While I wait, I roamed around the station.

The fare vending machine is out of order, so you can’t buy any fares if you need any.

It seems that the Interac reader can’t connect over USB to the computer; its LED display shows an error for USB.

#Montréal #exo

We have an answer… it was either at King’s Cross (aka somewhere I don’t know where) or a no show.

I gave it 10 minutes after the posted schedule and it still didn’t show up.

I guess it’s another bus commute 😩

#Montréal #exo

Well, that no show train slowed my commute home by roughly 90 minutes.

And *this was* the fastest route, unlike the test yesterday that a comparative between my regular commute's anchor points.

I'm so furious that I can't even understand the podcast I'm listening.

#Montréal #exo

@EdwinG If the card reader is broken, they should just sell you fares without charging your credit card and apologize for not charging you for the fares :-)

@jfmezei Not in that scenario personally 😅

I don’t remember what they told me to do when I really was in a situation where I was stranded because the FVM was broken.

I recall taking the train without paying, with proof of the impossibility to pay on my phone.

@EdwinG For EXO trains: when fare validator is broken, you need to take a picture of it with the red light and show it to the controller if you are checked.

@jfmezei It’s the FVM that was bwoken, not the validator.

I remember that it wasn’t the answer. I think they told me to call them when it happens.

@EdwinG Your train will arrive at Platform 9 3/4.

@jfmezei Oh noooo… not the transphobic platform 😰

@jfmezei @EdwinG don't forget to validate your ticket, on the single validator that's conveniently located on the opposite platform

@dhd6 @jfmezei At the other end of the station 😆

@dhd6 @EdwinG Yeah like at Dorval train station. Only validator is on tunnel south of the eastbound track. So if you enter on airport side and wish to go west, there is no valaiadator and you are expected to go down into tunnel, walks to other side of tracks validate and backtrack.

I asked a control agent on train once and told me "yes, and now that I know you know, you can't use that excuse on me ever" :-)

@jfmezei @EdwinG ouf, just like de la Concorde...

They seem to be learning from their mistakes, very slowly, because the recent Mirabel station has one platform with multiple validators at the only entrance.

Of course some trains just randomly don't stop at it (and the only reason is that they just happen to pass at the same time an opposite direction train is on the platform)

Such a spectactularly bad system, I don't think ARTM planners ever ride it (or have ever ridden, e.g., GO trains)

@dhd6 @EdwinG Mirabel is interesting. EXO started service tro Blainville and later extedned it back t St-Jérome, but the tracks were there, used by Québec and Gatineau to get to Gatineau.

2009 No siding.
2012 Siding built, no station
2020 and it wasn.t till 2020 that the Mirabel station was built. Don't remember when EXO extended service to St-J.érome and if Mirabel added laterl

There is really no way for train in oppopsing direction to make a stop there. the siding needs to be moved.

@jfmezei @dhd6
Saint-Jérôme service opened in 2007.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-J%C3%A9r%C3%B4me_line?wprov=sfti1#AMT_Service

Tracks beyond Blainville station are owned and operated by the RTM/exo, signed as AMT.

Turns out, exo paid out of pocket for track improvements between Park and Saint-Jérôme 😲

@EdwinG @dhd6 So if EXO gained control over Blainville-St-Jérome in 2007, it means that the additions of the sidings was planned by EXO and so was positioning of the Mirabel station next to siding instead of south of it.

Siding should have been extended to cross the road, allowing for platforms on either side of Mirabel station.

@jfmezei @EdwinG since Mirabel has rezoned for full-on TOD around that station it would be nice if it could have the same level of service as Blainville which is surrounded by low density suburbia...

@dhd6 @EdwinG With funding cuts to EXO du money shifted to help CDPQ, it is doubtful we can see any improvements to service, we should be happy to keep whatever trains remain. Unless a new government restores funding.

@jfmezei @dhd6 I remember reading last year that they're planning removing train services. I can't remember the details.

The only line that I remember remaining is 11.

@EdwinG
You have my sympathy.

So I was telling my husband about the challenges you experienced when there was a strike, and then your most recent posts about public transportation- the screens and so on, and his suggestion is maybe find a different place to catch the train.
I replied, " that might be a solution but the stops aren't exactly as close together as the city bus stop you are accustomed to, it would be a very long walk."

He hasn't visited your city .

@TrueNorthSpice Thank you!!

Train stations are roughly 5km apart in my city.

The LRT really was a game changer in my life. On a piece of paper, it wouldn’t make any sense, but it saves me hours per day.

I think in time, it would go like this for my commute (assuming no disruptions) for the three fastest :
- LRT + car
- Car ($$$$$ parking)
- Train + car

@EdwinG
It saves you 4 hours a day?

@TrueNorthSpice Boy... my maths is off.

Since the LRT's opening, I have saved in the best days (on a weekday):
* 25 minutes in the morning
* 65 minutes in the evening

And those include a car to get to the station.

Weekends are a different beast altogether.

@EdwinG

Ok, that seems reasonable. ..but that is still a lot of time saved.

(long day today?)

@TrueNorthSpice I can barely stand up at this point.
I wanted to do an activity today that I couldn’t yesterday - they were full for the day.

So… just getting to the activity took 3 hours, getting back 2 hours 30. If everything worked out according to the calculated itinerary, it would have been much less.

My original original plan for today was to go buy bookshelves that I desperately need.

@EdwinG
oh that is indeed a too much traveling lengthy day.
Bookcases are very importan! Perhaps next weekend you might find time for shopping ?
I hope you are able to get a good rest tonight because it sounds like you're exhausted.

@TrueNorthSpice Unlikely 😅

I want to go to IKEA to see what they have. The two stores we have are roughly 1h30 and 2h15 away on paper. I don’t see myself travelling with bookcases on public transportation 😂

Those books have been in storage for 5 years. They can wait a little bit longer.