What you plan is not always what happens in reality, they probably design something that would according to them, withstand winter of Montreal. Turns out it’s not perfect, but the situation is exceptionnal, so I can get them a bit of slack, after that it’s the solution that they propose to solve the problem that will be the true test.
Also, I want to put into perspective that the entire road network is put on halt this morning, so that the REM network still work, even with reduce frequency, is not perfect althought not terrible. Like we will not forbid us to build something because one day in a year it’s more difficult because of an historic snow storm. Heck, the bike network is completely unusable today, I’m always impress by how much we put public transit with so much more expectations than roads.
While I agree that cynicism is bad, It also seems like the switches freezing is a frequent problem with the REM. We’ve had a couple of these kinds of incidents over the winter, and while 80+cm of snow is definitely a lot, it’s not unheard of, nor is it necessarily ‘rare’ for Montreal. While it’s clear this was an exceptional situation, if the REM is going to become the backbone of transit for Brossard, the north shore, the west island, and the airport, it needs to be able to continue operating in these kinds of situations.
I hope that in the future, the switches can be fitted with heaters (or, if they already have them, stronger ones). Obviously, I’m not an expert in railway engineering, but that seems like something which would not be exceptionally difficult to add/modify.
La ville de Sapporo au Japon reçoit en moyenne annuellement près 450-500 cm de neige. Je me demande comment les compagnies ferroviaires gèrent le tout.
Il me semble qu’avant que la CDPQinfra achète les voies du CN entre la rue Bridge et la Gare Centrale, il y avait justement des abris Tempo le long des voies
Je ne sais pas si CDPQi a pensé a installer des aiguillages chauffant. Quoique même avec cela étant donné les fortes accumulations de neige on ne peut pas faire de miracle.
Je me souviens du temps que je travaillais dans le chemin de fer que l’on utilisait cela.
Une torche relié a une bonbonne de propane pour faire fondre la glace des switch.
It’s sure that we need to improve the system in that kind of situation and I hope a solution can be find, but acting like again it’s only the REM that is affected by the storm, is dishonest considering how the city is affected.
Ce n’est pas unique au REM. Hier, un aiguillage du CN à Saint-Lambert était coincé et gelé et ça a causé un gros tapon de trains immobilisés de chaque côté du pont Victoria.
Normal
why are they not doing better
Fréquence estimée : 40 minutes.