Regional officials have promised a spring LRT launch and crews are working diligently to make sure the systems are all in place to make that a reality.
If you’ve been driving around the city, though, you may have some unanswered questions about the LRT.
Here are three things to know about the Ion as June 21 approaches.
Will it always be so loud?
Probably not. The LRT vehicles themselves are designed to be quiet, running on electricity. The loudest part of the light rail is the squeaky tracks, but the region is working to address the issue.
A total of 80 lubricators have been installed to grease the wheels and tracks with water-based, environmentally-friendly lubricant.
Condo residents first brought up the noise in November of last year. Since, KEOLIS, the company that manages the system, has installed the lubricators in an effort to combat the sound, but it’s still a work in progress.
Do the arms really take 10 minutes to go up?
Sometimes they do, but that’s expected to change.
There are reports of drivers being caught at the arms for more than 10 minutes at a time as they wait for an LRT vehicle to pass.
KEOLIS says it’s part of the testing—they’re working on getting the time down to one or two minutes depending on the stop. Faults are still happening, like on Friday morning when motorists got stuck on Northfield Drive.
“Any issues this morning or any of the other ones that we’ve seen over the last few months, we’re learning from those and implementing changes to both the hardware and the software that’s on site,” says Ian Cushion, general manager at KEOLIS.
The company is working on it, but the main issue has been the speed of the trains getting through the intersections.
Meanwhile, drivers are advised to make sure they’re stopping behind the white line. KEOLIS says that drivers are creeping past the line and getting hit by the arms. A driver reportedly put in a claim against the company after the arm hit the hood of their car—they weren’t stopped behind the line.
Isn't it faster to take a bus than the LRT?
Yes and no—it depends on where you’re going.
A rumour has been circulating online that suggested it’s faster to get from Fairview Park Mall to Conestoga Mall by bus with the current system, but officials say that’s just not true.
If you’re going from Conestoga Mall to Uptown Waterloo, on the other hand, the current bus system would get you there faster because you don’t have to go through the University of Waterloo first. But what if there’s traffic?
“The ION service will provide a more reliable service compared to conventional transit as trains run on a dedicated alignment with signal priority,” explains Peter Zinck, director of transit services for the region.
Officials say that the average speed of the Ion across the entire route is faster than the bus.
With reporting from Max Wark
