Valley Line LRT | TransEd/Marigold | City of Edmonton

EdwardEdm said:
Random thought about watching the resumed Mill Woods testing, and keeping in mind I'm always suspicious of TransEd, I genuinely wonder what they're actually doing apart from having trains out for the sake of being able to say that they are testing trains. They aren't running 2 cars trains, they don't seem to run weekends (grounding cables in place on Saturday at the Whitemud so nothing could leave the shops that day at least) they aren't running into the evening. All they are doing is shuttling 3 trains back and forth between Mill Woods and about 51 Ave. I guess it's better than nothing, and it's their money, but I just see it as a way for them to claim they're running trains and testing the system.
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I think they are testing as much as possible in the mean time, to prep for system demonstration and independent certification. Look at the Ottawa line, clearly they didn’t test enough to work out or discover all the bugs in the system. I think it’s also good because they are getting people far more used to the train being around, especially frequently during peak hours.
 
How much testing can you do in such a short section of track though? Even training would be a bit of a challenge on such a small section of the line.

As mentioned earlier today the trailers are off the tracks finally at Bonnie doon. Also noticed that the concrete blocks they had installed at the intersections around there are gone. As are the ones at Argyll and the top of Connors road. Maybe we are close to line wide testing again?
 
The_Cat said:
I’m guessing that train service will be free the first week or so.
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Given the public cynicism and the near-zero level of credibility of both the Valley Line SE and TransEd, the trains will have to be a free fare zone for a lot longer than that.

Ottawa's Confederation Line was rushed into service and has suffered multiple lengthy shutdowns of the system. After one two-month shutdown in 2021, the city responded with free transit in an effort to placate furious transit users. (And Ottawa council was considering doing so again this year after yet another system shutdown.)

A two month shutdown of LRT resulted one month of free transit in Ottawa. The Valley Line SE is more than three years late, so that should equate to 18 months of free fares between the Mill Woods and 102 Street Stops.
 
EdwardEdm said:
Random thought about watching the resumed Mill Woods testing, and keeping in mind I'm always suspicious of TransEd, I genuinely wonder what they're actually doing apart from having trains out for the sake of being able to say that they are testing trains. They aren't running 2 cars trains, they don't seem to run weekends (grounding cables in place on Saturday at the Whitemud so nothing could leave the shops that day at least) they aren't running into the evening. All they are doing is shuttling 3 trains back and forth between Mill Woods and about 51 Ave. I guess it's better than nothing, and it's their money, but I just see it as a way for them to claim they're running trains and testing the system.
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My thinking is that they are putting on the miles, as iirc each car/LRV must have X km on them
 
Habibfazil said:
My thinking is that they are putting on the miles, as iirc each car/LRV must have X km on them
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Interesting thought but with the amount of testing + random shuttling of trains I just can't see how they haven't reached those milestones. But with TransEd's incompetence that could 100% be the case.
 
EdwardEdm said:
Random thought about watching the resumed Mill Woods testing, and keeping in mind I'm always suspicious of TransEd, I genuinely wonder what they're actually doing apart from having trains out for the sake of being able to say that they are testing trains. They aren't running 2 cars trains, they don't seem to run weekends (grounding cables in place on Saturday at the Whitemud so nothing could leave the shops that day at least) they aren't running into the evening. All they are doing is shuttling 3 trains back and forth between Mill Woods and about 51 Ave. I guess it's better than nothing, and it's their money, but I just see it as a way for them to claim they're running trains and testing the system.
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One would think the testing has something to do with the latest undiscovered problem that was later discovered, which is the cables. However, that does not seem to be clear from their communication.

Three years behind, multiple missed deadlines, shoddy work and apparently they are not good at communications either. I suppose that should not be a surprise - incompetence can be a comprehensive thing.
 
CplKlinger said:
Take it with a grain of salt, but someone I know who drives the Valley Line says the testing isn't for the trains, it's to make sure the new cables work as intended.
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Of course. They finished testing the trains a while ago. They have been focused on system integration and demonstration, which is of course the end goal for certification
 
CplKlinger said:
Take it with a grain of salt, but someone I know who drives the Valley Line says the testing isn't for the trains, it's to make sure the new cables work as intended.
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Weren't they originally saying they could replace the corroded cables in Millwoods while the line was running? We've been saying it for awhile now, but I don't think we can believe anything that the Transed Communication dept says.
 
awstott said:
Weren't they originally saying they could replace the corroded cables in Millwoods while the line was running? We've been saying it for awhile now, but I don't think we can believe anything that the Transed Communication dept says.
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I believe they decided to replace them all before service commencement, as to not have the line partially shut down in some areas.
 
I remember seeing the NAIT (Metro) line being opened on a rainy Sunday morning in September 2015, by Mayor Iveson, to little fanfare. I wonder if the City will do the same thing September 3, keeping this event low-key.
 
I have zero faith this line will open this weekend. Maybe Sept 3 2024?

If they were opening this weekend we would have seen them running simulated service all week. There hasn't been a train down 83 street up to Strathern in how many months?
 
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