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Post by Gokhan on Jan 15, 2012 18:43:07 GMT -8
At 55 MPH and faster crossings, it's very important for safety to have sufficient time after the gates come down and before the train passes so that if there is any problem, such as the traffic backed up across the crossing, an accident can still be prevented. But this is a 0 MPH crossing we're talking about at Farmdale Avenue.
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Post by crzwdjk on Jan 16, 2012 23:44:17 GMT -8
At 55 MPH and faster crossings, it's very important for safety to have sufficient time after the gates come down and before the train passes so that if there is any problem, such as the traffic backed up across the crossing, an accident can still be prevented. But this is a 0 MPH crossing we're talking about at Farmdale Avenue. I don't know how it is on light rail systems, but on mainline railroads, the requirement is 20 seconds of warning time regardless of speed, and they have devices that attempt to estimate the speed of the approaching train to make sure that the warning time is no MORE than 20 seconds either, because you have to keep car traffic moving, after all. At 79 (or 90) mph, there's definitely not enough time to stop, and barely enough time to even assess the situation and react at all in 20 seconds.
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Post by jamesinclair on Jan 17, 2012 1:29:02 GMT -8
Another problem with the gates being down too much is people start to "cheat" the system. They see the lights and think "oh whatever, the train is still far off" and they try and go anyway. The timing needs to be honest so its respected.
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Post by darrell on Jan 17, 2012 21:27:25 GMT -8
Three-car and one-car test trains were stopped at La Cienega this afternoon (and I didn't see any trains moving).
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Post by jamesinclair on Jan 18, 2012 0:27:19 GMT -8
Thats sort of an ugly wall Shame they didnt use the space to build shops or something.
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Post by Alexis Kasperavičius on Jan 18, 2012 5:14:43 GMT -8
Thats sort of an ugly wall Shame they didnt use the space to build shops or something. Take heart. At the bottom you can see that climbing ivy has been planted. When spring comes around those puppies should shoot up and grab on to that craggy wall like a toddler on a lollipop. Within a few years that whole wall will be covered in green.
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Post by metrocenter on Jan 18, 2012 7:52:33 GMT -8
The 10 MPH speed limit throughout the area around Dorsey High School on top of that is total overkill. It's all thanks to a very unreasonable LAUSD. Will the 10 MPH mandated speed limit be in effect 24 hours a day? Or just during school arrival/departure hours?
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Post by Gokhan on Jan 18, 2012 8:28:52 GMT -8
The 10 MPH speed limit throughout the area around Dorsey High School on top of that is total overkill. It's all thanks to a very unreasonable LAUSD. Will the 10 MPH mandated speed limit be in effect 24 hours a day? Or just during school arrival/departure hours? 24 hours, throughout the year. LAUSD and Fix Expo made it so. Although, I am hoping that once the ATP is installed there, it will be 15 MPH and only until the cab of the train clears the crosswalk, which is what's in the settlement. I am probably being optimistic though.
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Post by Gokhan on Jan 18, 2012 18:45:30 GMT -8
I noticed tonight that so many Expo lights were not working, including some station-pylon legends.
If the contractor can't even screw in a light bulb, don't expect too much from them in getting the line finished and working.
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Post by bobdavis on Jan 21, 2012 2:45:02 GMT -8
That comment about the ivy on the overpass wall reminds me of the comment: Doctors bury their mistakes. Lawyers visit their mistakes at the state pen (and file appeals). Architects, when they see what their drawings look like in full size and three dimensions, call the plant nursery and ask, "What do you have in the way of REALLY FAST GROWING IVY?"
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outthere15
New Member
Take back the rails
Posts: 33
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Post by outthere15 on Jan 21, 2012 15:31:53 GMT -8
Is it just me or do others feel the stagnation of the project in the air. It seems like. after a frenetic start to the 4th quarter, that everyone is taking a coffee break and not finishing the game. I drive along the right of way and see a half hearted attempt at train testing, slow work at the Culver site-works, no hurry at Farmdale. Is it just me?
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Post by bobdavis on Jan 21, 2012 16:46:46 GMT -8
Since I don't get down to ExpoLand very often, I like to make the visits worthwhile. Are we getting close to test trains every ten or twelve minutes, or is there still quite a bit of tinkering (and I have a more colorful term than that) left to do?
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Post by davebowman on Jan 23, 2012 17:38:58 GMT -8
I just saw two trains going in opposite directions at the USC/Expo Park stop at 5:10pm today. They were zipping right along, and I half-expected them to be packed with commuters going home from work.
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Post by simonla on Jan 25, 2012 14:46:36 GMT -8
Is there any reason to think that an Expo Line opening would be discussed at tomorrow's board meeting? It would probably be a closed-session thing, obviously.
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Post by Gokhan on Jan 25, 2012 17:36:36 GMT -8
Is there any reason to think that an Expo Line opening would be discussed at tomorrow's board meeting? It would probably be a closed-session thing, obviously. The meeting is on Friday. The only thing that is allowed for closed-session discussion is legal matter. I expect Rick to give an update on troubleshooting the existing problems.
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Post by simonla on Jan 25, 2012 21:58:14 GMT -8
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Post by Gokhan on Jan 25, 2012 22:05:40 GMT -8
Oh, well, I thought you were asking about the Expo board meeting. That's on Friday.
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Post by simonla on Jan 26, 2012 10:36:46 GMT -8
I think the Expo board meeting is Feb. 2--aren't they typically the first Thursday of the month?
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Post by LAofAnaheim on Jan 26, 2012 11:36:44 GMT -8
Per @lastreetsblog who is covering the board meeting live on Twitter: RT @lastreetsblog: "News: Pre-Revenue Service will start on @expoline on Monday." www.twitter.com/lastreetsblog
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Post by LAofAnaheim on Jan 26, 2012 13:25:55 GMT -8
Right from The Source folks! thesource.metro.net/2012/01/26/expo-line-pre-revenue-service-to-begin-monday/?utm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dexpo-line-pre-revenue-service-to-begin-monday"At today’s Metro Board meeting, agency CEO Art Leahy announced that pre-revenue testing for the Expo Line will begin this coming Monday. The testing is intended to simulate actual service with trains running on a regular schedule, but with no customers on board. Trains will be operating between the Expo Line terminus at 7th/Metro Center and the La Cienega/Jefferson station while work continues on the final station in Culver City. Although train testing has been ongoing since last spring, there will be a greater frequency of trains running on the Expo tracks at many hours of the day. It is important for pedestrians, motorists and cyclists to remain vigilant around Expo Line tracks and obey all warning signs and traffic signals. Safety is everybody’s job, people. No opening date for the Expo Line has been announced. I know many of you are eager for the line to open — so are we — and we’ll let you know as soon as there is something to report. "
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Post by Gokhan on Jan 26, 2012 14:10:50 GMT -8
I think the Expo board meeting is Feb. 2--aren't they typically the first Thursday of the month? Normally on Thursdays at 2:30 pm, but sometimes they are scheduled on different days and times. Tomorrow there will be one. We should find out more about the prerevenue operation at the Expo board meeting tomorrow. But a maximum of 12 weeks of prerevenue operation means a La Cienega opening by April 22. Hopefully it will open the weekend before, as the Festival of Books will take place during that weekend. My guess on the Expo "Guess the opening date for Phase 1" thread was April 15. It looks like I might be the winner of the bet after all. I wonder what the prize will be.
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Post by Gokhan on Jan 26, 2012 14:20:55 GMT -8
By the way, I strongly suspect that many things are still not working as they should and they are a little bit rushing into the prerevenue operation, hoping that they will fix the remaining problems during the prerevenue operation. Therefore, I don't expect anything less than 10 weeks of prerevenue operation.
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Post by simonla on Jan 26, 2012 16:29:16 GMT -8
You think? Not doubting you, I just know at the last Board Meeting, they were saying some of the testing they've been doing the past couple weeks could be counted as pre-revenue, thereby cutting down on the length of time for the actual pre-revenue service.
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Post by Gokhan on Jan 26, 2012 16:42:18 GMT -8
In any case, I don't expect the prerevenue operation to be less than 6 weeks, which is how long it was for the Eastside Gold Line. That would put the earliest opening date on March 11.
On top of that, I suspect that there are still a lot of problems involving the signaling that need to be solved. How this will affect the prerevenue operation and opening is something that needs to be seen. It could end up being a very long period of prerevenue operation.
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Post by Gokhan on Jan 27, 2012 9:40:08 GMT -8
Still no official news release from Metro on the Expo Line prerevenue operation. Only a word of mouth from the Metro CEO Art Leahy at the board meeting yesterday. Strange.
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Post by masonite on Jan 27, 2012 11:05:22 GMT -8
Still no official news release from Metro on the Expo Line prerevenue operation. Only a word of mouth from the Metro CEO Art Leahy at the board meeting yesterday. Strange. It is really all Metro's call at this point. I do imagine that it will be mentioned at the Expo Authority Meeting today though. I still think a March opening is probably too optimistic with this line so my hope is early April, but who knows. I worry about all the problems not being fixed yet and new ones popping up like GLEE. However, they have been testing trains for quite a while in some form, so they should know the line pretty well at this point. Hopefully, after a couple of weeks of Stage 3 prerevenue they will be confident enough to declare an opening date. Now we can start worrying and complaining about the slowness of Phase II construction
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Post by LAofAnaheim on Jan 27, 2012 11:27:03 GMT -8
Still no official news release from Metro on the Expo Line prerevenue operation. Only a word of mouth from the Metro CEO Art Leahy at the board meeting yesterday. Strange. Isn't The Source basically the same as a press release?
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Post by Gokhan on Jan 27, 2012 13:24:00 GMT -8
Still no official news release from Metro on the Expo Line prerevenue operation. Only a word of mouth from the Metro CEO Art Leahy at the board meeting yesterday. Strange. Isn't The Source basically the same as a press release? No, that was just Steve Hymon reporting CEO Leahy's comments to the Metro board. I could have done that myself if I was listening to the meeting. An official press release happens on the Metro Web site. Remember there was one last time -- Expo hands over the line to Metro for prerevenue -- which actually turned out to be false info. The Source had reported that news release on their Web site. There needs to be an official news release like that. Perhaps it will happen on Monday.
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Post by Gokhan on Jan 27, 2012 16:05:51 GMT -8
The 3000th post!Enjoy the Expo-board-meeting audio from today's meeting: Expo board meeting 2012/01/27Unfortunately the status update was skipped because the meeting got too long thanks to many public comments from the bicyclists. But it was mentioned that the junction seems to be working now and the prerevenue operation will likely start on Monday. Although, it still doesn't seem to be official. We'll probably get an official news release when the prerevenue operation starts. Zev is hoping that the line could open to La Cienega after two months of prerevenue in late March. There were a lot of bicyclist talking about the motion about the bike path. Another important news is that they made a motion to study the feasibility of crossing gates at the potentially dangerous zigzag Exposition/Rodeo grade crossing.
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Post by Gokhan on Jan 30, 2012 11:45:58 GMT -8
BREAKING NEWS: Expo Line Phase 1 prerevenue operation did not start today
Due to unknown problems, today the prerevenue operation couldn't start as it was announced by the Metro CEO at the board meeting. My guess is that the junction is still not working as expected or they aren't comfortable with it. The junction was still running in the manual mode and some operators didn't know how to properly interpret the signals, requiring more operator training.
There wasn't a single test train today.
Until there is an official news release on the Metro Web site, nothing is certain with regard to the prerevenue operation. It looks like there is a great information disconnect out there -- not only public is not being properly informed about the status of the project but the Metro and Expo staff aren't informed about it either.
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