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Post by bluelineshawn on Mar 13, 2019 18:41:49 GMT -8
Sorry to hear about that. It's long overdue for Metro to implement a program to help the homeless on the trains, without kicking them to the curb or involving the police. They already have that program, but they don't have very many people doing the outreach. At the same time Phil Washington has advocated installing showers at stations. Metro needs to decide whether it wants to be a transportation agency or a homeless shelter and act accordingly. When they decide let us know and we can act accordingly as well. Personally I have no problem with kicking people to the curb that exhibit antisocial and illegal behavior. Metro didn't create the homeless issue, nor will they solve it. They can treat people humanely and still provide a safe ride that benefits their paying customers that rely on metro to get them safely and cleanly to their destinations. This reminds me of a rant that I have about last months safety and security board meeting that's online. One of the board members was upset about the person that was shot and killed at 7th/metro. She acknowledged that the person was armed with a large knife and was violent towards police even after being tased. But she said that it doesn't make sense that anyone would be killed for evading a fare. That metro should re-evaluate it's policy of having police confront fate evaders. The police are trained to deal with such issues and used several tactics to calm the man, but they all failed. But she prefers that the police allow such violent people to board the train. I guess she figures that us passengers will be able to figure such people out before we are attacked.
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Post by culvercitylocke on Mar 25, 2019 16:22:25 GMT -8
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Post by metrocenter on Mar 26, 2019 9:04:30 GMT -8
^ Really cool picture...those are new rail ties being installed south of Compton station.
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Post by culvercitylocke on Mar 26, 2019 9:55:50 GMT -8
^ Really cool picture...those are new rail ties being installed south of Compton station. Well I guess that’s metros fault for getting the galleries wrong then
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Post by metrocenter on Mar 27, 2019 5:39:05 GMT -8
^ Really cool picture...those are new rail ties being installed south of Compton station. Well I guess that’s metros fault for getting the galleries wrong then No, nothing’s wrong...it’s a picture of the New Blue project. That’s Compton Courthouse in the background. Glad to see progress...thanks for the link!
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Post by metrocenter on Sept 3, 2019 7:46:03 GMT -8
Any updates on the "New Blue"? It was supposed to open later this month, but I'm hearing talk of October or later.
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Post by numble on Sept 3, 2019 18:24:21 GMT -8
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Post by metrocenter on Sept 5, 2019 8:14:00 GMT -8
Here was the latest mini-update from 2 weeks ago, Thanks for the info. I realize that this is from mid-August. But those completion percentages are not very comforting. Here are the percent completes from the document (starting with most complete): - 90% - "north segment existing overhead catenary system refurbishment work"
- 90% - escalator work at Willowbrook
- 75% - new building and platform work
- 70% - local field testing (with wiring)
- 65% - preparatory work in support of painting activities
- 63% - preparatory work in support of tile renewal activities
- 62% - "Maintenance-of-Way work in support of phase 2 network upgrades, map cases and cameras"
- 50% - elevator remodeling at Willowbrook
Of course, a task's percent complete is meaningless without knowing (1) how large the task is, and (2) how critical the task is to the project.
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Post by metrocenter on Sept 10, 2019 9:15:24 GMT -8
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Post by bluelineshawn on Sept 14, 2019 9:53:09 GMT -8
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Post by metrocenter on Sept 16, 2019 11:08:59 GMT -8
Major Project Status Report for September is out. The report does now show a percent complete for the "New Blue Closure". The report indicates a "possible problem" with both budget and schedule. Specifically,
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Post by metrocenter on Sept 20, 2019 9:26:33 GMT -8
This week Metro issued a report on the "New Blue" project. Under "Phase 2", it states the following: Per Metro, the project is delayed because of the need for extra testing on the northern segment. But that doesn't make sense, because they would've reserved enough time for testing before the project even started. (You don't suddenly realize, at the end of the project, that you need an extra month for testing!) It looks to me like the actual cause of the delay is platform construction at W/RP (Willowbrook/Rosa Parks), which won't be complete until early October. They're not going to want to reopen the Blue Line without a connection to the Green Line. And I'm sure they're taking advantage of this delay to extend their testing.
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Post by metrocenter on Sept 20, 2019 9:35:46 GMT -8
Also from this report, it states that the four new interlockings are located at Slauson, Firestone, 95th Street and Compton. Between Washington and Willow, it should now look something like this: Washington - existing interlockingVernon - new interlocking (Slauson)Slauson Florence - existing interlocking - new interlocking (Firestone)Firestone - new interlocking (95th street)Watts Willowbrook - existing interlockingCompton - new interlocking (Compton)Artesia - existing interlockingDel Amo - yardWardlow - existing interlockingWillow - existing interlockingHowever, it's also possible that both Slauson and Firestone interlockings are south of those stations. In either case, the new crossovers will help a lot when trains get stranded, to reduce the impact to other riders.
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Post by masonite on Sept 20, 2019 10:19:09 GMT -8
According to Phil Washington, there will be a 7 minute savings on the line not the 10 minutes they were shooting for. Sounds like it will open the week of Oct. 28 as well.
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Post by numble on Sept 24, 2019 16:53:39 GMT -8
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Post by jahanes on Sept 25, 2019 12:02:53 GMT -8
The reasons for a definitive solution for the Flower St. problem mount.
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Post by metrocenter on Oct 3, 2019 7:53:56 GMT -8
Here's the 9/27 update report on "New Blue". Keep in mind, the Blue Line was supposed to reopen on the date this report was sent to the Board of Directors. Clearly, construction was the cause of the delay, not testing (as Metro had reported). Lots of construction activity is still ongoing, including Willowbrook/Rosa Parks' platform construction ("scheduled for completion in October 2019"), fiber optic installation, station finishing, trackwork ("ballast tamping work") and "repair [of] DC feeders". They even list work items in the southern end of the line, which they say should be done in the "next 1-2 weeks". I would not be surprised if they don't finish everything on time, but open it anyway at the end of October. There would be an uproar if they delayed it again. Come October 28, be on the look out for unfinished stations, signage, plantings, etc.
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Post by metrocenter on Oct 16, 2019 9:03:10 GMT -8
Major Project Status Report for October is out. The report does now show a percent complete for the "New Blue Closure". The status is "possible problem" for both budget and schedule. The forecast for completion is "Fall 2019". "Late October 2019 opening contingent on successful completion of Systems Integration Testing"
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Post by metrocenter on Oct 31, 2019 9:34:36 GMT -8
Supposedly Snoop Dogg will be 'hosting' the reopening on Saturday. Not sure what that means...I suppose we will find out soon enough.
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Post by culvercitylocke on Oct 31, 2019 13:28:33 GMT -8
Supposedly Snoop Dogg will be 'hosting' the reopening on Saturday. Not sure what that means...I suppose we will find out soon enough. Good use of $50,000! Eyeroll
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Post by metrocenter on Nov 2, 2019 10:32:43 GMT -8
Well, it’s open. I rode it today. It was smooth, not particularly fast but fast enough.
With all the hype you almost expect an improved experience. Of course it was the same train as before.
Hopefully they can keep it running now with fewer outages.
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Post by bzzzt on Nov 2, 2019 11:11:38 GMT -8
Well, it’s open. I rode it today. It was smooth, not particularly fast but fast enough. With all the hype you almost expect an improved experience. Of course it was the same train as before. Hopefully they can keep it running now with fewer outages.
Did anything in particular stand out? Any section noticeably faster than before, or is that 5 minutes saved spread out over the whole ride?
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Post by bluelineshawn on Nov 2, 2019 15:01:14 GMT -8
Well, it’s open. I rode it today. It was smooth, not particularly fast but fast enough. With all the hype you almost expect an improved experience. Of course it was the same train as before. Hopefully they can keep it running now with fewer outages. Did anything in particular stand out? Any section noticeably faster than before, or is that 5 minutes saved spread out over the whole ride?
I rode the first train out of 7th. We left as scheduled but it took 5 minutes longer than the scheduled time to reach Long Beach. It didn't seem any faster than before to me and pretty much seemed the same. We stopped Willow, PCH, and some random stoplight between those two. The return train also left on time but arrived back at 7th 3 minutes later than scheduled.
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Post by masonite on Nov 2, 2019 15:07:27 GMT -8
Did anything in particular stand out? Any section noticeably faster than before, or is that 5 minutes saved spread out over the whole ride?
I rode the first train out of 7th. We left as scheduled but it took 5 minutes longer than the scheduled time to reach Long Beach. It didn't seem any faster than before to me and pretty much seemed the same. We stopped Willow, PCH, and some random stoplight between those two. The return train also left on time but arrived back at 7th 3 minutes later than scheduled. So basically no faster than before since they moved the schedule from 58 to 53 minutes. You’d think they’d at least get those 5 minutes. Maybe just first day glitches but disappointing when they said it would be 10 minutes faster when they started and the Mayor of Long Beach said it was 7 minutes faster and he was confident it would get to a 10 minute savings.
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Post by bluelineshawn on Nov 2, 2019 17:09:38 GMT -8
I rode the first train out of 7th. We left as scheduled but it took 5 minutes longer than the scheduled time to reach Long Beach. It didn't seem any faster than before to me and pretty much seemed the same. We stopped Willow, PCH, and some random stoplight between those two. The return train also left on time but arrived back at 7th 3 minutes later than scheduled. So basically no faster than before since they moved the schedule from 58 to 53 minutes. You’d think they’d at least get those 5 minutes. Maybe just first day glitches but disappointing when they said it would be 10 minutes faster when they started and the Mayor of Long Beach said it was 7 minutes faster and he was confident it would get to a 10 minute savings. Yeah, I can't say how it was later but I was traveling at 5am and if they could meet the scheduled time you would think that they could do it at 5am. On a positive note it was busier than I expected. I know that it was free, but it was busy with commuters.
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Post by metrocenter on Nov 6, 2019 10:20:42 GMT -8
I rode Saturday, and I've taken "the A Line" every day so far this week (commuting).
Monday morning was a mess. Apparently they were having major electrical problems with the switch at Washington/Flower. They got these resolved by the early afternoon.
Since then, every trip has been smooth. Having said that, the promised faster trip time has not yet happened. My commute used to take 42-45 minutes. It now takes 45 minutes every time. The schedule says 40 minutes.
Two things to note. First, on the inside of the trains, they now have a schematic map of the route, showing a number in between each pair of stations (signifying minutes). Adding them up, that map indicates 10 minutes total from 7MC to Washington station. That segment has always taken 15 minutes, and it still takes 15 minutes. Not sure what they are planning to do to cut that down by five full minutes.
Secondly, on the Facebook group, one vehicle operator posted that she and her fellow operators were given new timetables to meet, and these timetables are unrealistic without compromising everybody's safety. Not being a driver myself, I have no way to know if this is true (that management is being unrealistic) or false (that her fears are unjustified).
Anyway, I will live with 45 minutes if they can consistently get me downtown in that time. So far, so good.
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Post by masonite on Nov 6, 2019 16:10:22 GMT -8
I rode Saturday, and I've taken "the A Line" every day so far this week (commuting). Monday morning was a mess. Apparently they were having major electrical problems with the switch at Washington/Flower. They got these resolved by the early afternoon. Since then, every trip has been smooth. Having said that, the promised faster trip time has not yet happened. My commute used to take 42-45 minutes. It now takes 45 minutes every time. The schedule says 40 minutes. Two things to note. First, on the inside of the trains, they now have a schematic map of the route, showing a number in between each pair of stations (signifying minutes). Adding them up, that map indicates 10 minutes total from 7MC to Washington station. That segment has always taken 15 minutes, and it still takes 15 minutes. Not sure what they are planning to do to cut that down by five full minutes. Secondly, on the Facebook group, one vehicle operator posted that she and her fellow operators were given new timetables to meet, and these timetables are unrealistic without compromising everybody's safety. Not being a driver myself, I have no way to know if this is true (that management is being unrealistic) or false (that her fears are unjustified). Anyway, I will live with 45 minutes if they can consistently get me downtown in that time. So far, so good. Good info. Yeah, I have heard from others that the trip from LB is actually taking longer than before, which is super disappointing. They are saying the reason is the gate and signal timing is off, but seems strange that they couldn't test this out.
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Post by bluelineshawn on Nov 14, 2019 14:36:44 GMT -8
I rode Saturday, and I've taken "the A Line" every day so far this week (commuting). Monday morning was a mess. Apparently they were having major electrical problems with the switch at Washington/Flower. They got these resolved by the early afternoon. Since then, every trip has been smooth. Having said that, the promised faster trip time has not yet happened. My commute used to take 42-45 minutes. It now takes 45 minutes every time. The schedule says 40 minutes. Two things to note. First, on the inside of the trains, they now have a schematic map of the route, showing a number in between each pair of stations (signifying minutes). Adding them up, that map indicates 10 minutes total from 7MC to Washington station. That segment has always taken 15 minutes, and it still takes 15 minutes. Not sure what they are planning to do to cut that down by five full minutes. Secondly, on the Facebook group, one vehicle operator posted that she and her fellow operators were given new timetables to meet, and these timetables are unrealistic without compromising everybody's safety. Not being a driver myself, I have no way to know if this is true (that management is being unrealistic) or false (that her fears are unjustified). Anyway, I will live with 45 minutes if they can consistently get me downtown in that time. So far, so good. Nearly every anecdotal report is that the line speed is unchanged, yet metro insists that they are meeting the new faster schedule. I live near 7th/metro. If anyone lives near downtown Long Beach and wants to spend an hour or two tracking trains let me know. I can record departures and you could record arrivals and we could compare to the published timetable.
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Post by bluelineshawn on Nov 29, 2019 8:03:35 GMT -8
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