The Great Canadian Transit Thread

[new age]

I am not surprised Montreal has always taken public transit seriously, but they are not the norm in Canada but by no means is Calgary is not so far behind Vancouver.

[MTLskyline]

I counted 22 proposed new stops on the Metro. That would bring Montreal's total up to 90 stations. Pretty impressive for a North American city of 4 million people. The new metro cars should be ready long before these ever open though.

Blue Line East:
Good move. This area has a lot of people living in it, and is poorly served by public transit.

Orange line loop:
The stations in Montreal make sense, but I'm not sure Laval needs more stations. It isn't exactly densely populated.

Yellow line extension to McGill:
Interesting proposal. McGill station is definitely where a good chunk of commuters go. I'm not sure it's a priority though. I tend to think Griffintown is more deserving.

Yellow line extension into Longueuil:
I live on Montreal's south shore, but the areas they are choosing to expand to in Longueuil seem a little odd to me.

6 new stations all in the Vieux-Longueuil borough (the first three make sense for the most part, although I think that this area could get by with only 2, one in the middle of the old downtown area, and one at Eduoard Monpetit CEGEP).

The other 3 of them are located along the very suburban Roland-Therrien Boulevard instead of the slightly less suburban (and more central) Chambly Road.

Meanwhile Brossard, Saint-Lambert, Greenfield Park and Saint-Hubert aren't served at all by this plan. These areas (except for parts of Brossard and Saint-Hubert) are more densely populated than the Roland-Therrien corridor in Vieux-Longueuil or the proposed spots in Laval.

What was left out (IMO):
The blue line isn't being expanded west to Concodia's Loyola campus (which seems like a no brainer to me).

source: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=143472233945
The green line should expand west further into LaSalle and eventually Lachine as well.

[Rico Rommheim]

Yeah NDG should really get more metro action. There's plenty of density west of snowdon that gets no respect in metro expansion plans.

[vanman]

Originally Posted by new age

Didn't Vancouver just start taking cards on the Canada Line and still dosen't at all the old expo stations? And the TTC is still cash only. so are there any transit systems in Canada taking bank cards as at station payment?

Ah what? debit and credit has been accepted at all Vancouver skytrain stations for years now. The Canada line has accepted debit and credit since day one.

[vanman]

That is a massive expansion of Montreal's already impressive metro!

[LeftCoaster]

Originally Posted by new age

Didn't Vancouver just start taking cards on the Canada Line and still dosen't at all the old expo stations? And the TTC is still cash only. so are there any transit systems in Canada taking bank cards as at station payment?

?? Skytrain has accepted credit cards for over 10 years now...

TTC also has some stations which take debit/credit but it is years behind the times.

[caltrane74]

So with this new expansion, will the Montreal Metro be bigger than the TTC Subway?

[LeftCoaster]

I was under the assumption that it already was.

in fact according to wikipedia it is the smallest metro system in Canada:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_metro_systems

Is this list accurate?

[caltrane74]

I knew the ttc subway ridership was lower than Montreal, but that the system itself is smaller is news to me, but I guess it makes sense.

[LeftCoaster]

Well they all appear to be about identical, but I don't really trust wikipedia to be accurate enough to differentiate between the three.

[caltrane74]

these are the exact models of the new Streetcars that the TTC is getting.

Won't make up for our small and decrepit subways and small subway line, but it's a start.

• Video Link

• Video Link


FLEXITY 2 LAUNCHES!!!

http://www.railwaygazette.com/nc/news/si...nveiled-in-blackpool/archiv/2011/09.html

[new age]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

?? Skytrain has accepted credit cards for over 10 years now...

The sad thing is you may be right, and I lived in Vancouver for years. Cramming old five dollar bills in those things over, and over. Never paid with a card till the Canada line. Now I am kicking myself

[Alexcaban]

Montreal Metro new trains FINAL DESIGN!!!!!

http://www.stm.info/english/info/comm-11/a-co110920.htm
http://www.stm.info/english/info/comm-11/images/a-fichemaquette.pdf

[vid]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

I was under the assumption that it already was.

in fact according to wikipedia it is the smallest metro system in Canada:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_metro_systems

Is this list accurate?

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

Well they all appear to be about identical, but I don't really trust wikipedia to be accurate enough to differentiate between the three.

The people who maintain Wikipedia articles are the kinds of people who would maintain hand-drawn rail line maps complete with the exact locations of switches and signals in their spare time. I know some transit geeks who have memorized every single bus make by number in the TTC's fleet, and can tell you what kind of transmission a bus has just by hearing it.

They are the fucking rainmen of public transport infrastructure. Highway geeks are the same—every single mundane detail about every highway (even those that no longer exist) is on there. They've even got the 7000 series of Ontario highways, which most Ontarians don't know exists.

I would be willing to bet that if anything on Wikipedia is accurate, it is the articles about transportation systems.

But you're right, with a difference of 0.9km between the largest and smallest systems, the difference is quite negligible. I think Toronto's subway has greater frequencies, while Skytrain covers the most ground and Montreal's Underground has the tightest network in its downtown core. So they're all pretty much the same if you grade them on a comprehensive criteria. Each has strong and weak points.

[caltrane74]

Work has begun on the tunnel boring launch sites for the Eglinton Line, and should be ready for the tunnel boring machines themselves by 2012.

The tunnel boring machines can cover 75 meters per week, per machine. The TTC/City have purchased 4 machines, costing 54 million dollars each.

Instead of opening the line all at once in 2020, the TTC is now considering opening the line in segments. So we could be riding the rails under Eglinton sooner than we thought.

[caltrane74]

Massive amount of work going on for the Eglinton Line today, 3 shoring rigs on one side of Eglinton at the launch site for the tunnel boring machines, heavy equipment on the otherside by York City Hall. Tonnes of construction and work crews, dirt piled up high on the northside by the Civic Buildings.

Still have to wait until 2012 for the tunnel boring machines to arrive.

[Taeolas]

To be fair, depending on when in 2012 they arrive, 2012 isn't THAT far away now. 3 months plus a week and change really. And while the traffic disruption I'm sure is horrendous, doing the initial digging now while the ground isn't frozen is probably more appealing than doing it in December when things start to freeze up. (depending too on how long they need to get things prepared for those machines too; maybe they do need 3+ months of site prep)

Any experts out there on those borers that can give feedback on what is normal for preparing for these machines?

[SteelTown]

McGuinty promises all-day GO

Hamilton will have all-day, two-way GO train service in time for the 2015 Pan Am Games, Premier Dalton McGuinty said Friday.

McGuinty, who made the announcement Liuna Station on James Street North, also promised that Hamilton will see two new stations — one on James North, across the street from Liuna, and the other at Confederation Park. The move is expected to create 8,000 jobs.

Mayor Bob Bratina — who has focused on bringing all-day GO train service to Hamilton — was the only other speaker at McGuinty’s Hamilton appearance. It’s the second time Bratina has appeared alongside Hamilton’s slate of Liberal candidates to promote all-day GO service in the past two weeks.

http://www.thespec.com/news/elections/article/599107--mcguinty-promises-all-day-go

[armorand93]

That Flexity2 would look GREAT on Winnipegs future-LRT line

[caltrane74]

Do you guys have your plans and funding in place?