LRT

I've been so biased towards other rail transportation systems that I haven't given much attention to our city's light rail transit, which is currently being expanded. The city is extending the LRT to the west, constituting the third line to the system. Its coverage isn't as extensive as Munich's U-Bahn, but hopefully the city will continue to increase the number of lines over the next decade. This branch line is the first to have elevated tracks and consequently they've employed an interesting engineering system in the construction of this new line. I took a few pictures of the machine over the past few days. It's an unique engineering solution. It has been interesting watching the construction of the railway line over the past few months. You can see the smaller pieces being connected together to form the larger section between pylons, but I'm not altogether sure how they keep the pieces from coming apart, though it was evident that they were welding in the hollow part of the sections.

The city is also remodeling the platforms downtown to accommodate a fourth passenger car to address the increased ridership during rush hour. They've been at it for over a year. I think it's going to take another year before they can start operating the extra car. I'm looking forward to riding the LRT to and from work. Not that the reticulated buses are bad, but similar to cars, they are also susceptible to getting stuck in traffic jams. What normally takes twenty minutes sometimes turns into an hour or more getting home.