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Post by metrocenter on Feb 21, 2012 11:26:20 GMT -8
If this was an attempt at humor, you failed Forum Lesson #1: Don't antagonize the moderator.
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Post by roadtrainer on Feb 21, 2012 11:33:51 GMT -8
In any case, seeing that train at night was awesome! My friend was laughing at me because I was so excited. But then, she does live in Manhattan! You real smart guys don't get it! He wasn't trying to be funny , He was just telling us about his exciting day!
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Post by roadtrainer on Feb 21, 2012 11:36:56 GMT -8
Now for some serious questions--How many Siemens cars will be used for the Expo-line? And how many Sharyo cars will be used on this line? Will there be three car train sets? or will it operate like the Green line and use one car in the late hours?
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Post by Gokhan on Feb 21, 2012 12:44:28 GMT -8
If this was an attempt at humor, you failed Forum Lesson #1: Don't antagonize the moderator. Forum Lesson #0 (which precedes Lesson #1): Don't antagonize anyone.
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Post by Gokhan on Feb 21, 2012 12:54:52 GMT -8
Note how long the gates were down unnecessarily at Farmdale. You can hear the driver of the car trying to make a right turn swearing. Fix Expo ruined it for everyone. isnt that what they wanted? "Expo will cause major delays" "No it wont" "We demand you implement all these policies (that will cause major delays" *policies implemented* "aha, we told you! major delays!" Note how long the gates were down unnecessarily at Farmdale. You can hear the driver of the car trying to make a right turn swearing. Fix Expo ruined it for everyone. Would it make sense to start a campaign to remove this restriction yet? Maybe a sign next to the intersection saying: "Why is the Train So Slow?"...with a link to a campaign. Maybe too early, but the neighborhood will start complaining soon enough. That crossing is a joke. Yes, we've ended up with a slow-moving freight train instead of light-rail at Farmdale.
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Post by simonla on Feb 21, 2012 15:35:43 GMT -8
It looks slow, but it's actually only a minute. It's not ideal, but I think the teeth-gnashing is a bit dramatic.
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Post by Gokhan on Feb 21, 2012 15:38:56 GMT -8
It looks slow, but it's actually only a minute. It's not ideal, but I think the teeth-gnashing is a bit dramatic. It's true -- not that bad -- but it psychologically frustrates both those on the train and waiting at the gate. It's similar to the Marmion Way for the Gold Line.
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Post by rubbertoe on Feb 21, 2012 16:13:24 GMT -8
It looks slow, but it's actually only a minute. It's not ideal, but I think the teeth-gnashing is a bit dramatic. It's true -- not that bad -- but it psychologically frustrates both those on the train and waiting at the gate. It's similar to the Marmion Way for the Gold Line. Perception means a lot. I cross the Gold Line at California Av in Pasadena almost every day on my way to work. It is an amazing piece of coordination between the incoming trains and the crossing gates. The gates come down about 15 seconds before the train arrives. After the train goes past, the gates start coming up in about 5 seconds. The traffic lights on California are coordinated with this, so that when the gates come up, the cross traffic light goes green. If a second train is going the other way, and is fairly close, the gates stay down until the second train goes by, then go up 5 seconds after that train is gone, and the cross traffic gets the green light. Point being that the only time the gates are down for any period when trains aren't present, is when there is a short (i.e. <30 seconds) period between opposing trains passing through the intersection. When the trains do go by, they are going pretty fast. If the trains were going slow, like at Farmdale, or the cross traffic green light doesn't come on immediately like in Pasadena, I would think that the people waiting in cars would get exasperated. For example, not only are the gates down when there are no trains present, but when the trains do go by they are doing 5MPH, then you need to wait an additional 40 seconds for the light to go green... RT
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Post by carter on Feb 21, 2012 16:39:10 GMT -8
Now for some serious questions--How many Siemens cars will be used for the Expo-line? And how many Sharyo cars will be used on this line? Will there be three car train sets? or will it operate like the Green line and use one car in the late hours? I'm not sure on the precise numbers of cars Metro has available, but from what I've read (of publicly available docs), the plan is to run 3-car trainsets every 12 minutes. Not sure how that headway might change over the course of the day.
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Post by John Ryan on Feb 27, 2012 10:44:17 GMT -8
Yesterday, Source reported that "Metro CEO Art Leahy told Board members that he will have meetings in the next 10 days or so to try to determine an opening date for the Expo Line, which could be as soon as early spring. The opening will depend on several factors, most notably the state Public Utilities Commission approval of the line and local fire and safety officials signing off on the line." thesource.metro.net/2012/02/16/updates-on-locking-the-gates-and-expo-line-opening/ Hmm, "early Spring"; in 2012 Spring begins on March 20. ...And Spring ends on June 19. Sooo, early Spring would be less than the half way point, May 5th. I think April 15th is gaining some legs! I hope to see an announcement soon!
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Post by Gokhan on Feb 27, 2012 13:22:55 GMT -8
I expect an announcement later this week and an opening in mid-April.
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Post by Gokhan on Feb 27, 2012 19:04:05 GMT -8
Hopefully it will open before the Festival of Books. If it keeps being delayed, it may open as well for the Carnival of Souls. (In the more likely case that you haven't seen the movie and didn't get the joke as a result, it means everyone will be dead.)
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outthere15
New Member
Take back the rails
Posts: 33
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Post by outthere15 on Feb 27, 2012 20:53:18 GMT -8
It is incredibly arrogant to treat the riding public as Metro have done. I have never seen such a disregard for what we, the people that entrusted our treasure to them, have the right to know and when we should know it. Not a word about what is going on with our capital investment, it is just ticking along at their pace without update or apology. An appalling lack of accountability.
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Post by masonite on Feb 27, 2012 22:28:33 GMT -8
It is incredibly arrogant to treat the riding public as Metro have done. I have never seen such a disregard for what we, the people that entrusted our treasure to them, have the right to know and when we should know it. Not a word about what is going on with our capital investment, it is just ticking along at their pace without update or apology. An appalling lack of accountability. It is really the Expo Authority in charge of building the line not Metro. Also, in the end, this project, while frustrating, is not much different than others. The 405 Freeway expansion in West LA comes to mind even though it didn't get nearly the same attention. The lanes up to the 10 were at least a year behind schedule. The contractor was very slow. Now the current section through the pass is behind schedule and the contractor has poorly built some retaining walls that have failed. Unfortunately once a contractor falls behind there isn't much they can say or do. Everyone wants them to give a hard opening date, but just now is the contractor finishing the project. Even now Metro needs some additional signoff by others before an opening date can be contemplated. Giving some opening date until now would be useless. It does appear at last we are very close. I do think Expo and Rick Thorpe got too creative with the contract design in Phase 1 and the project has suffered because of this. There was pretty poor coordination with DWP and you have to place most of that blame on Expo. Also, the recent lack of progress on Phase 2 is especially troubling because we are getting tripped up in just the design phase.
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Post by simonla on Feb 28, 2012 16:16:14 GMT -8
Alkin James Bilgihan writing on Expo Facebook page:
"Update from CPUC - they are waiting on Metro submitting the Safety Certification Verification Report - this is required under General Order 164 to be submitted at least 21 days prior to the start of revenue service. CPUC then has 9 days to respond with agreement or objection. As Metro hasn't submitted it we are at least 30 days+ from opening the line."
Can anyone verify? And if true, I can't see the turn around on this happening in 30 days.
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Post by bluelineshawn on Feb 28, 2012 22:14:22 GMT -8
Alkin James Bilgihan writing on Expo Facebook page: "Update from CPUC - they are waiting on Metro submitting the Safety Certification Verification Report - this is required under General Order 164 to be submitted at least 21 days prior to the start of revenue service. CPUC then has 9 days to respond with agreement or objection. As Metro hasn't submitted it we are at least 30 days+ from opening the line." Can anyone verify? And if true, I can't see the turn around on this happening in 30 days. I don't know about the technical requirements, but logically it doesn't make sense. If they are required to submit it 21 days prior to revenue service, then the 9 day response from the CPUC would fall within those 21 days, not be added onto the be end.
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Post by simonla on Feb 29, 2012 22:00:07 GMT -8
FYI: Expo board meeting tomorrow (March 1) at 2:30.
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Post by Gokhan on Mar 1, 2012 15:13:18 GMT -8
At the Expo board meeting today, it was mentioned that the automatic train-protection (ATP) system at the Expo - Blue Lines junction at Washington Blvd and Flower St is still not properly working and being kept off. Metro cannot finish the prerevenue operation and enter the revenue operation until the problems at the junction are resolved.
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Post by Gokhan on Mar 1, 2012 15:17:15 GMT -8
It looks like the line will open to Culver City, instead of to La Cienega, in May - June. Details to follow.
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Post by Gokhan on Mar 1, 2012 15:25:09 GMT -8
The Culver City section of the line will be operational on March 15 and the construction (including station plaza and parking) will be finished on May 1. If the problems with the fire-alarm system in Culver City are solved, the line will open to Culver City in May.
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Post by Gokhan on Mar 1, 2012 15:43:28 GMT -8
The biggest news at the Expo board meeting today is that the partial opening to La Cienega may be scrapped. The contractor and Expo Authority are having "significant" problems at the Expo - Blue Lines junction at Flower St and Washington Blvd. The automatic train protection (ATP) at the junction is still not working and hence being kept off, and the line cannot be approved by CPUC and open before it is fixed. The Culver City segment is approaching completion, with the line being operational on March 15 and the prerevenue operation starting there on that date and the rest of the construction, which is the station plaza and parking, being finished on May 1. It will be possible to open the line to Culver City in May. However, they are having significant issues with the fire-alarm system there, which needs to be operational before the line can open. It now looks like an initial opening to La Cienega is becoming less likely and an initial opening to Culver City is becoming more and more likely, perhaps including the Farmdale Station as well. Enjoy the Expo-board-meeting audio, especially the project-status presentation by CPO Eric Olson and CEO Rick Thorpe's response to the Culver City mayor Micheál O' Leary's question on the opening of the line. Expo board meeting -- 2012/03/01
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Post by bzcat on Mar 1, 2012 16:19:31 GMT -8
I can't believe the junction is still not working.
Opening the line to Culver City is great but only because the massive incompetency made it possible.
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Post by simonla on Mar 1, 2012 16:24:37 GMT -8
Cannot. Believe. This.
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Post by metrocenter on Mar 1, 2012 17:26:35 GMT -8
Mark my words, this line will not open until summer, July 1 at the earliest. Sad part is, that's not even a crazy prediction anymore.
The ATP at Flower/Washington junction was apparently implemented by incompetents. Anyone know the subcontractor responsible for this mess?
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Post by Gokhan on Mar 1, 2012 17:38:55 GMT -8
Anyone know the subcontractor responsible for this mess? The original subcontractor quit early on.
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Post by bobdavis on Mar 1, 2012 18:14:31 GMT -8
All together now: "Hey folks, this isn't rocket science!" And I've promised my brother a ride to Exposition Park to see the Space Shuttle "Endeavour" when it's set up for display. I hope the trains are running by then. (his design team developed the hydraulic system for the Shuttle landing gear. Worked fine, every time!)
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Post by mattapoisett on Mar 1, 2012 19:03:51 GMT -8
So when are we going start talking about a bus bridge between say 23rd St. and Metro Center stations?
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Post by bluelineshawn on Mar 1, 2012 20:20:14 GMT -8
Gokhan, thanks for the updates on today's meeting although I've now officially lost interest in keeping track of any further progress (lack thereof is more like it). I'll just wait until they announce an opening date and try my best to be there and on the first train if I can.
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Post by TransportationZ on Mar 1, 2012 23:39:50 GMT -8
The level of retardation on this project has reached an all time high. I'm done with this line. Phase 1 is a mess, sitting practically completed with stations begging to be used but ONE DAMN JUNCTION is keeping the line from opening. Phase 2 is already behind schedule, and real construction hasn't even started yet. At this rate, they might as well wait and open it as one complete line to Santa Monica, in what? 2025?
What's the point of Measure R if these lines are going to take so long to build that they are going to open in the same amount of time that it would've taken if we didn't have MR?
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Post by LAofAnaheim on Mar 1, 2012 23:55:44 GMT -8
Well, if there was ever any silver lining, its the fact that the line will open to Culver City instead of Expo/La Cienega, which is truly a "nowhere destination". Saying the train is going between downtown LA and Culver City will show that Metro is connecting neighborhoods/cities via rail transit.
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