up for a big overhaul. Stampede grounds are to be extended, the Victoria Park garage would have to be moved for this reason. Additionally, I do remember city council members saying Victoria Park as a community needed to be renewed. It is one of the saddest looking parts of town at the moment, with most of whats there pretty run down. If the area were to be completely redeveloped into a more friendly and liveable part of the city, a bus garage probably doesn't fit well into those plans.

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Calgary Transit's new order of 43 D40LF's have begun arriving. New style Interiors. Also, note the different style Allison Transmission selectors.

http://www.busdrawings.com/Transit/alberta.../2007/index.htm

And in other news... Calgary Transit 1977 Fishbowl #897, which is one of the units that was refurbed in the last 8 years or so, now has a rear engine door off of one of the old two tone blue Fishbowls. Check it out here:

http://www.busdrawings.com/Transit/alberta...1-899/index.htm . Scroll to the bottom of this list of thumbnails to view the photos of 897. They are the bottom two shots. Enjoy!

Comments?

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