Green Line / Central Corridor construction thread (archive)

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grant1simons2
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Re: Green Line (Central Corridor LRT)

Postby grant1simons2 » May 19th, 2014, 5:34 pm

Isn't it amazing how the little things can do so much? It's such a great thing

bptenor
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Re: Green Line (Central Corridor LRT)

Postby bptenor » May 19th, 2014, 5:41 pm

I witnessed the same thing, going from Regions to Central station. I saw an eastbound and a westbound train leaving Central (both directions) and neither had to wait to cross the intersection when leaving the station. A week or two ago going from just north of Central to the intersection of 4th and Jackson took 10 MINUTES--no joke. Soo…technology is a wonderful thing.

Silophant
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Re: Green Line (Central Corridor LRT)

Postby Silophant » May 19th, 2014, 6:40 pm

Next question: Will MPR do a follow-up story where they time the line again now that it's working better?



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ProspectPete
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Re: Green Line (Central Corridor LRT)

Postby ProspectPete » May 19th, 2014, 7:06 pm

The damage is done in the sense that Soucheray used the MPR article as ammo and hammered away at CCLRT "did the drivers get lost?". While it's true that the only people who take his articles seriously are at best skeptical of mass transit, I suspect his editorial further solidified their hostility towards transit.
The comments were hilarious and sad. Comparisons of LRT with the ACA.... You get the picture.

nate
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Re: Green Line (Central Corridor LRT)

Postby nate » May 21st, 2014, 7:22 am

If the line functions as intended, it will be instantly popular, to the point that people like Soucheray will be forced into grudging acceptance. They might even ride it to a Twins game, (but only as a form of protest against paying so gosh dang much for parking downtown). Anyways, it sounds like they're well on their way to fixing issues, which is great news!

David Greene
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Re: Green Line (Central Corridor LRT)

Postby David Greene » May 21st, 2014, 10:24 pm

Saw a three-car test train downtown St. Paul yesterday along Cedar. First one I've seen on the line.

mullen
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Re: Green Line (Central Corridor LRT)

Postby mullen » May 22nd, 2014, 8:11 am

people with the mindset of a joe soucheray will never be convinced. public transit is a form of socialism to them. the single driver car is the american ideal, blah blah.

this line will be popular from the get-go. there is no debate. it travels within heavily populated areas and connects heavily used centers of activity.

ProspectPete
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Re: Green Line (Central Corridor LRT)

Postby ProspectPete » May 23rd, 2014, 9:57 am

Will they run 3 cars all the time or just during rush hour / high demand events?

mulad
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Re: Green Line (Central Corridor LRT)

Postby mulad » May 23rd, 2014, 2:41 pm

According to this news release, the Green Line schedule will be posted online tomorrow:

https://www.metrotransit.org/major-bus- ... at-june-14

As for 3-car trains, I'd expect them to be used at least as often as on the Blue Line, which I think is most of the day now, except that appear to taper off in the evenings. Weekend service seems more mixed.

twincitizen
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Re: Green Line (Central Corridor LRT)

Postby twincitizen » May 23rd, 2014, 3:04 pm

I would certainly hope that they don't use 3-car trains when they aren't needed (i.e. probably not at all, other than during sporting events)

Why waste the brakes, wheels, wear and tear on the cars, dirty up the interiors, etc.? Not to mention the labor required to repair, maintain, and clean those things. It would seem incredibly wasteful to use 3-car trains when they aren't needed.

Do we really need 3-car trains for just a regular rush hour in 2014? In several years when the ridership has grown to projections, station areas get developed more densely, and people change their commuting patterns (using N-S buses to connect to the Green Line, etc.), I could see the need to run 3-car trains all day long, but not at launch. That just sounds wasteful of resources and will invite criticism of "empty trains".

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FISHMANPET
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Re: Green Line (Central Corridor LRT)

Postby FISHMANPET » May 23rd, 2014, 3:37 pm

I think it's easier to just keep running 3 car trains than it is to send them back to the maintenance facility for decoupling.

VAStationDude
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Re: Green Line (Central Corridor LRT)

Postby VAStationDude » May 23rd, 2014, 4:20 pm

If the plan is to have 10 minute frequency all day, three car trains are definitely needed for about two hours during rush periods. Mid day airport and mall traffic makes for pretty cramped quarters midday. With the number of people going bet ween downtown and the U I imagine the peak periods will last a little longer on the green line.

I would imagine the labor costs necessary to drop train cars after rush hour are greater than wear and tear savings.

IllogicalJake
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Re: Green Line (Central Corridor LRT)

Postby IllogicalJake » May 23rd, 2014, 5:18 pm

Do we really need 3-car trains for just a regular rush hour in 2014?
Have you been in a train during rush hour, going out of downtown? Those are three very full cars, typically. I think demand has shown the need for using three at most times.
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Tcmetro
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Re: Green Line (Central Corridor LRT)

Postby Tcmetro » May 23rd, 2014, 10:15 pm

Metro Transit is running 3-car trains on the Blue Line during most of the day on weekdays. I'm not sure about weekends, but I do recall the MOA attracting a lot of weekend ridership. It will probably be useful to have 3-car trains during the weekdays on the Green Line, in any case.

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Re: Green Line (Central Corridor LRT)

Postby LRV Op Dude » May 23rd, 2014, 10:53 pm

I think it's easier to just keep running 3 car trains than it is to send them back to the maintenance facility for decoupling.
Uncoupling can easily be done at Union Station without going into the OMF. They would only uncouple the trains that stay out late. Uncoupling save Metro Transit and your tax dollars lots of money by not paying the electric bill of running 2 LRVs instead of 3 LRVs. Most likely Metro Transit will run 2 LRV set on weekend unless there is a event.
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VAStationDude
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Re: Green Line (Central Corridor LRT)

Postby VAStationDude » May 24th, 2014, 4:21 am

Nicollet mall to Central Station: 41 minutes

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Re: Green Line (Central Corridor LRT)

Postby MSPtoMKE » May 24th, 2014, 7:08 am

Overall runtime looks to be about 48-49 minutes. The schedule for the Green Line includes timepoints at both platforms of Target Field Station, while the Blue Line does not. Does anyone have any insight to why that is?

EDIT: It looks like northbound Blue and westbound Green Lines have timepoints for both platforms, but not the other directions...
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min-chi-cbus
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Re: Green Line (Central Corridor LRT)

Postby min-chi-cbus » May 24th, 2014, 7:40 am

That seems really slow to me. Where I live and commute in Cleveland the run time from downtown to the end terminus is 35 minutes, but perhaps it'd be 40 minutes or more if they counted the downtime between runs. There is just something more digestible to me about a 30-something minute commute than a 40-something minute commute. Not to mention that most commuters will also spend 5-15 minutes walking to/from home and the station, pushing the overall commute to close to an hour each way.

It seems like a hard sell to convince people to ditch their cars for commuting based on time efficiency alone (obviously there's a big cost savings component that makes it more feasible). I hope they can shave 5-10 minutes somewhere.

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Re: Green Line (Central Corridor LRT)

Postby Silophant » May 24th, 2014, 7:46 am

As we keep pointing out, that's the end-to-end time, from Target Field to Union Depot. The amount of people that will actually go from the far side of one downtown to the far side of the other is very small. Even if your trip is only from Nicollet Mall station to Central station, that's your five minute savings. And, more to the point, the express 94 bus is a much better option for downtown to downtown trips.
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EOst
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Re: Green Line (Central Corridor LRT)

Postby EOst » May 24th, 2014, 3:40 pm

And, more to the point, the express 94 bus is a much better option for downtown to downtown trips.
I'm a little surprised no one has talked about eventually rebranding the 94 as part of the Metro system. Buy some more Red Line buses and build a handful of stations (even just the aBRT designs) and they could claim it as the "Express" service.

But then, it seems like there are a lot of opportunities to leverage the emerging Metro brand that MT hasn't really picked up on yet. Pulling together things like this and putting them on a legible, easy-to-remember map would go a long way toward making the overall system in MSP more friendly to locals and visitors alike.


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