Charlotte's Light Rail: Lynx Blue Line

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Nick2 said:

I suppose that's why the second avenue expansion is costing approximately 300,000 per FOOT to build.

haha, the guys that poorly sweep and mop on the subway make about as much money a year as me. 

Edited June 19, 2017 by Guest

[Nick2]

@ricky_davis_fan_21 Let us not forget the middle men and politicians who get to line their pockets with excess money they find. And when you're talking multiple billions of dollars, it should be pretty easy to find excess money in the budget.

A few thousand dollar hard hats here, a couple three thousand dollar vests, some $500 dollar goggles. A $100,000 port-a-potty or 20 of them. Etc.

Edited June 19, 2017 by Nick2

[CLTranspo]

2 hours ago, Squid7085 said:

I rode the new light rail line from Denver International to Downtown today. 

The A Line is actually commuter rail, not light rail. So it has much more seating and  less standing room. Also has luggage racks and pretty much a conductor checking tickets.

Also, since it is commuter rail, it has to follow FRA standards instead of FTA standards. The gate issue is actually that they are staying down too long, which is much better than the alternative of not staying down long enough. If it was FTA regulated they would probably just give kudos for exceeding safety requirements lol

Edited June 19, 2017 by CLTranspo

[Squid7085]

55 minutes ago, CLTranspo said:

The A Line is actually commuter rail, not light rail. So it has much more seating and  less standing room. Also has luggage racks and pretty much a conductor checking tickets.

Also, since it is commuter rail, it has to follow FRA standards instead of FTA standards. The gate issue is actually that they are staying down too long, which is much better than the alternative of not staying down long enough. If it was FTA regulated they would probably just give kudos for exceeding safety requirements lol

Good to know, I just assumed it was light rail as the trains look almost identical to the rest of the system. I did see a transit officer walk by my seat, but no one ever asked for my $9 ticket. Funnily enough, I went to buy one of their "smart cards" and the agent asked if I ride the light rail a lot. I told her I was just visiting and wanted it for the week. She told me, "Oh, just hop on and off the trains, they don't check." I hope Charlotte implements the smart card system better than Denver appears to have, and name it better too, "MyRide", I mean really? Of all the historical and current names they could have pulled for it, they come up with that.

[CLTranspo]

13 minutes ago, Squid7085 said:

Good to know, I just assumed it was light rail as the trains look almost identical to the rest of the system. I did see a transit officer walk by my seat, but no one ever asked for my $9 ticket. Funnily enough, I went to buy one of their "smart cards" and the agent asked if I ride the light rail a lot. I told her I was just visiting and wanted it for the week. She told me, "Oh, just hop on and off the trains, they don't check." I hope Charlotte implements the smart card system better than Denver appears to have, and name it better too, "MyRide", I mean really? Of all the historical and current names they could have pulled for it, they come up with that.

Maybe I'm just a train nerd but they really aren't close to identical. The commuter rail has level boardings and you cannot walk across the tracks, whereas the light rail does not have level boardings (stairs inside train cars) and often shares the street with other vehicles and has pedestrian crossings. The commuter rail has 3 and 2 person, defined seats while the light rail has seats that seat 1 or 2 and lots of standing room. http://www.rtd-fastracks.com/main_398

Also, I have ridden the airport line about 6 times and been checked for my ticket at least once each time, usually twice if going all the way from union station and not transferring on midway. 

My smart card works just fine, but agreed, they probably could have called it something creative playing off the Rockies or mountains etc

[LKN704]

I'm hoping that CATS gets creative with their smart card branding-hopefully playing into the big-cat theme or something to do with Queen Charlotte.

Something like the "Cheetah Card".

[tarwater]

Last Sunday, a train arrived at the UNCC station for the first time. This means that the entire line has now been traversed successfully. 

https://inside.uncc.edu/news-features/2017-06-19/‘light-rail-connects-us’-–-first-train-arrives-campus

Edited June 25, 2017 by tarwater
typo

[cjd5050]

Someone posted this on Reddit.  Looks like a student project or similar.  Very cool IMHO.

Queen City Transit 

 

qc_system_map.pdf

[kermit]

^ its funny how things recirculate, that graphic was originally posted here 12 years ago.

While I think its a fantastic concept,  it was only a graphic design project. Don't go looking for substance in it.

Edited June 25, 2017 by kermit

[cjd5050]

^ for sure an unrealistic view.  Wasn't until the comments that the poster mentioned 12 years.   Holding up that long on a student project is pretty darn impressive.  

[ah59396]

I've had that saved on my iphone as a pdf since like 2009 when I saw it on here!  I was excited to see it on reddit the other day.

 

Always thought it was so neat (especially the QC Transit logo).  One of the first things that made me a full-time lurker on here.

[KJHburg]

Parkwood, 36th Street and Sugar Creek stations today. And new Sugar Creek Rd overpass bridge. 

[NY+SC=NC]

21 hours ago, KJHburg said:

Parkwood, 36th Street and Sugar Creek stations today. And new Sugar Creek Rd overpass bridge. 

What exactly is that happening under the 36th street bridge? I've seen it in pictures and with my own eyes and I can't wrap my mind around what I'm seeing.

[KJHburg]

36th Street will be open again with the Norfolk southern line and light rail going over the street. It is a grade separation beyond that I don't know.

[KJHburg]

2 University area stations today. The JW Clay Station and the UNC Charlotte on campus station. Was hoping to catch a train testing but no luck. 

[nakers2]

On 6/25/2017 at 6:47 PM, cjd5050 said:

Someone posted this on Reddit.  Looks like a student project or similar.  Very cool IMHO.

Queen City Transit 

 

qc_system_map.pdf

This makes me sad honestly, wouldn't it be nice. It just makes me think (I realize density, car culture play into it) of how good the transit system in Antwerp Belgium is, a city about the size of Raleigh, but with the density of cities like New York or San Francisco. (I have family there, so it's a bit of pride for me)

[Matthew.Brendan]

Hah, Hoboken  (thinking NJ) but yes that is a beautiful thing indeed! I would love to visit some day. Is that light rail/tram plus bus routes? Off to google pics of Antwerp Central Station!

edit: OMG. I should have known. Amazing.

Edited July 11, 2017 by Matthew.Brendan

[elrodvt]

Off topic but I love going to Shinjuku station myself. Especially the Yakitori stands next to it in "piss alley" (it's not really that nasty I think they just want to scare tourists away).

https://www.shinjukustation.com/shinjuku-station-map-finding-your-way/

http://tokyofromtheinside.com/demystifying-the-railway-train-and-subway-systems-of-tokyo/

We're planning a trip to Barcelona for a month or so (working at home is nice!). Does anyone know if the system there is easy to use and are there signs in English?

 

[archiham04]

overlapping!!!!  no hub and spoke.  overlapping!!!

[CLT704]

26 minutes ago, elrodvt said:

We're planning a trip to Barcelona for a month or so (working at home is nice!). Does anyone know if the system there is easy to use and are there signs in English?

 

Been twice: first time was flawless, second time was hell as the drivers were striking. Very easy to use, especially with day travel cards, frequency is really good. Announcements on all lines apart from L9 are just in Catalan (L9 has Catalan, Spanish, and English announcements) but are fairly easy to understand (I speak French and a little Spanish so I got the gist of it but that might not be the case for you). Signs were in English too IIRC. Barcelona Metro, buses, and trams are all clean and modern. TMB operates all buses and most of the metro, FGC operates some metro routes, and 2 different companies run the trams- but if you get a 'Hola BCN' card, you don't have to worry about buying different tickets as it can be used on all Barcelona transport. 

Edited July 11, 2017 by CLT704

[kermit]

34 minutes ago, CLT704 said:

TMB operates all buses and most of the metro, FGC operates some metro routes, and 2 different companies run the trams- but if you get a 'Hola BCN' card, you don't have to worry about buying different tickets as it can be used on all Barcelona transport. 

^ and the somewhat obvious caveat to this is the day (or 3 day) pass you get from machines in the metro does not work on all the busses (but it does work on all rail within the appropriate zones).

I don't remember many english signs but the system is well mapped and logical. You will have no problems with navigation.

[archiham04]

So with all this talk about tunnels, I ask... why not OVERLAP?  let the silverline run up brookshire ROW, take a left, merge onto southbound LRT and then take a right down the John Belk ROW.

UPDATE:   This will only save a BILLION dollars.... and provide better service and connections.

Edited July 11, 2017 by archiham04

[elrodvt]

With all the talk about PTC for Amtrak does anyone know if the blue line has or is capable of having PTC? Without that I would think overlap brings some safety issues or greatly reduces frequency of operations.

Edited July 11, 2017 by elrodvt

[kermit]

18 minutes ago, elrodvt said:

With all the talk about PTC for Amtrak does anyone know if the blue line has or is capable of having PTC? Without that I would think overlap brings some safety issues or greatly reduces frequency of operations.

99% sure that it does not currently have PTC, but equally sure it is possible. However, PTC is just an unnecessary middle step towards fully automated trains. The technology exists (and is in use in Vancouver and Paris and others) and will bring operating costs down and capacity up. Autonomous LRT is far easier to implement than self-driving autos.

[elrodvt]

10 minutes ago, kermit said:

99% sure that it does not currently have PTC, but equally sure it is possible. However, PTC is just an unnecessary middle step towards fully automated trains. The technology exists (and is in use in Vancouver and Paris and others) and will bring operating costs down and capacity up. Autonomous LRT is far easier to implement than self-driving autos.

Makes perfect sense but does it cost more? You know how that goes...