Green Line / Central Corridor construction thread (archive)

[talindsay]

Given that the line starts running in just two months, I hope we start seeing quite a lot more activity.

[FISHMANPET]

I saw a train this morning on campus, and since it was the tail-end of rush hour there were quite a few buses around as well. I was hoping to get a picture of a train backed up behind some buses at a stoplight, but no such luck, it ended up a light cycle all its own.

[kellonathan]

Does anyone know when MT is planning to switch their testing to revenue service schedule? I was hoping to see more actions today since they just updated Blue Line schedule last weekend.

[LRV Op Dude]

Does anyone know when MT is planning to switch their testing to revenue service schedule? I was hoping to see more actions today since they just updated Blue Line schedule last weekend.

Green line service begins June 14

[talindsay]

I saw a train this morning on campus, and since it was the tail-end of rush hour there were quite a few buses around as well. I was hoping to get a picture of a train backed up behind some buses at a stoplight, but no such luck, it ended up a light cycle all its own.

You'll get plenty of chance to get a picture of a train backed up behind buses once revenue service starts. I don't see any way that buses running on the rails through campus is going to last out a year if MT cares even vaguely about schedule adherence.

[FISHMANPET]

Well a train will never be stuck behind a bus picking up or dropping off passengers, so it probably won't be that bad.

[Tom H.]

I saw a train this morning on campus, and since it was the tail-end of rush hour there were quite a few buses around as well. I was hoping to get a picture of a train backed up behind some buses at a stoplight, but no such luck, it ended up a light cycle all its own.

If you think about it, the "train stuck behind a bus" scenario is basically not likely to occur often, by design. At either end of the Mall, where the LRVs enter the shared ROW (Church St. on the west, Walnut St. on the east), the LRVs always get to "cut" in front of buses, so they will almost always be at the head of the pack of transit vehicles as they move through the Mall.

Since the mall is so short, and the light cycles seem to be timed to push all transit vehicles through in clumped pulses, I would expect that buses getting stuck behind LRVs will be much more common than the reverse. It will be interesting to watch once revenue operations begin.

[FISHMANPET]

The train I was was westbound, and I was kind of expecting it to get caught at a light behind a bus at Church St, mostly because I don't think the signals are propertly setup yet. I've seen some phases that just make zero sense (buses and trains able to move west at Church St and Eastbound rail signal held at "go" for over a minute while buses going east were stopped).

[talindsay]

I guess we'll see. I probably observe it less frequently than you FMP, which means several times a day for me as opposed to several dozen times a day for you, but I often see buses sitting in the East Bank station area waiting for a light, which means any train at that time would be unable to pull into the station. It seems a needless risk to schedule adherence given that there's an empty lane right next to them.

[FISHMANPET]

My hope is that the signals will know a train is coming and clear out the station platform.

Or just trash all the signals and operate it as more of a shared space kind of thing, since the number of signals on the mall is just insane.

[talindsay]

the number of signals on the mall is just insane.

I think "comical" would also be a good descriptor. It's absurd looking down the Mall, it's like you're standing in an outdoor traffic signal showroom.

[mattaudio]

But just think how many engineering firms got to make some cash off this project. Shared space? Naw... nobody profits off shared space.

[ProspectPete]

I hope that this isn't the finished signaling product. Today I was driving alongside a train, and it had to stop for a vertical bar while all automobile traffic took it's turn. What about the priority for trains?
Off topic a bit, I was driving by terminal 2 airport yesterday, and at the cross cross crash intersection, I heard a horn and looked in my mirror to see a train coming. The train stopped right beside me with its full load of passengers, and I got a green light to proceed. We were pretty much the only two vehicles in the vecinity when this occurred. Anybody?

[mattaudio]

You're correct.... that DDI at 34th and 494 actually made the Blue Line slower. And we spent a lot of money to do it. But apparently it will spur economic development....

[kellonathan]

Does anyone know when MT is planning to switch their testing to revenue service schedule? I was hoping to see more actions today since they just updated Blue Line schedule last weekend.

Green line service begins June 14

I meant testing in revenue schedule (testing every 10mins), not the opening date. But thanks for the reminder! Almost there...

[HiawathaGuy]

I meant testing in revenue schedule (testing every 10mins), not the opening date. But thanks for the reminder! Almost there...

Daily Green Line operator training (weekdays) will begin next Monday, Feb. 24th. They'll start running with the regular 7-day schedule in April in preparation for the June opening.

http://content.govdelivery.com/accounts ... ins/a60c12

The newsletter link (that was originally posted on page 55) states "April" - so I would guess soon, if not already.

[FISHMANPET]

Just saw another westbound train on the mall, stopped at the East Bank station. There were two buses right behind it, and it looks like one got into the platform with the train (though if it were a 3 car train there wouldn't be room for the bus). The train pulled out and I was hoping to get a picture of the buses bunched up behind the train (a risky proposition, since I needed to board one of those trains), but the church st light changed before the train got to it (though it did slow down as the light was red while it approached), and the buses were caught behind the set of lights between EB Station and Church St.

So maybe it's set up in such a way that a bus will never be in a signal block with a train in normal operation, and that's why there are so many signals.

[Tom H.]

My favorite LRT testing moment so far was when a #16 bus driver was driving in the bike lane next to the LRV in the Washington Transit Mall. I couldn't tell what he was trying to do (pass the train?) - should have gotten a picture.

[exiled_antipodean]

the number of signals on the mall is just insane.

I think "comical" would also be a good descriptor. It's absurd looking down the Mall, it's like you're standing in an outdoor traffic signal showroom.

Not only comical, but poor service with all the stops. I regularly beat the #16 from West Bank to Westgate jogging along at 8 minute miles, by accumulating a huge lead on the bus down the mall.

[FISHMANPET]

Now in even more signal news, I did see a train backed up behind 2 buses going eastbound, with the 2 buses at the signal just west of the EB Station.

Seeing as how the 3 times I've been outisde in the past 2 days I've seen 3 trains, I have to wonder if they've started revenue testing. Maybe I should bring my camera and just sit outside on my lunch one day and get some pictures.