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Post by RMoses on Jun 24, 2017 14:22:50 GMT -8
Averaged 71 minutes end to end eastbound on 3 peak PM trips last week. With one trip taking 84 minutes, same issue each time, congestion and trains ahead just past the USC portal. Completely unacceptable time-frame, will not be attempting anytime soon again.
RC will improve the situation, but the Blue line junction will still hold up trains.
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Post by Philip on Jun 25, 2017 1:06:07 GMT -8
71 and 84 minutes?! That's nearly twice the time it should take to travel end-to-end. Sheesh. 😳
The hammer is eventually going to have to fall once the RC opens. If Metro even wants a sliver of a chance to run trains through downtown every 2.5 minutes, they're going to have to give the trains signal priority and/or rebuild the junction.
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Post by RMoses on Jun 26, 2017 10:26:45 GMT -8
Beg, borrow or steal the funds to install a third track from 23rd St and bury the tracks from Washington north.
Demand will only rise and there is no reason why outbound Expo trains and inbound Blue line trains should have to wait at the junction.
A third track will remedy this and allow extra queuing space in the event of.
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Post by metrocenter on Jun 26, 2017 16:21:15 GMT -8
I now believe that grade separation is REQUIRED. Already speeds along Flower Street are terrible and "incidents" are occurring way too often. Just imagine when the Regional Connector is up and running. An accident at the 18th/Flower on ramp will cripple the entire connected system for hours.
I think it's time to consider a 1.0 mile, cut-and-cover subway, under Figueroa from Washington to Olympic, tying into the existing tunnel. (Under Fig it would have less impact on existing rail traffic.) Include a passing track too.
I'm not sure how the south end of that would work. But I do know that something needs to be done now.
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Post by RMoses on Jun 27, 2017 6:38:45 GMT -8
Get the top Chinese or Indian firm together with a JV with Skanska or an AECOM subsidiary and green light a cut and cover operation on Flower.
And while they are at it, also plan and bore a tunnel from the VA to Centinela (SM Border). Then mandate SM accept cut and cover for the majority down Wilshire, but a short tunnel at the end and terminus.
Imagine subway grates on Wilshire in SM, just 20 feet below the sidewalk, instead of a 5 minute transition to the platform.
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Post by metrocenter on Jun 27, 2017 15:29:14 GMT -8
Last week Expo and Blue Lines were both down, and then majorly-delayed, due to a cut fiber optic signaling cable near Slauson station. Metro would not say how the cable was cut. Nor would they say how a single cable could take down the entire system (no redundancy?).
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Post by RMoses on Jun 27, 2017 19:16:19 GMT -8
Last week Expo and Blue Lines were both down, and then majorly-delayed, due to a cut fiber optic signaling cable near Slauson station. Metro would not say how the cable was cut. Nor would they say how a single cable could take down the entire system (no redundancy?). Perhaps Metro should call in Sprint.
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Post by rajacobs on Jul 16, 2017 22:15:14 GMT -8
Wanna save time Blue Line north and transferring to Expo Line West? When Expo and Blue are running without maintenance or repair issues... in the late afternoon, transfer from Blue Line north to the Expo Line west is sooo much faster--saving 20 minutes at least-- but getting off the Blue Line at LATTC and walking around the corner south to the LATTC/Ortho Inst station and hop on! There is such a bottleneck getting into the Pico Station northbound that trains are stacked up to the Expo/Blue Line junction at Washington, waiting and waiting. Of course the problem with both of these alternatives is that running around the corner means incurring an additional fare charge unless you're on a pass... --- By contrast... in the morning, eastbound Expo to Southbound Blue Line... no problem to transfer at Pico. It's about the same time as getting off at LATTC/ Ortho and walking north and then east along Washington to the LATTC station.
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Post by thanks4goingmetro on Jul 16, 2017 22:19:05 GMT -8
If the subway to the sea were built with three more stations in Santa Monica it'd be what 25 to 20 minutes from 3rd st to seventh metro? The EIR says Union Station to Westwood station in 25 minutes, so probably 30-ish minutes depending on how many stations inserted after the VA
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Post by davebowman on Aug 2, 2017 9:38:52 GMT -8
Last week on my WB ride going home after work the train (car 127B) sat at Expo Park/USC for a few minutes while the operator went to investigate some problem, and then when we got to Culver City we had to get off because the train stalled and wait for a replacement, which took a while.
This morning on my EB ride the train was unusually slow and we switched tracks approaching Culver City, and it turned out there was another stalled EB train (car 100) at the CC station and a lot of people waiting for the ours to pull in.
Also, it seems that lately the WB afternoon rush hour trains have been erratic--one train follows another by just a couple minutes, but then the one after that is late. And they generally have seemed slower than usual.
I enjoy taking the train instead of driving, but it does make my commute longer so it is really annoying when the trains are not on time. I hope this is just a temporary problem for Metro.
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Post by tramfan on Aug 3, 2017 13:07:46 GMT -8
Is it true that the Blue and Expo line now have each a dedicated platform on Metro center 7th Street station? Does this ease the congestion for the trains? Was this established because of crowding on the previous outbound platform?
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Post by bzzzt on Aug 3, 2017 15:56:54 GMT -8
That's what I noticed on Tuesday. Looked like the signs were temporary, though. Anybody know what this is about?
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Post by thanks4goingmetro on Aug 3, 2017 16:03:26 GMT -8
The crossover switch at 7th/Flower's tail tracks caught fire last week. They reset the switch but it's affective unusable. So they use the second crossover from the tunnel entrance to sort Expo and Blue trains to Platforms 1 & 2. It was suppose to fixed and back to normal this morning but their must be repair delays. Trains have been running every 10 mins max since last week instead of every six mins.
I ride the Purple Line to this station everyday, im so glad I'm not caught the weeklong Expo/Blue nightmare.
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Post by davebowman on Aug 9, 2017 14:04:26 GMT -8
The last couple mornings the information boards with ETAs at Bergamot Station and SMC/17th Street were completely wrong (the trains actually arrived much sooner than predicted), and when I got on the train this morning (number 1029A) the upcoming stops announcements were haywire--one right after another and also completely wrong--and were eventually turned off. What is going on?
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Post by bzcat on Aug 9, 2017 16:55:46 GMT -8
The GPS locator on your train probably needs calibration.
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Post by exporider on Aug 10, 2017 9:52:31 GMT -8
All of the train locator apps have been screwed up for Expo for the past couple weeks. This problem isn't limited to a single device on a single train. This has been a real pain because the problem at 7th/Metro has screwed up the schedules even more than usual. I don't even bother timing my arrival any more.
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Post by metrocenter on Aug 10, 2017 12:14:50 GMT -8
I'm a pro-transit guy, but all these problems are major turnoff for me. The delayed/canceled trains, the slow crawl down Flower Street, the homeless sleeping on the floors of the trains (yes!), the incorrect 'next train' messages, the inconsistent scheduling.
I don't know what's going on with the damaged signals/switch at 7th/Metro. But I do know it's been two weeks and the trains are still operating in low-expectations mode.
Maybe it's time for me to take a break for awhile and go back to driving. Metro, get it together!
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expo
Junior Member
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Post by expo on Aug 10, 2017 14:29:25 GMT -8
I've been pretty consistently unimpressed with Metro as an organization tbh. They don't seem to put much effort into quality of service unless pressured to do so by elected leaders.
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Post by Quixote on Aug 10, 2017 18:02:32 GMT -8
I've been pretty consistently unimpressed with Metro as an organization tbh. They don't seem to put much effort into quality of service unless pressured to do so by elected leaders. No kidding. It bemuses me how Metro is so clueless as to why ridership is stagnant/declining. Just take a look at their Metro Rider Alerts Twitter feed. The Blue/Expo Lines experience delays on a daily basis due to "mechanical issues." twitter.com/metrolaalerts?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
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Post by metrocenter on Aug 11, 2017 8:45:30 GMT -8
I seriously could deal with the homeless and juvies, *if* the trains were more consistent like they used to be. But every day is a crapshoot. One day may be fine, but the next day they're single-tracking or running shuttle buses to 7th/Metro.
BTW, yesterday the overhead next train display at 7th/Metro said "Line 803 - 178 minutes". That's not a GPS problem, that's a software problem!
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Post by jpjstarfleet on Aug 30, 2017 20:52:51 GMT -8
I thought I would post an Expo trip report today, unusual happenings in LA today... I live in Pasadena so I took the Gold to the Red to the Expo to Santa Monica, the trip from 7th Metro was actually pleasant, I was on Expo at about 2:00p, they we're boarding on track 1 and a Metro worker with a microphone was directing people to the correct track, we stopped twice between Pico and the LATTC station, other then that, smooth ride with no slow downs and only had to stop for one stop light, going home was another story...
I left Santa Monica at 5:45p, got on a three car train that was half empty, when we got to 17th St/SMC all the seats were taken, then when we got to 26th street it was standing room only, not even room to walk, I saw people on the platforms see the train arrive and shake there head and not get on and wait for the next train, it didn't get any better until after Crenshaw, but just before we got to Expo Park/USC the driver came on the microphone and said all Expo trains were turning back at Jefferson because there was a power problem at 7th/Metro, he told people to take the bus up Vermont to Wilshire then catch the Red Line from there into LA, there were no emergency shuttle buses (at least when I got there)
I went to the Bus (204) on Vermont along with about 50+ other people, the bus driver just let us get on, on the way to Wilshire I saw 7 Police cars going south in a real hurry, then several Fire Trucks (I believe it was for the fire that happen at the fashion stores in downtown LA) when we go tot Wilshire it was a madhouse so I decide just to stay on the bus to Hollywood Blvd and take the 181 bus home to Pasadena, took 3 hours to get home!
As of 8:51pm Metro's twitter feed is still says "BLUE/EXPO: Trains run every 20 min into DTLA. Some NB Blue Line trains turn back at Washington; some EB Expo trains turn back at LATTC/Ortho" Always interesting riding the Expo line...
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Post by metrocenter on Aug 31, 2017 15:15:11 GMT -8
My wife and I took Expo yesterday out to Santa Monica during lunch time.
When we got to Military Ave, we stopped for five minutes. And then, when we got to the maintenance yard in West LA, the train stopped and just waited for over ten minutes.
No reason given either time. We just sat there. Some people became very anxious. No announcement, no explanation.
I understand that Metro is a complex system. But they seem to have forgotten rule number 1: never ignore the customer.
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expo
Junior Member
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Post by expo on Sept 1, 2017 9:28:38 GMT -8
To be honest, Metro is a completely inept organization. They just don't care about the customer experience. I had hoped Phil Washington would change that, but so far, I haven't seen any improvement.
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Post by mattapoisett on Sept 1, 2017 10:09:38 GMT -8
Actually Phil has made it much worse with his early cost saving decision to stop running rail ever 10 minutes after 8pm. The 20 minute headways when I have taken them on Expo have been over-crowded. Though it was much worse when they were running 2 car sets.
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expo
Junior Member
Posts: 71
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Post by expo on Sept 1, 2017 10:30:48 GMT -8
I just don't get it. Metro keeps wondering why ridership is falling, but it's so clear to the rest of us, why can't they keep up? Why isn't there any political pressure for them to improve operations?
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Post by exporider on Sept 1, 2017 12:03:34 GMT -8
Funny that all these comments about lower ridership are showing up on the board for the one line that is showing great ridership!
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Post by usmc1401 on Sept 1, 2017 18:55:32 GMT -8
Point being that the ridership numbers could be even better. That's what most of us want.
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Post by exporider on Sept 3, 2017 10:09:05 GMT -8
No argument there. The ridership growth (from 43k to 63k daily riders) shows how Expo riders responded to increased service frequency (6-minute peak headways) and adequate capacity (3-car trains from 5 AM til 9 PM). I'm convinced that if Metro and the cities could solve the reliability, signal priority and communications problems, ridership would quickly improve to ~75-80k daily riders.
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Post by jpjstarfleet on Sept 4, 2017 14:05:41 GMT -8
If Metro did do all the above would it make any difference in the long run? once the Crenshaw line opens to LAX that will even increase the ridership numbers, will there be capacity for three cars trains already already running standing room only during rush hours and the weekends?
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Post by exporider on Sept 4, 2017 20:35:46 GMT -8
Standing room only? Really? I ride Expo five days a week (admittedly only between Culver City and DTLA) and I see standing room loads once a week at the most. There's plenty of capacity on Expo now (as long as the trains are spaced properly) and room to increase capacity by running more frequent service. The operational capacity of Expo is at least 100,000 per day. Regarding Crenshaw, that line is only expected to increase the demand on Expo by 3-4,000 daily riders.
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