The Great Canadian Transit Thread

[Nouvellecosse]

Are you sure? It doesn't look like the hydro corridor is very developed on street view save for a few parking lots. Nothing that couldn't be overcome with a short elevated section here and there.

But either way it's nice to more of the region covered by frequent rail service.

[SkahHigh]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

Are you sure? It doesn't look like the hydro corridor is very developed on street view save for a few parking lots. Nothing that couldn't be overcome with a short elevated section here and there.

But either way it's nice to more of the region covered by frequent rail service.

Pretty tough to elevate a heavy rail commuter line... I believe the Train de l'Ouest project is the better option for the West Island.

[Kitchissippi]

Could they just use this old rail spur which runs almost into Fairview?

[SkahHigh]

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

Could they just use this old rail spur which runs almost into Fairview?

Maybe but it couldn't be express service since there is little space for double trackage and installing a catenary overhead.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by SkahHigh

Pretty tough to elevate a heavy rail commuter line... I believe the Train de l'Ouest project is the better option for new public transit in the West Island.

To be clear, when i was talking about heavy rail commuter line I wasn't talking about locomotive push-pull operations but rather S-Bahn type of operations.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhine-Main_S-Bahn

[PhilippeMtl]

Some Montreal metro stations,

All pics by Chris Forsyth @ http://www.chrismforsyth.com/

LaSalle


Côte Sainte-Catherine


Jarry


De la Savane


Square Victoria-OACI


Namur

[SkahHigh]

^ I always wonder why the least used stations like Acadie, de la Savane and Namur are the prettiest, and the most used like Berri-UQAM and Guy-Concordia are the ugliest...

[bikegypsy]

Originally Posted by SkahHigh

^ I always wonder why the least used stations like Acadie, de la Savane and Namur are the prettiest, and the most used like Berri-UQAM and Guy-Concordia are the ugliest...

I've noticed that also. My guess is that the older (initial) stations were built in a "barebones" budget mode when the metro had to prove to be a worthy solution to Montreal's trafic woes during a politically sensitive period in Quebec. In the sixties, Quebecers were still jumpy from the Duplessis years.

[biguc]

Amazing metro stations. Montreal's mid-century style is second to none.

[Innsertnamehere]

Agreed. Its unfortunate that Toronto built such bland stations compared to Montreal. I guess its because we built most of our network earlier, but even then the only "nice stations" in the system are those on the Spadina line.. We don't have a good habit of building grand stations.

I don't think Eglinton's stations are going to be particularly nice either, its unfortunate.

[niwell]

^The new stations on the University-Spadina line will be pretty epic. Of course people are angry at their scale because of the cost.

One thing that struck me in Montreal was that many of their stations outside downtown are great underground, but have horrible street presence.

[ssiguy]

At least Toronto stations are built large enough to accommodate future growth unlike the itsy-bitsy 40 meter Canada Line stations that only have one exit and the platforms are dangerously thin.

[GreaterMontréal]

Even the recent Métro stations built in Laval look good.


http://www.stm.info/fr

[Rico Rommheim]

In Laval, you have to go deep underground to find anything nice.

[SkahHigh]

Originally Posted by Rico Rommheim

In Laval, you have to go deep underground to find anything nice.

In Laval, the higher you go the uglier it gets.

[hipster duck]

Originally Posted by niwell

One thing that struck me in Montreal was that many of their stations outside downtown are great underground, but have horrible street presence.

That's true about their street presence. A metro/subway station can have horrible street presence if it serves other purposes - for example, it has an integrated bus terminal (never pretty) that allows for seamless transfers - but in Montreal, the metro stations seem to have the horrible street presence of Toronto stations without the surface transit integration.

[SkahHigh]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

That's true about their street presence. A metro/subway station can have horrible street presence if it serves other purposes - for example, it has an integrated bus terminal (never pretty) that allows for seamless transfers - but in Montreal, the metro stations seem to have the horrible street presence of Toronto stations without the surface transit integration.

That depends. Some stations have bus terminals and some don't. Depends on the space available I imagine...

[Tone]

Originally Posted by SkahHigh

That depends. Some stations have bus terminals and some don't. Depends on the space available I imagine...

From my experience, the largest bus terminals tend to be located at the end of the lines or close to shopping malls like Radisson but there are probably some exceptions.

[J.OT13]

I'm a little disappointed with Ottawa's future subway stations. Designs went from big, open, over the top stations with 150-180 meter platforms to very plain, bare bones 120 meter stations. Concourses aren't bad though.

One of the concept stations before the RFP:


http://www.westsideaction.com/lrt-stations-revealled-part-i/

Platform and concourse level as currently designed:


http://ottawa.ca/en/ott-city-online/welcoming-future-transit-city-ottawa


http://www.ibigroup.com/category/general-news/page/9/

[SkahHigh]

^ kinda disappointing indeed, looks like a bunker. They should at least add some color.