Valley Line LRT | TransEd/Marigold | City of Edmonton

Taken May 31, 2024
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Kosy123 said:
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Decent growth so far in VLSE ridership.
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My numbers based on: https://public.tableau.com/app/prof...CardFebruary52023-April292023/RouteReportCard
For April 2023 the 73 had a ridership of 242,460.
There's still some 19,000 difference between the 73 Valley Line precursor and with the line actually running. It is MUCH better than even earlier in 2024, and much closer to what the 73 had. Could be even a counting discrepancy if the 73 was estimated higher than it actually was. ETS uses automatic passenger counters to determine bus ridership, and not every bus has APC's. I suspect every Valley Line car essentially has built in APC's so I assume that Valley Line figure is quite accurate.
 
Took the valley line for fun/to see how it is. On the way south, we barely waited at any intersections at all, maybe not even once. On the way back up we stopped at almost all intersections between Mill Woods and the elevated guideway, it was a little bit unreal. Why so inconsistent? Also I agree the sliding doors need to come off. Maybe regular doors and timed heaters like at the new NAIT station? At least for busier stations like Bonnie Doon and Churchill, then maybe no doors at stations like Muttart. Also this is gonna be very busy for folk fest, no doubt.
 
Seamusmuldrew said:
Took the valley line for fun/to see how it is. On the way south, we barely waited at any intersections at all, maybe not even once. On the way back up we stopped at almost all intersections between Mill Woods and the elevated guideway, it was a little bit unreal. Why so inconsistent?
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It's not unusual to get stopped, or nearly stopped, at Whitemud Drive and Roper Road in either direction. Usually trains run fine unless they end up out of sequence for some reason, in which case, they'll end up getting stopped at a lot of intersections. They usually get sequenced again at the next stop however.
Between 31 Ave and 38 Ave can be rough if you're out of sequence as you can then get stopped at: 34 Ave, 36A Ave, 37A Ave pedestrian, and 38 Ave. Train operators do send a new request to the signals at the Woodvale stop, so, from there they should be synced again, but, again Whitemud and Roper Road are common to get stopped at.
 
EdwardEdm said:
It's not unusual to get stopped, or nearly stopped, at Whitemud Drive and Roper Road in either direction. Usually trains run fine unless they end up out of sequence for some reason, in which case, they'll end up getting stopped at a lot of intersections. They usually get sequenced again at the next stop however.
Between 31 Ave and 38 Ave can be rough if you're out of sequence as you can then get stopped at: 34 Ave, 36A Ave, 37A Ave pedestrian, and 38 Ave. Train operators do send a new request to the signals at the Woodvale stop, so, from there they should be synced again, but, again Whitemud and Roper Road are common to get stopped at.
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Also, the signals by the OMF are a bit weird (according to an operator I know), because it works on a first come first serve basis. So basically, if there's an LRV in the yard heading to the mainline, and an LRV on the mainline about to pass it, whichever one gets to their respective block first is the one that'll get the signal. No idea if that's how it works by D.L. Macdonald, but this operator said it was strange.
 
CplKlinger said:
Also, the signals by the OMF are a bit weird (according to an operator I know), because it works on a first come first serve basis. So basically, if there's an LRV in the yard heading to the mainline, and an LRV on the mainline about to pass it, whichever one gets to their respective block first is the one that'll get the signal. No idea if that's how it works by D.L. Macdonald, but this operator said it was strange.
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Years of playing Transport Fever have taught me that you always give priority to the trains on the mainline!!
 
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EdwardEdm said:
It's not unusual to get stopped, or nearly stopped, at Whitemud Drive and Roper Road in either direction. Usually trains run fine unless they end up out of sequence for some reason, in which case, they'll end up getting stopped at a lot of intersections. They usually get sequenced again at the next stop however.
Between 31 Ave and 38 Ave can be rough if you're out of sequence as you can then get stopped at: 34 Ave, 36A Ave, 37A Ave pedestrian, and 38 Ave. Train operators do send a new request to the signals at the Woodvale stop, so, from there they should be synced again, but, again Whitemud and Roper Road are common to get stopped at.
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That makes sense. It was just that section, after Davies it was back to normal. Thanks for the clarification!
 
CplKlinger said:
Also, the signals by the OMF are a bit weird (according to an operator I know), because it works on a first come first serve basis. So basically, if there's an LRV in the yard heading to the mainline, and an LRV on the mainline about to pass it, whichever one gets to their respective block first is the one that'll get the signal. No idea if that's how it works by D.L. Macdonald, but this operator said it was strange.
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The entire track layout at the OMF is weird. Fortunately, trains coming online in the afternoon only head north so it's a pretty simple maneuver and wouldn't really delay anyone, and trains coming offline after the AM peak have simple, quick maneuvers.
DLM is manually routed by LRT controllers as far as I know. Trains need to call control to advise them that they at signal BMYN and are waiting for a route onto the mainline. They then need to read out their logs (counters that track penalty stops and signal bypasses). Once they are lined onto the mainline, they pass signal BMYN which is also a test. Regardless of signal indication, the train will receive a penalty stop to make sure the trains automatic train stop function is working.
With the Valley Line, every trip has a number. I presume this trip number helps set up routes when train is going to/ from the OMF.
This signaling on the Valley Line is also kind of weird. On the NE/S/NLRT there are advance signals, usually at the prior station, that indicate if a train is taking a diverging route. Not sure if on the Valley Line there's anything in the cab that indicates this to the operator, but, otherwise when they are returning the OMF there isn't anything at Davies or Woodvale that would indicate to the operator that the signal system indeed sees them and is routing them into the OMF. I guess they just kind of find out as they approach the switch and see if the switch position indicator is pointing in the correct direction for their train.
 
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