The Great Canadian Transit Thread

[Chadillaccc]

The gorgeous and massive interior of 69 Street Station




... and one of the dozen "light cannons" that bring natural daylight into the underground Westbrook Station

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

RT was an experiment for ICTS tech, (skytrain) was a failure. costs just as much to modernize to MKIII ICTS as it does to convert to LRT, so the plan was to convert to LRT to match the rest of the network being built. (note how it was a conversion) Ford went nuts claiming that it was going to interrupt street traffic (it won't) and called for a subway. Scarberians sucked it up and the liberals were forced their hand if they wanted to keep the Scarborough seat in the recent byelections. Feds give money, subway happens instead of conversion.

Thank you! I finally get it!!!

And they say Ottawa (the city) doesn't have its shit together. Damn!

[ccw219]

I find today's Scarborough announcement fascinating. With downtown Toronto unique place in our economy, the Crosstown and DT Relief (or its alternatives) are a NATIONAL priority. It is very discouraging that our federal government is more interested in forcing P3 agreements in some municipalities than good transportation planning.

However, I do find it encouraging that there are those who admit that big-spending on the highest capacity and expensive system isn't always best when balancing multiple priorities. I can think of a few interests in Edmonton and (to a lesser extent) Vancouver that would benefit from this rationale.

[The_Architect]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Thank you! I finally get it!!!

And they say Ottawa (the city) doesn't have its shit together. Damn!

Welcome to Toronto under the Ford Brothers.

[Innsertnamehere]

Originally Posted by ccw219

I find today's Scarborough announcement fascinating. With downtown Toronto unique place in our economy, the Crosstown and DT Relief (or its alternatives) are a NATIONAL priority. It is very discouraging that our federal government is more interested in forcing P3 agreements in some municipalities than good transportation planning.

However, I do find it encouraging that there are those who admit that big-spending on the highest capacity and expensive system isn't always best when balancing multiple priorities. I can think of a few interests in Edmonton and (to a lesser extent) Vancouver that would benefit from this rationale.

It really depends. In vancouvers case, where they are struggling whether the ubc line should run underground, it is necessary, as the alternatives provide vastly inferior results on an extremely important corridor. Scarborough has the ability to be done much cheaper with only minimal performance losses, so it is ok to do so.

[caltrane74]

Interesting image of the Union-Pearson (UP) Express Train at the new Union Station Platform which is actually located just south of the proposed 171 Front Street Tower. The province has also stated that it WILL electrify the line by 2017. Electrification Cost will add $900 Million Dollars to the project cost. The actual line will be operational by 2015 and the train-sets should be arriving in the next few months, as they are being built at this time. So we may have pictures of the new trains by this time next year as they begin to arrive, as the line will be completed but not operational by this time next year.

Photo : UrbanToronto.ca

[The_Architect]

^ On a somewhat related note...

Originally Posted by The_Architect

Not sure if this belongs in this thread or the transit thread, but here's an article I came across about the UP (Union_Pearson Express) under construction at Toronto Pearson International Airport:

http://urbantoronto.ca/news/2013/09/metrolinxs-express-pearson-station-now-75-complete

[The_Architect]

2 other pictures accompanying the article:




Both images sourced from the above article.

[SteelTown]

^ So much needed. Can't wait for the day I can go to Union from GO Train and hop on another train to Pearson.

[P. Alouishous]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

The gorgeous and massive interior of 69 Street Station




... and one of the dozen "light cannons" that bring natural daylight into the underground Westbrook Station

Calgary really went for it with those station designs huh? Amazing!

[Chadillaccc]

Absolutely. It's very spartan, yet stunning.

[Ramako]

In light of the recent announcement regarding the Scarborough subway, I thought I'd share my map of Toronto's future Subway/LRT system to help provide an overview of what's going on in Toronto.

The extension of the western portion of the Yonge-University-Spadina Line (yellow) from Sheppard West to Vaughan Centre is well under construction and will be open in 2016.

The Eglinton Crosstown (blue) is also under construction, however they just started boring the tunnels. We're looking at completion around 2020.

The extension of the Bloor-Danforth Line (green) from Kennedy to McCowan was the subject of the recent announcement. The alignment shown here is what the city, the TTC and the Feds prefer, whereas the province prefers one less station and a slightly different alignment. Regardless of which way they ultimately go, the funding is now secure.

The Sheppard East LRT (orange) and Finch West LRT (grey) have both been approved and funded. I haven't included station names because they haven't been determined yet. There is fear among proponents of the Sheppard East LRT that the funding reserved for it will be shifted to other projects, as Mayor Ford opposes the line. He'd rather see the extension of the Sheppard Line (purple) east.

The Wellington-Front Line, as I call it, aka the Downtown Relief Line (red), is the only line on this map that is hypothetical and unfunded, but it gives a sense of the kind of line that will eventually be proposed. According to the TTC and the provincial transportation agency, it's the next priority after the already planned lines.

After that, we can probably expect to see an extension of the eastern portion of the Yonge-University-Spadina Line (yellow) north to Richmond Hill, an extension of the Sheppard Line (purple) west to connect with the western portion of the Yonge-University-Spadina Line, an extension of the Eglinton Crosstown (blue) west to Pearson Airport, and an extension of the Downtown Relief Line north to the Eglinton Crosstown. I haven't included these extensions in this map, as they are a ways off at the moment.

[Nouvellecosse]

I was hoping the DRL would be King or Queen based rather than so far south. And i was also hoping it would extend much farther north rather than just stopping at Bloor.

[mistercorporate]

I'm pretty sure the DRL will be focused on King street though the stations closest to Union Station will be further South before it curves North to King St.

[Ramako]

Last I heard the TTC preferred running the DRL along Wellington.

[WhipperSnapper]

I thought the DRL was always intended on using the rail corridors.

[Innsertnamehere]

Tere is no official preferred route, Metrolinx is doing a study to figure out the preferred route.

The TTC ridership study done last year presumed a king alignment coming from pape, and I would also prefer that as it would allow for the elimination of 504 service.

[MonkeyRonin]

The DRL's planned alignment seems to change every week. I just hope the one pictured above in no way resembles what might eventually be built. Terrible alignment and station spacing - only 11 stations for a 12 km line through the core? Plus the single transfer point to the YUS being at one of the most already overburdened stations?

[Innsertnamehere]

It seems to change every week because there is no official alignment, so every time someone puts out a new fantasy map the DRL gets a new alignment.

My preferred plan runs like this; (every red line is a station)



Stations, East-West

Science Centre
Flemingdon
Thorncliffe
O'Conner
Donlands (Transfer to B-D)
Gerrard
Carlaw (Transfer from streetcars in underground streetcar station)
Corktown
Parliament
Jarvis
King-Yonge
St. Andrew
Spadina South
Bathurst South
Strachan
Liberty
Dufferin South
Jameson
Queensway (Transfer to Streetcars in underground streetcar station)
Roncasvalles
Dundas West (Transfer to B-D)

[caltrane74]

With the Eastern Alignment, pressure will come off the Carlton Car, Queen Car, Dundas and King Streetcar routes.

Badly, badly needed subway, 10X times more than Scarborough, IMO.