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Charlotte's Light Rail: Lynx Blue Line


dubone

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From my car 85 operation experience and training it is best practice to apply zero power to the wheels (no acceleration) when crossing any switch, curve, or where rails are not level across, left rail to right rail. This is also true of course when any rail shows deformation. The trucks (wheels) will communicate to the operator these problem areas by sound, vibration or other sensation to alert the operator to withhold power. If it is not possible to coast past these areas at low speed then very low power creep is the alternative. When an observer notes squeals from the wheels this is when power should be reduced.

I am certain these practices apply to modern cars on steel rails. It is the rail that prescribes proper operation, not the car.

 

 

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8 hours ago, CarolinaCrown said:

So I got an answer to my question today after noticing pieces of rail laying at the corner of Clanton and South Blvd.  I spoke with some CATS workers and this section was scheduled to be replaced this past weekend but due to rain it has been pushed to this upcoming weekend.  They said its gotten pretty gnarly, the trains basically have to come to a stop here to not derail.

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It's really annoying that they have to crawl through but also one time the driver just sped through the intersection and I bounced probably 4-5in off my seat. It was actually slightly scary.

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On ‎5‎/‎2‎/‎2016 at 0:59 PM, Piedmont767 said:

That's a bit ambiguous. Early summer, mid summer, late summer? But it always seemed to be reported for an Late August 2017 opening. 

http://registrar.uncc.edu/sites/registrar.uncc.edu/files/media/Five-Year-Calendar-2018-19.pdf UNC-Charlotte semester starts 8/15/17 when freshmen arrive, classes starts 8/21/17. I am sure they would like to get it operational by then so as not to screw up fall parking assignmentsfor students/faculty/staff

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Cat wire is now up over the CSX bridge and stringing wires at the North storage yard began this week. This means that the tracks and wires from 7th street to 25th street (other than the storage yard) are now superficially complete.

The closing of N Davidson near Craighead will allow crews to begin grading on the ROW between the NCRR overpass and the North end of the ACWR bridge (no grading has been started in this section other than the 36th street overpass).

Station awnings (really just the posts) have popped up at 9th street.

It appears that the grade crossing of 5th street (on the blue line) was also reworked during last weekend's shutdown.

Not directly related to the BLE, support pillars for the Sugar Creek overpass have begun to appear.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Construction update:

The north storage yard tracks appear to now be complete (but its hard to see without serious trespassing). About 1/3 of the cat wires in the yard also appear to be done. Storage yard building is really dragging (not yet vertical)

Cat wires and tracks are (visually) 100% complete from 7th street to Matheson. I had my bike and rode up 16th street (still closed) and it appears they are having some difficulty with duct work and signal wiring there. The crossing will need to be completely repaved before it can reopen. Crossing gates are complete South of the yard so we should see the yard in use as soon as the construction staging can move north.

Canopy supports are now up at 9th street.

About 25% of the rail between Old Concord and JW Clay appears to be set, but not yet ballasted, straightened, etc. I have seen no wire work (and relatively few cat poles) north of Matheson.

Construction scaffolding has begun to come down off the Old Concord / N Tryon bridge.

Grading and civil work between ACWR and Craighead remain the booger in the cornflakes for the BLE. Other elements that appear to me moving too slowly are the Sugar Creek and Old Concord decks as well as all streetscape / neighborhood infrastructure projects (I would think we should be seeing all of them in motion in the next month or two). I am also disappointed to see no ped improvements underway at UNCC -- summertime is when all the construction happens.

Is the only way to access the station at U City blvd via the ped bridge / parking deck? It currently looks like it is impossible to access the platform from the east side of Tryon -- is this really the plan?

Edited by kermit
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South End’s new residents have the choice of train or Uber. Many prefer Uber.

Didn't see this mentioned.....   It feels like the observer is looking to make a story out of nothing.   

To start, it appears everyone they spoke to did not speak to transportation related to commuting to work.  It would have been nice if they presented that.  Also, I am not sure why the expectation is there that someone living in the South End would walk 5 min to a station, take 10 minutes on a train and then walk an additional few minutes to various locations Uptown when they can an Uber in 10 minutes.  Especially if weather is an issue.  

Unless you're talking about a regular commute for work, I think the South End stations (New Bern, East/West, Bland and Carson) are pointless for any type of Uptown destination.  When the new line opens up going to NoDa or the University Area will be a different story.  

Also...kinda silly to talk about revenue when you have an honor system.  They should invest in only providing access to the stations after payment.  I bet you could lower prices while producing more revenue simply by getting everyone to pay.

 

 

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41 minutes ago, cjd5050 said:

I bet you could lower prices while producing more revenue simply by getting everyone to pay.

Not if the capital costs of sealing the stations exceeds the revenue gained from 'getting everyone to pay.' 

1)  there will always be fare evaders (turnstyle jumpers) no matter how much you spend on preventing evasion. Also keep in mind that just because someone doesn't use the fare machine doesn't mean they are evading the fare -- there are monthly and day passes, bus transfers and round trip tickets that eliminate the need to use the machine every ride.

2) blue line stations can never be effectively sealed since the vast majority of them are at grade (e.g. you can't prevent someone from getting into the East-West station by walking two steps in the middle of the tracks on east blvd onto the platform).

3) the current audit system isn't perfect, but it detects significantly less than 5% evasion. Auditing and enforcement should improve once the BLE opens and the new electronic fare system is installed. There is little to gain from spending megabucks on turnstyles and fences.

4) our open stations are helpful to urbanism. People in the stations are part of the streetscape, not removed from the city in underground caves like most heavy rail systems. By walling passengers off we will unintentionally reduce the vitality around stations -- exactly the opposite of what we hope to achieve from our investment in rail.

Edited by kermit
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7 minutes ago, kermit said:

Not if the capital costs of sealing the stations exceeds the revenue gained from 'getting everyone to pay.'

The capital and maintenance costs for automated controlled station access for most light rail systems exceed the cost of paying for ticket enforcement.  Once you get to heavy rail numbers the metrics change.

Edited by DEnd
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2 minutes ago, kermit said:

Not if the capital costs of sealing the stations exceeds the revenue gained from 'getting everyone to pay.' 

1)  there will always be fare evaders (turnstyle jumpers) no matter how much you spend on preventing evasion. Also keep in mind that just because someone doesn't use the fare machine doesn't mean they are evading the fare -- there are monthly and day passes, bus transfers and round trip tickets that eliminate the need to use the machine every ride.

2) blue line stations can never be effectively sealed since the vast majority of them are at grade (e.g. you can't prevent someone from getting into the East-West station by walking two steps in the middle of the tracks on east blvd onto the platform).

3) the current audit system isn't perfect, but it detects significantly less than 5% evasion. Auditing and enforcement should improve once the BLE opens and the new electronic fare system is installed. There is little to gain from spending megabucks on turnstyles and fences.

4) our open stations are helpful to urbanism. People in the stations are part of the streetscape, not removed from the city in underground caves like most heavy rail systems. By walling passengers off we will unintentionally reduce the vitality around stations -- exactly the opposite of what we hope to achieve from our investment in rail.

Very good points and you changed my mind on the idea of investing to produce payment.  

Now all that is needed is for LYNX to make the same counter argument when the public talks about revenue.  

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3 hours ago, cjd5050 said:

Very good points and you changed my mind on the idea of investing to produce payment.  

Now all that is needed is for LYNX to make the same counter argument when the public talks about revenue.  

They do. This question comes up every year or so when there's a report mentioning it or some politico brings it up.

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Does anyone know any details of what happened yesterday evening? I was on a train headed uptown at 10 and they stopped it at scaleybark and had a bus bridge to uptown. The driver said they'd been experiencing a power outage since 3.

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It's asinine to think that CATS would ever install a secure faregate system at all stations.

HOWEVER, maybe 15 years down the line, once CATS formally converts to a smart card system, I could see CATS possibly adding faregates at stations that aren't at grade (Tyvola, CTC, Stonewall, etc..). Metro in LA has done that as well. Light rail stations that could be easily secured received faregates, while all others remain part of a proof of payment system, requiring riders to tap on to a fare reader at the station.

 

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