Comments on: Central Link: A 3-month Report Card

By: Bad Reliability Metrics - Seattle Transit Blog

Bad Reliability Metrics - Seattle Transit Blog — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:09:04 +0000

[...] few months ago there was some anecdotal evidence that Central Link wasn’t very reliable with respect to its schedule and scheduled headways [...]

By: Glenn B.

Glenn B. — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:58:14 +0000

The stub tunnel is just over 300 feet after clearing the switches, able to accommodate 3 cars in a train. The stub tunnel ends at I-5. When the boring starts for university link, the stub will be reduced to 200 feet to give the construction crew space to work.

You basically have the scenario correct. The typical scheduled layover is 5-6 minutes, but that may vary by the needs of the controller.

By: Glenn B.

Glenn B. — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:50:24 +0000

Nope. Not till mid December at the earliest. (Burn in testing.)

By: Glenn B.

Glenn B. — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:42:42 +0000

I have it on authority that your comments are being read and this in particular is being addressed.

By: Glenn B.

Glenn B. — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:36:19 +0000

Some of the trouble can be solved with a little spot training with the operators of the buses in the tunnel and the bus side tunnel supervisors. The operators do not know to call the Rail side controllers for ANY delay, and the supervisors do not have the “Get it out of the Right of Way” attitude that the rail controllers do.

By: Ben Schiendelman

Ben Schiendelman — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:51:55 +0000

I feel the same way about this that I do about ORCA – people only actually learn by trial and error. If you get on a train without knowing how to pay for it, it’s your issue. We can’t make signs big enough to teach everyone.

By: Ben Schiendelman

Ben Schiendelman — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:50:07 +0000

Actually, it’s likely we’ll be kicking buses out before U Link opens. That’s what I keep hearing.

By: litlnemo

litlnemo — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 12:16:51 +0000

Wait. I have seen them walk in through the door and change drivers.

By: Oran Viriyincy

Oran Viriyincy — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 06:00:11 +0000

I was in the rear car, which became the front car at Tukwila.

The inaugural train to Tukwila consisted of, from south to north, Cars 114, 115, and 116. I was in 116 with Jim Foreman reporting live.

I found and uploaded a clip of the inaugural train departing Pioneer Square Station. See if you can spot yourself.

By: Matt

Matt — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 04:59:24 +0000

I think stump tracks are a feature of logging railroads near Forks.

By: Matt

Matt — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 04:58:49 +0000

Middle car!

By: ST guy

ST guy — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 04:58:43 +0000

The Pine St. trail track is long enough to accommodate a 3-car train, for now. When the end of that tunnel needs to be opened up to extricate the tunnel boring machine as it arrives (twice) from the Capitol Hill station site, then the trail track will necessarily be shortened and will accommodate only 2-car trains.

By: Tim F.

Tim F. — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 04:18:29 +0000

i assume they meant stub tracks. or theres some sort of amputee thing going on we don’t know about.

By: Oran Viriyincy

Oran Viriyincy — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 03:33:52 +0000

stump tracks?

By: Oran Viriyincy

Oran Viriyincy — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 03:33:24 +0000

That was my train too!

By: Matt

Matt — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 03:28:23 +0000

Waitwut? They have to crawl through the window?! I’ve only been in the rear car for this. Is not opening the cab like some post-9/11 thing? What are the terrorists going to do, ram a bus?

By: Matt

Matt — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 03:19:36 +0000

Hopefully someone’s reading this, or at least it’s just a coincidence. Today on my Link ride into Downtown we got stuck in the Beacon Hill Station. The recorded voice told us we were experiencing a service delay – first time I’d heard that one, and then the operator told us we’d be help up for two minutes. It was really cool to get that info!

By: chh

chh — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 03:17:48 +0000

They should have doors for the drivers. It is shame that they have to crawl out of the window. No wonder the switch takes so long.

By: Matt

Matt — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 03:16:55 +0000

I thought they’d do that too. Hopefully not in the summer when lots of tourists are around. Pardon my language, but fare checking in the tunnel is, in my opinion, one of those law enforcement things that’s what I would call a dick move. In August I saw plenty of people board Link downtown without clearly paying who appeared to be tourists. Like the Almost Live sketch: “Getting busted for riding Link in the bus tunnel! Lame! Lame! Lame! Lame!”

By: Matt

Matt — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 03:14:10 +0000

In that case, we’ll be seeing two-car trains until well past the opening of University Link. That seems like a weird policy, seeing as how a bus couldn’t even pass a golf cart if it were stopped in a tube section between stations.