Charlotte's Light Rail: Lynx Blue Line

[elrodvt]

24 minutes ago, Matthew.Brendan said:

Sounds like they just need additional cars.

I do think there are some crossing issues to be dealt with that could also help.

[davidclt]

15 hours ago, kermit said:

1) I am very glad that John Lewis has finally acknowledged that there is a reliability problem

2) WTF took so long for him to make this admission?

I'm glad the problems are acknowledged, but what did he really say? Not much if you ask me (but you didn't).

I want some real self-reflection. "Our rolling stock is at mid-life and in need of an overhaul, we need more rolling stock, we need better drivers and we need to revamp the signaling and gates system. We need to do a better job communicating in a clear and timely manner to our customers in stations, on platforms, at stops and shelters and we need to provide first class customer service in all of our interactions with our customers. We are accountable to you the citizens and taxpayers of Charlotte and we are committed to communicating monthly what progress we've made and what progress we intent to make in the coming months. We WILL do better. We MUST do better." And why is it always about "safe" that's a given (don't be stupid around transit vehicles), why is is not "reliable"?

Edited February 15, 2020 by davidclt

[southslider]

How odd that all of the problems with the age of the trains started after the Extension opened.  Fact is the full line hasn't ever operated within the time promised. And the more the schedule was pushed to be closer to what was promised, the more often the delays would occur.

[LKN704]

How are cars that are only 13 years old reaching their Midlife?

TriMet still uses cars from the 1980s, and the LA Metro and Denver RTD all have light rail vehicles from the 1990s.

[nakers2]

11 hours ago, LKN704 said:

How are cars that are only 13 years old reaching their Midlife?

TriMet still uses cars from the 1980s, and the LA Metro and Denver RTD all have light rail vehicles from the 1990s.

I think "midlife" shouldn't be taken too literally, or could alternatively refer to the halfway point to when the trains will need a full refurb. I know some of the trains on the DC Metro date to the early to mid 80's but are far from original "under the hood."

[navigator319]

Ridiculous. I really don’t know how I can vote for expanded rail when they (cats + city oversight) can’t handle what they have.

[navigator319]

https://charlottenc.gov/newsroom/releases/Pages/RA-200218a.aspx

Link this time. Pathetic.

[tozmervo]

18 minutes ago, navigator319 said:

https://charlottenc.gov/newsroom/releases/Pages/RA-200218a.aspx

Link this time. Pathetic.

May I ask what you would prefer as a less "pathetic" solution? 

[tarwater]

16 minutes ago, navigator319 said:

https://charlottenc.gov/newsroom/releases/Pages/RA-200218a.aspx

Link this time. Pathetic.

The "solution" to trains being late is that now trains will run less often. Great. Problem solved, guys!

 

[navigator319]

May I ask what you would prefer as a less "pathetic" solution? 

Foresight, planning, competence, good governance

[Desert Power]

1 hour ago, navigator319 said:

https://charlottenc.gov/newsroom/releases/Pages/RA-200218a.aspx

Link this time. Pathetic.

Yeah, its pathetic.   CATS has no better idea.  John Lewis needs to be fired ASAP 

[kermit]

I am not sure I share the outrage here (although I might change my mind). 

It sounds to me like CATS did have a plan to overhaul its 100 series vehicles. Unfortunately, the extra (unexpected) 6 minutes of run time on the BLE (which wee have still never gotten a good explanation for) prevents CATS from being able to ship a trainset off for overhaul without reducing frequency.

I suspect that Lewis thought he would be able to get BLE runtimes up to spec (and thus commence overhauls), but recently found out that will be impossible.  (perhaps not coincidentally, work on N Tryon crossings appears to be done). So it appears that incompetent construction management (or design or acceptance or...) has led us to a situation where its impossible to pull a unit out of service for overhaul AND CATS needs to purchase additional vehicles to run the planned frequencies. To top it off, CATS also has peak hour capacity problems, so the reduced frequency will be a double whammy on ridership.  

One possible short-term solution would be to get the newly arrived streetcar units through the testing process and put them to work on the Blue Line ASAP. Seating capacity will be limited, but it is better than nothing and would at least show that CATS is making an effort to ease the crunch.  I have seen two gold line units coupled together in the North Yard, so running two unit trains with the equipment should be possible.

a slightly longer shot would be for CATS to approach Norfolk about the prospects of leasing one or two of their units (which are identical to ours) from their underused system.

The fact that all this happened while CATS is preparing (?) to ask the public for substantially more money is truly incompetent.  I think I am outraged after all...

Edited February 19, 2020 by kermit

[kermit]

 

[Matthew.Brendan]

City is booming, especially along the Blue line, with thousands and thousands more apartments opening in the coming year or two literally in walking distance to the stations (that is the whole idea, right?) and yet CATS is total amateur hour. It’s clear it is way out of its league with the needs for this city. 
 

We need more rolling stock, now. We need higher frequency, now. We need 3-car platforms, now. 

[JHart]

"Vehicle maintenance is normal and expected, as our trains make nearly 6,000 monthly round-trips and still operate overall 98% on-time, which is well above the industry average of 88%." 

Not sure where that stat comes from, I honestly have never once taken the lightrail and had it arrive at its scheduled time. Maybe if on-time is a 5 minute tolerance...

[Hushpuppy321]

22 minutes ago, Matthew.Brendan said:

City is booming, especially along the Blue line, with thousands and thousands more apartments opening in the coming year or two literally in walking distance to the stations (that is the whole idea, right?) and yet CATS is total amateur hour. It’s clear it is way out of its league with the needs for this city. 
 

We need more rolling stock, now. We need higher frequency, now. We need 3-car platforms, now. 

I wonder if the city will include funding for more Lightrail vehicles (LRV) as well as more buses.  They need more LRV and Buses in order to increase frequency (15 min headway’s for bus routes, 7.5 min for BlueLine during rush) - The Mayor and City Council seems very motivated to do something with all the lip service had during their annual retreat.

Hopefully increased funding will follow.

Edited February 19, 2020 by Hushpuppy321

[Popsickle]

31 minutes ago, JHart said:

"Vehicle maintenance is normal and expected, as our trains make nearly 6,000 monthly round-trips and still operate overall 98% on-time, which is well above the industry average of 88%." 

Not sure where that stat comes from, I honestly have never once taken the lightrail and had it arrive at its scheduled time. Maybe if on-time is a 5 minute tolerance...

Most likely CATs isn’t using the arrival time to justify if the train is arriving on time. 
 

Assume a train leaves station 1 on time and arrives at station 2 five minutes late, that train is late by everyone’s point of view, CATs and the rider.  Then the train leaves station 2 and travels through to the end of the line to station 20, arriving 5 minutes after the scheduled arrival time at each station. To the rider at each station the train is 5 minutes late because it is five minutes after the scheduled arrival time. 
 

 But to CATs the train is on time, this is because the event that caused the delay only results in 1 delay, the immediately following stop and not a delay through every stop.

 

TLDR; “ontimeness” is most likely measured against a set time for how long it takes to travel between two adjacent stations and nothing else. 

[grodney]

1 hour ago, Popsickle said:

TLDR; “ontimeness” is most likely measured against a set time for how long it takes to travel between two adjacent stations and nothing else. 

Yes, and when I sampled times in Apr/May last year, in just the south half of the blue line, the train lost time to the schedule in 100% of trips......probably losing a bit of time all along the way.  The sample size, of course, is admittedly small.

 

 

[kermit]

The Observer has a smidge more information on the slowdown: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article240424711.html

1) 90 Second slowdown (and its associated capacity crunch) starts in April

2)

Quote

The authority also acknowledges under-estimating the number of trains needed once the extension to UNC Charlotte opened in 2018.

While spare trains were initially able to continue making stops every 7.5 minutes, the overhaul work no longer makes that viable, CATS says.

 

3) Ontimeness: " “In January, for example, mechanical issues resulting in a delay during peak service occurred four times,” CATS spokeswoman Juliann Sheldon said." WTF?????

4)

Quote

CATS says it’s trying to find money to buy more light rail vehicles but says that it will take more than two years to build and test new vehicles if funding comes through.

 

Edited February 19, 2020 by kermit

[Madison Parkitect]

For the past couple weeks, maybe a month, they've just been continuously running a message about how we may experience a 15-delay due to mechanical issues. I can't think of a weekday where I didn't hear that message either in the morning or afternoon, or both.

[kermit]

Adding to the air of incompetence, the majority of out of service trains I see (at the North Yard) are 300 series (which are all less than 5 years old). The 100 series appear to be more reliable (based on their 'Hanger Queen' status).

[Desert Power]

So instead of 5/10 minutes we have 9/15 minutes.  Great job CATS!

[Cassman]

I don't ride the train regularly, so I don't have any first-hand knowledge of the delays and haven't experienced the associated frustration/rage that I'm sure accompanies those delays.

I also understand that it's hard to give more money to an agency that doesn't appear to be a very good steward of that money.

But, if the Big Bang or something else comes up for a vote in November, don't we have to vote in favor?  The alternative would be to reject the funding requests until competent management is installed, which results in a delay in already long-term construction projects.  In other words, isn't a vote in favor of funding for capital long-term projects more than just a referendum on satisfaction with current management?

[grodney]

1 hour ago, kermit said:

3) Ontimeness: " “In January, for example, mechanical issues resulting in a delay during peak service occurred four times,” CATS spokeswoman Juliann Sheldon said." WTF?????

 

Could this be the nuance of "mechanical" and "peak"?  Let's see........

On the twits, where I'm just guessing not all delays are announced:

Wed 1/2 11:06 no reason given

Wed 1/8 10:55 no reason given

Fri 1/10 16:39 no reason given

Sat 1/11 06:51 no reason given

Sat 1/11 16:18 no reason given

Sun 1/12 14:21 no reason given

Sun 1/12 14:57 no reason given

Mon 1/13 07:24 train removed from service

Tue 1/14 06:49 mechanical

Fri 1/17 08:21 mechanical

Thu 1/23 16:41 mechanical

Thu 1/30 08:30 mechanical

 

[Blue_Devil]

3 hours ago, kermit said:

Adding to the air of incompetence, the majority of out of service trains I see (at the North Yard) are 300 series (which are all less than 5 years old). The 100 series appear to be more reliable (based on their 'Hanger Queen' status).

I mean is that incompetence or a manufacturer issue that is playing havoc with our system