GRT LFLRV Number 1 At The Lancaster Yard by KatesFriend

Photography • Transportation • posted on Feb 24, 2017

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Description

How I've longed to say such words in the last few years. Happy Friday everyone! I made a special trip to Kitchener, Ontario yesterday to catch a glimpse of this: the very first LRV delivered to Waterloo Region. An eventual fleet of fourteen (14) such vehicles will serve to carry passengers on Waterloo's iON LRT, scheduled to open in early 2018. Vehicle assembly delays with the manufacturer, Bombardier, pushed the official opening day back by four (4) months. These issues are similar to those which have plagued the roll out of Toronto's two-hundred (200) new low floor streetcars for the last four (4) years. Similar in design to Waterloo's equipment - the FLEXITY brand name - and built by the same company. Still, it looks like Bombardier is finally delivering the goods both in Waterloo and Toronto. We'll see. I have to admit, I am still amazed that this day has come at all. Given the kind of politics which has swirled around transit in Canada for the last decade-and-a-half. Low road populist politicers like Rob Ford in Toronto and Larry O'Brien in Ottawa, both achieving fame and power by stamping on and then canceling long planned LRT, streetcar and other transit projects. Taking advantage of public ignorance - the fear of change or of those who can't afford automobiles - and ultimately setting transit development back years. Yet in Waterloo Region, no such "leadership" attained traction and though support for LRT was never super strong there was no popular uprising against it. That said, one non-supportive local journalist did liken the track construction to the raising of the Berlin Wall. Feel free to weigh the veracity of such a juxtaposition for yourselves. Here we see GRT LFLRV #1 waiting in Lancaster Rail Yard in Kitchener. It is a standard North American gauge (1435mm) electric (750V DC) rail vehicle. To be powered from overhead catenary wires. Over 30m long, it can carry up to 250 passengers - 56 seated. The LRV can travel at a maximum speed of 80km/h, though the expected average vehicle speed on the iON system will be 45-50km/h. Last night LFLRV #1 was taken from Lancaster Yard up the Waterloo Spur to the iON Operations, Maintenance and Storage Facility (OMSF) in Waterloo. There it will undergo inspection, additional installations and 'static' testing. Around May it is expected to be further tested on the wider iON system which is nearing completion. As with all modern LRVs, each train will have a 600km shake down before passengers will be allowed to ride them. In truth, that's approximately sixteen (16) round trips along the initial iON revenue trackage. When she is finally commissioned, LFLRV #1 will likely be renumbered to something more generic like GRT 501 or 601. The former streetcar system in Kitchener-Waterloo was abandoned just over seventy (70) years ago on 27 December 1946 - ref: Train Web. Alas, it would have been terrific to have had iON up and running for that anniversary. Cheers! NOTES: LRT: Light Rail Transit LRV: Light Rail Vehicle LFLRV: Low Floor Light Rail Vehicle GRT: Grand River Transit Bombardier: Canadian for, "hurry up and wait".

Comments (8)

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T.Rex

2:46PM | Fri, 24 February 2017

Beautiful vehicle(s). Remind me of similar vehicles run by the Copenhagen commute system. I wonder if it's the same manufacturer, though. I suspect the Danish vehicles are German made. But the outside is very similar, though the Danish are totally red. This is a very nice photo. Are the boogies attached, or are they to be so at the Waterloo OMSF? Keep up the good work. Would be nice to see the interior.

PS - when the City Tunnel was opened in Malmö,, Sweden, passengers were offered a 1 week ticket for 10:- Crowns (=$1.50!).to ride the new trains, including standing in the driver's compartment! That was real fun! And passenger opinions were taken up.

KatesFriend

3:39PM | Fri, 24 February 2017

The bogies are attached. If you look very closely the car is sitting on actual rails on the flat car. As for the interior, it will be much the same as the modern Toronto streetcars. The article below provides an example of a to scale mock-up. http://urbantoronto.ca/news/2011/11/ttc-shows-mock-new-high-tech-streetcars-public

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eekdog

3:58PM | Fri, 24 February 2017

Would hate being on that fast mover during a crash , cool info and shot.

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Faemike55

9:31PM | Fri, 24 February 2017

I wish we (in SW Washington could get this system installed in our area. But we have the NIMBYs screaming about the "high Crime rate" migrating over to Vancouver, WA. Glad to see you're progressing.
Wonderful capture

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ACue

10:12AM | Sat, 25 February 2017

I love your spirited defense of public transit. These LRTs are critical to our city's and region's development and sustainability. I admire your tenacity and your keen interest in trains and streetcars in particular. Perhaps it's time to hand over our transit planning / spending to independent bodies. It's clear we just can't trust our local politicians, even a seemingly reasonable Mayor like John Tory, who has basically scuttled any common-sense approach to transit infrastructure in our city for the next two, three generations. He'll be long dead when we have to deal with the aftermath.

KatesFriend

10:48AM | Sat, 25 February 2017

When the City of Kitchener ran transit for both Kitchener and Waterloo (until 2001), city council had been queried yearly over implementing an express bus between the two cities to improve the movement of people. Even the most direct routes (Route 7, 7A-D) were long and time consuming rides. Kitchener council would always quashed this idea because efficient transit would "encourage people who can't afford cars to live in the area". When the Region of Waterloo took over transit in 2001, it implemented the long desired express service. Ridership exploded over the course of the first year. That route (iXpress 200) became the foundation of what is about to be Waterloo's iON LRT.

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RodS

1:47PM | Sat, 25 February 2017

Very cool shot of this LRV. The LRT system here in Kansas City is finally in operation, but fairly limited in how much area it covers. It's mainly downtown and south a few miles. The cars look similar to these, but not quite as long. Still, it's a start. Between the LR system and all the public bicycle stations they've installed, maybe it will ease the congestion downtown.

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