All aboard! There are trains of all shapes and sizes from the magnificent Royal Hudson steam locomotive to the crowded Chicago ‘L’ transit cars. It’s an amazing way to take a journey, and it’s how our country was built by opening new routes for commerce and travel.
Canada Line at Richmond-Brighouse station
The Canada Line turns one year old today! On August 17th, 2009, Vancouver, Richmond and the Vancouver International Airport all became linked together with rapid transit.
Since it opened, the Canada Line has transported some 36 million passengers between the two cities. During the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, 3.88 million passengers rode the system between February 12th and 28th.
Ridership numbers on the rapid transit line average close to 95,000 per day.
Source: TransLink
Your face could be on this train!
InTransit BC, the operator of the Canada Line, is trying to create Canada’s largest piece of moving art. The Pixel Train is a great way to contribute to the community and spruce up everyone’s commute.
The innovative idea is to create a mosaic of the faces from those who’ve donated so that it covers an entire train. Depending on the size of the donation, the more money donated will allow a larger space for a portrait. Of course, those who are a bit shy or may wish to remain anonymous can select a drawing of a face done by a child instead of uploading a photograph.
Proceeds from the Pixel Train will go towards the YMCA, Arts Umbrella, Hope in Shadows and BC Children’s Hospital Foundation charities.
Visit the Pixel Train’s web site to place a donation and get your face out on the rails. Keep an eye out for Naruto…
After the Olympic Line carried locals and visitors alike between Granville Island and the Olympic Village Canada Line station, the Downtown Historic Railway will be returning to the rails. The Transit Museum Society hopes to be rolling again in mid to late July, but has not finalized hours of operation.
The Downtown Historic Railway operates two historic interurban streetcars: numbers 1207 and 1231. The streetcars were built in 1905 and 1912 respectively and were run by the British Columbia Electric Railway, right up until the end of service in 1958.
Due to construction along the eastern portion of the line, the streetcars will run between Granville Island and the Olympic Village (Leg-in-Boot) station and will no longer continue onwards to the Science World station.
Looking north from the Adams/Wabash transfer bridge
Taking rapid transit in another city is always a unique experience. It’s a great way to get around and see the surrounding landscape from a different angle. Most major cities have some form of rapid transit from light rail to heavy rail and in varying ways be it above or below ground. Chicago is an interesting case utilizing infrastructure that dates back to the turn of the century along with some of the most recent rolling stock.
Chicago is probably one of the few cities in the world that hasn’t totally embraced the subway and buried everything underground. The majority of the system, run by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), is elevated above streets with steel support structures and embankments, or running down the median of major freeways. The overhead trackage has earned the system’s name as the ‘L’, which is short for elevated. Sections of the elevated structure vary in detail and colour, with some portions in the Loop being painted a deep yellow or maroon. This unique structure makes a great contrast over the modern streets of Chicago, a rarity among most metropolitan areas.
A CTA transit map in a 3200-series car
The ‘L’ system has been growing for over a century and each of the lines have their own distinctive style. The stations in the Loop are a mixture of new and old; decorative wooden mouldings and sheet metal structures to glass panels and steel supports. Other stations throughout the system were constructed from brick with sculpted facades to elegant stone walls with Greek-styled columns. Most newer stations, especially those along the highways, are bare concrete with glass and steel; nothing elegant, but still beautiful in its own way.
Below is a selection of my photos taken on the ‘L’ while wandering through Chicago. It’s just such a unique system where the stations vary almost at every stop and present amazing subjects for the camera. Keep in mind, when snapping pictures on the ‘L’, to please follow and respect the CTA’s photography policy.
Note: These photos were taken over a period of three years during various trips down to Chicago.
System information courtesy of Chicago ‘L’.org
Canada Line Waterfront platform
The Canada Line is reaching capacity with commuters feeling squeezed in on the ride between Vancouver and Richmond.
On average, the line carries close to 94,000 passengers per day which falls short of TransLink‘s prediction of 100,000 riders. TransLink had estimated that the Canada Line would reach capacity by 2013, but could make that number next year.
TransLink is looking at ways to adjust service to accommodate all the riders on the line. Currently, 14 out of 20 two-car trains are in service, running with a headway of three and a half minutes; although an extra two trains enter service during rush hour. TransLink plans to run 16 two-car trains with a headway of just under three and a half minutes going into 2011.
The Canada Line opened to the public on August 17th, 2009 and has provided an alternate route between Vancouver, Richmond and the airport. Unlike the Expo and Millennium Lines, the Canada Line utilizes different technology provided by Rotem, a subsidiary of Hyundai. Most notable of the system are the shorter trains — these are limited in length to two cars each due to the decreased size of the station platforms.
Source: The Vancouver Sun
Chicago commuters, rejoice! The CTA is rolling out the long awaited 5000-series rail cars on the Red Line in the coming weeks. Currently, the Red Line runs the 2600-series cars, most of which date back to the early 1980s. The 5000-series will be tested on the other lines as well to ensure they are able to handle rush hour crowds and the city’s temperamental weather.
While the new cars have the appearance of the existing 3200-series that are already in service on the Brown, Orange and Yellow Lines, there are many distinct amenities on-board. New digital destination signs replace the familiar coloured roller curtains, improved lighting inside with glow-in-the-dark flooring to assist in alighting during emergencies, security cameras for enhanced passenger safety, interior destination displays with electronic maps, and updated air conditioning and heating elements for comfort. The side doors have been revised with enhanced sensors and visual displays to alert passengers when they are about to close. For passengers using wheelchairs, new spaces have been provided to allow handicapped passengers enjoy a safer ride.
Another major change is an updated seating arrangement — instead of the traditional forward/backward facing seats, the seats will face the aisle to allow more standing passengers. As a result, additional stanchions have been added to accommodate support for commuters that are holding on.
The Bombardier-built 5000-series will eventually replace the ageing 2200 and 2400-series which have been in service since the late 1960s and mid-1970s respectively.
Check out the photos of the new 5000-series cars on CTA’s flickr photostream. View the full press release on the CTA web site.
The Olympic Line
If you haven’t taken the opportunity to do so, Sunday, March 21st will be the last day to ride the Olympic Line. After that, the Bombardier Flexity cars will be shipped back to Brussels, Belgium for use on their extensive street car system.
The Olympic Line is free and runs between 6:30 am-12:30 am PDT.
The Evergreen Line is a planned extension to the SkyTrain system in Metro Vancouver. Rather than using another technology, like the Canada Line, the Evergreen Line will make use of Bombardier’s Advanced Rapid Transit technology, which already is in place on the Expo and Millennium Lines. This method was chosen over a light rail system to provide passengers with a smooth ride from Coquitlam City Centre through Port Moody, into Burnaby, a total of 11 km. A trip between Douglas College Station and Lougheed Town Centre Station is expected to take about 13 minutes, or 40 minutes if going all the way to Waterfront Station in Vancouver.
Lougheed Town Centre Station
The proposed line will branch off from the Millennium Line at Lougheed Town Centre Station and run north along North Road. After the Burquitlam Station, the tracks descend into a tunnel along the west side of Clarke Road and exit just east of the Barnet Highway in Port Moody. The Port Moody Station will allow passengers to transfer over to the existing platforms for the West Coast Express. The Ioco Station will be the last at ground level before the tracks return to the elevated guideway and enter the Coquitlam Central Station, which will be another transfer point to local buses and the West Coast Express. The guideway then turns north again to follow Pinetree Way before terminating at the Douglas College Station which is slated to be built on the south side of the campus.
Construction is expected to start in 2010 and finish by 2014. The Provincial and Federal governments have already committed to funding, however TransLink, the regional transportation authority, needs to come up with an additional $400 million required for the project.
Olympic Line at Granville Island
After a significant absence from the streets of Vancouver, the street car has returned courtesy of the City of Vancouver, Bombardier, and Société des Transports Intercommunaux de Bruxelles. Two Bombardier Flexity street cars are now operating on a 1.8 km stretch of track between Granville Island and the Olympic Village Canada Line station (Cambie Street and West 2nd Avenue).
I was finally able to get a chance to ride the street cars on what is being called the Olympic Line. The cars are 32 m long and feature five doors on each side along with large picture windows to provide an unobstructed view. The really neat thing is that the cars have low floors, basically riding only a few centimetres from the ground, which makes it easier to board and alight, especially for those who have strollers or use a wheelchair.
The trains are actually one long articulated car which can navigate sharper curves and winding streets, like those in older European cities. Digital displays on the side and ends of the cars make it easy to advertise the line or destination. The two cars on loan are designed with a silver, bronze and carbon black livery and carry the Société des Transports Intercommunaux de Bruxelles logo.
Doors from inside
Inside, there are unique seating arrangements, including seats that face the aisles, row seating, fold-up seats and larger bench-style seats. Standing passengers also have the added luxury of holding on to leather straps that are attached to the stanchions. There’s plenty of room for everyone on-board!
Security cameras are mounted along the ceiling along with two display screens that are positioned over the aisles to announce upcoming stops and route maps. Buttons on the stanchions allow passengers to alert the operator to stop the train at the next platform. It’s pretty much like a bus, but one that runs on rails.
The ride is really smooth and quiet, even though the train doesn’t run very fast (wouldn’t say more than 30 km/h). It’s only a 3 minute journey between Granville Island and the Olympic Village station on Cambie Street, but it gives you few minutes to enjoy the ride and the sights of the community in between.
Hopefully this experiment will allow street car service to return to the city and offer an alternative mode of transportation around False Creek and into the busy downtown core.
The Olympic Line is free and runs between 6:30 am-12:30 am PST until March 21st, 2010. Additional photographs are available on Gallery.
The Royal Hudson in New Westminster
The Royal Hudson will be taking to the rails once again on Monday, February 8th, 2010, when she steams from Pacific Central Station in Vancouver out to White Rock for a number of events. The Royal Hudson will return to Pacific Central on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 after spending the night on the coast. Those who do not wish to stay over night will have the opportunity to take a motorcoach for their return journey.
Visit the West Coast Railway Association web site for more information and to book tickets.
