Heavy Rail, Commuter Rail, & Intercity Transportation

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by casper

Do they think by having the engineer go down the route on a familiarization run that from that day forward he will remember to slowdown at that location? That is a pretty week control to have in place.

Engineers need to be trained on the peculiarities of the line that they operate on. That was the point of the union rep's claim - that the training was inadequate, done in large groups, and at night.

Still, even if that was the case, it seems to me that an engineer operating the first revenue run of a service on a new line ought to be be paying enough attention not to make that kind of mistake. It's not as if it was the same boring old track that s/he'd been on countless times before.

Even if there was only a single speed sign, that's not an excuse for not seeing it. There's only one signal light on the entry to each block of an automatic block controlled system, engineers are expected to be on the lookout for track control signals like this and not miss them.

That having been said, in the absence of positive train control the "point and call" system that the Japanese use seems to be a far superior way of ensuring the engineer's attention. Why they haven't implemented it here is a mystery to me.

[Alex Mackinnon]

I'm pretty sure Japan has PTC. The US has mostly been a laggard when it comes to that aspect of train safety.

[Reecemartin]

[Deleted]

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by Alex Mackinnon

I'm pretty sure Japan has PTC. The US has mostly been a laggard when it comes to that aspect of train safety.

Sure. But their "point and call" protocol seems to be very effective at increasing and maintaining operator attention, which is exactly what you need in places where you don't have positive train control. It costs literally nothing but training to implement, why it hasn't been mandated by the NTSB is a mystery.

[Trainguy]

Conductor Sues Amtrak

"Attorneys for an injured conductor filed suit Wednesday against Amtrak, alleging the railroad failed to provide safe working conditions when a speeding passenger train derailed last month south of Tacoma.

Garrick Freeman suffered rib and hip injuries, severe pain and emotional shock, says the eight-page complaint, filed in Pierce County Superior Court.

It’s the first of many upcoming lawsuits and claims — including a second case filed Wednesday, by an injured passenger.


Freeman, the conductor, was riding in the lead locomotive to familiarize himself with the new, faster bypass track from Tacoma through Lakewood to DuPont, Pierce County. On Dec. 18, its inaugural run, the state-owned Cascades 501 train flew off a track curve, traveling 78 mph in a 30 mph zone. Three people died and dozens of others were injured.

Freeman, 48, has seven years of experience and had requested the daytime trip to learn the route, where he rode in the left front of the southbound locomotive, said his attorney, Anthony Petru, of Oakland, California.

“He had zero experience working on this stretch of track. He was there solely to familiarize himself,” Petru said in a phone interview.

After the crash, Freeman was treated at Harborview Medical Center, then discharged to a rehabilitation facility Dec. 30, for a likely one- to two-month stay, the attorney said.

Petru said he expects to name other defendants including the Washington State Department of Transportation, which owns and funds the Cascades trains; Sound Transit, which owns the 14½-mile bypass tracks; and Talgo, maker of the passenger railcars. It’s unlikely that individuals would be sued, barring some “egregious” findings, he said.

The case seeks a yet-undisclosed payment to include lost earnings, medical bills, rehabilitation costs, home care and suffering. By federal law, Amtrak’s liability is capped at a combined $295 million for all cases arising from any single passenger-rail accident. Multiple suits would likely be consolidated under a single judge and court."

[Trainguy]

11 January 2018
Electronic Rail Warning Signs
to Come to Lower Mainland

Vancouver British Columbia - Six new rail warning signs are set to be installed in Surrey, Langley City, and the Township of Langley after several years in limbo.

The signs will provide drivers with real-time train crossing information, indicating when crossings are open and closed as well as noting the train's location and travel direction.

The six signs will be put near four major at-grade railway crossings.

There will be, two signs on Fraser Highway, one just west of 196 Street, and the other just east of the Langley Bypass, two signs on 200th Street, one just north of 64 Avenue, and the other just south of 56 Avenue, one sign on 56 Avenue just west of 192 Street, and one sign on Logan Avenue between 204 Street and Glover Road.

The electronic advisory signs were intended as part of the Roberts Bank Rail Corridor project, which included eight railway overpasses between Delta and the Fraser Valley, and was completed in 2014.

However, the signs only went to tender in November 2017.

In total, the project will cost $3.8 million, which includes the development of a central control system for the signs and a civil works contract of $1.7 million to Surrey's Crown Contracting Ltd.

The project is jointly funded by the province, Transport Canada, and the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, which will each contribute $300,000.

TransLink will provide an additional $2.9 million.

The signs are expected to be complete and operational by December 2018.

Grace Kennedy.

[Bdawe]

In which Alon Levy argues that the WSDOT High Speed Rail study was massively sand-bagged

https://seattletransitblog.com/2018/...actually-cost/

From Seattle Transit Blog

[cganuelas1995]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/britis...dent-1.4501161

This is why I think there should be a regular commuter bus paralleling the WCE.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by cganuelas1995

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/britis...dent-1.4501161

This is why I think there should be a regular commuter bus paralleling the WCE.

How many buses do you think they would need to replace 1 train?

[jollyburger]

I think there should be buses paralleling all other buses just for redundancy. Shadow bus system of empty buses just in case.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by cganuelas1995

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/britis...dent-1.4501161

This is why I think there should be a regular commuter bus paralleling the WCE.

As opposed to the Millennium Line and the 701?

[cganuelas1995]

Originally Posted by Sheba

As opposed to the Millennium Line and the 701?

They could at least have the 701 to Mission be more regular, seeing as how everyone is getting pushed east.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by cganuelas1995

They could at least have the 701 to Mission be more regular, seeing as how everyone is getting pushed east.

The 701 is part of the FTN - it's already at least every 15 mins. How much more do you want?

[nname]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

How many buses do you think they would need to replace 1 train?

They will need 28 fully-loaded buses to replace one train, or about 56 buses per hour. If fully-seated and no standees, then that will be 84 buses per hour. So to shadow the entire WCE service, they'll need to purchase and run over 200 buses from Mission/Maple Ridge every morning, then run those buses back in the PM peak

[cganuelas1995]

Originally Posted by Sheba

The 701 is part of the FTN - it's already at least every 15 mins. How much more do you want?

For all day service to and from Mission.

[flipper316]

Originally Posted by cganuelas1995

For all day service to and from Mission.

That's one long ass bus ridge from Mission to Coquitlam. How much tolerance one person can have sitting or standing on a bus for that long. Might as well put a comfy Orion on that route and make it an express like 2-3 times an hour.

[Alex Mackinnon]

Originally Posted by flipper316

That's one long ass bus ridge from Mission to Coquitlam. How much tolerance one person can have sitting or standing on a bus for that long. Might as well put a comfy Orion on that route and make it an express like 2-3 times an hour.

How about a double decker?

[Trainguy]

Originally Posted by Alex Mackinnon

How about a double decker?

The CP Rail tracks to Mission are getting busier and busier with freight traffic. There is nothing stopping them from not renewing the contract with Translink. The service is not consistently reliable any more. If Translink wants more reliable service, they will probably have to pay more for it.

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by cganuelas1995

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/britis...dent-1.4501161

This is why I think there should be a regular commuter bus paralleling the WCE.

How would a regular commuter bus have helped here? The train was stopped in a location where it was unsafe to get people off. How do you propose they get the people to a commuter bus in such a case?

[Express691]

Originally Posted by CanSpice

How would a regular commuter bus have helped here? The train was stopped in a location where it was unsafe to get people off. How do you propose they get the people to a commuter bus in such a case?

His point here is that it would have helped since (As far as I can remember) train E6 was cancelled (though the alternative is already there in the form of the Millennium Line and bus routes 159 and 160 for access into PoCo Station and 701 for the next two stops in Maple Ridge).

P.s. the 7:50pm to Mission was upgraded to an articulated bus last night.

Passengers stuck on the problem train would unfortunately have to wait for help to arrive (as the train could not be moved forward or backwards according to TransLink)