The Great Canadian Transit Thread

[caltrane74]

Toronto voted in favor of both the Relief Line ($7 Billion) and the Yonge Street Subway Extension. (6 Billion)

http://www.blogto.com/city/2017/05/toronto-takes-big-step-toward-relief-subway-line/

The Yonge Line is expected to reach capacity by 2031. That's why at today's city council meeting, councillors were serious about moving a downtown relief line forward.

Councillors voted 42-1 in favour of the new relief line alignment, which would see this subway line run below Carlaw Avenue, from Pape Station, towards Queen Street (Queen and Osgoode stations) downtown.

They also voted to move ahead with the Yonge subway extension, which would bring the TTC trains north into York Region but not before the relief line opens thanks to an amendment from Councillor John Filion.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by caltrane74

Toronto voted in favor of both the Relief Line ($7 Billion) and the Yonge Street Subway Extension. (6 Billion)

http://www.blogto.com/city/2017/05/toronto-takes-big-step-toward-relief-subway-line/

Both lines could be constructed at the same time as long as the Relief line opens first.

Any possibility that the Scarborough line could send trains directly onto the Relief Line saving a transfer for downtown bound passengers?

[WhipperSnapper]

There isn't a Scarborough Line. It's an extension of Line 2.

Any extension of the Yonge Line should include the doubling of track south of Eglinton. The downtown relief line is a good intention line but, it's not going to do much for the crushing loads transferring at Yonge and Bloor. People getting off at Dundas are not going to transfer to the relief line. My first hand experience suggest more people get off at Dundas than Queen, King, Union combined. (anyone have the real number?)

[caltrane74]

Only 14 years before the Yonge Line reaches capacity, gotta move fast.

No dilly dally.

[WhipperSnapper]

I guess Dundas is busier as the subway is really the only commuter option. Driving is pure insanity. Down by the core, you have the GO as an alternative or driving with some very cheap parking options. The 2000 space Green P Esplanade garage is $10 a day.

[osmo]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

There isn't a Scarborough Line. It's an extension of Line 2.

Any extension of the Yonge Line should include the doubling of track south of Eglinton. The downtown relief line is a good intention line but, it's not going to do much for the crushing loads transferring at Yonge and Bloor. People getting off at Dundas are not going to transfer to the relief line. My first hand experience suggest more people get off at Dundas than Queen, King, Union combined. (anyone have the real number?)

If I recall due to the cut and cover method used for the line south of Yonge this opportunity to double track has 'left the station'. You would need to disrupt and rip up a lot of land, streets, and it would completely choke off Yonge during the duration.

Also, the main Bloor-Yonge station is trapped in an engineering mess underneath buildings and I have heard there is little room to make this happen. What could be done though is that the ghost tracks that stem from Bay Street undernrth are continued and go up north to Eglinton.

[caltrane74]

Any relief/express line on Yonge would have to be on Bay Street/Avenue Road. And it would have to be deep/cut and cover might work but would be super disruptive.

[WhipperSnapper]

It needs to go to Eglinton to be effective. The TTC tries very hard not to partake in cut and cover anymore. They bore tunnels.

[SteelTown]

Starting on Monday HSR will provide free rides for cyclists up the escarpment.


Jason Thorne
https://twitter.com/JasonThorne_RPP


Jason Thorne
https://twitter.com/JasonThorne_RPP

[J.OT13]

O-Train Confederation Line Update.

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Construction Update
Week of May 22

Construction along the Confederation Line this week advances with the delivery of escalators and elevators at both the east and west entrances of Lyon Station, and waterproofing at Pimisi Station. Also getting underway is work on the invert of Rideau Station. Masonry at the Lees Station ancillary building is being completed.

---

West Stations

Tunney’s Pasture Station
Concrete pours occur for the foundation walls and slabs. Shoring begins for the concourse slab and steel beam installation also takes place.

Bayview Station
Construction advances and includes work on the west side of the station for the platform slabs. Rebar and formwork installation is also ongoing as part of concrete work. Crews pour remaining concourse slabs and begin installing structural steel.
Pimisi Station
Concrete pours for columns and slabs and installation of structural steel are ongoing. Mechanical and electrical rough-in work as well as falsework for the west upper concourse is progressing. Crews mobilize to begin waterproofing of walls.

---

Central Stations

Lyon Station cavern
Architectural work progresses in the cavern, with tiling continuing. Installation of escalators, mechanical and electrical rough-ins in the HVAC room and installation of trackwork also continues.

Lyon Station west entrance
The integrated entrance continues to take shape with ongoing work on the head house, concrete works on the ground floor, including curing, as well as forming and pouring the lower stairs. Crews form, pour and cure walls at the east vent shaft walls. Rock removals occur at the Lyon west vent shaft.

Lyon Station east entrance
This week, installation of the station elevators and rough-ins occur. In addition, masonry is installed on the retail concourse level and concrete curing takes place on the mezzanine level. Final concrete works occur at the HVAC shaft and painting begins as part of architectural work.

Parliament Station cavern
Final arch concrete lining pours progress this week. Crews finish installing rebar and conduits to prepare to pour the next section of deck. Architectural work occurs in the cavern.

Parliament Station west entrance
Integrated entrance construction advances with hoe ramming, rock support and shotcrete activities in addition to rock bolt installation.

Parliament Station east entrance
Concrete work ramps up this week and includes installation of rebar and formwork for the station’s lower pit walls. The roof slab work is being completed and rebar installation begins

---

Rideau Station cavern
Construction of the station cavern continues to advance with final lining work occurring on the arch and the invert. Crews begin spraying shotcrete this week as part of final lining work, waterproofing the adit area and installing rebar for upcoming concrete pours on the walls.

Rideau Station west entrance
Waterproofing of the invert occurs this week. Excavation for the escalator takes place during the daytime and overnight as required.

Rideau Station east entrance
Integrated entrance construction continues to advance at surface level with the installation of rebar for HVAC walls and ongoing formwork and concrete pours for the station west walls and elevator roof slab. Roof falsework is completed and crews begin to install rebar.

East Portal
Renewal work continues with rebar installation and concrete pours on the west and east walls of the ramp.

uOttawa Station
The station continues to take shape with ongoing concrete work. Roofing and framing occurs for upcoming porcelain panel installation at the concourse level. Next phase of steel installation continues.

---

East Stations

Lees Station
Rebar, formwork and concrete pours in cycles for the upper concourse area advance at the station. Work on the service trench connecting the station and ancillary building continues. Mechanical and electrical rough-in work at the concourse level progresses. The next phase of structural steel work also continues this week.

Hurdman Station
Progress continues to be visible at the station with ongoing framing and structural steel installation, escalator and electrical work. Concrete pours for the suspended slabs and installation of the south escalator occurs. Interior finishing at the bus operator building concludes.

Tremblay Station
Crews continue installing composite and porcelain panels and working on elevators to prepare for the arrival of the elevators. Initial landscaping also occurs and includes parapet work at the west ring road. Cast-in-place concrete construction is ongoing, including curbs. Signband conduit and elevator installation continues along with painting of structural steel. Crews mobilize to begin skylight framing and glazing.

---

St-Laurent Station
Final platform finishes, precast concrete stair work, work on doors and escalator cladding all advance. Platform level electrical and sprinkler installation at the concourse continues along with porcelain panel installation. Headhouse structural work and work on the HVAC shaft continues.

Cyrville Station
Construction advances and includes glazing, work on precast concrete stairs, and station signage. Signband conduit installation is progressing. Concrete pours for platform topping and landscaping continue.

Blair Station
Glazing activities and final finishes on the platform are ongoing. Porcelain panel installation, precast concrete stair caulking, painting, installation of doors and hardware progresses. Electrical conduit is installed for signband installation to progress. Testing and commissioning of mechanical equipment, light fixture installation and interior finishing is underway. Platform topping installation is to commence.

---

Guideway and Trackwork

The guideway continues to take shape along the alignment: Overhead Catenary System poles are being installed just west of Bayview station moving east to Pimisi Station, rails are being pulled and dowels installed in the tunnel moving east. In addition, trackwork activities occur just east of uOttawa Station to Hurdman Station, including pulling rail and ballast tamping. System crews have completed the installation of wires to allow the test track and vehicle testing to advance in the east section of the alignment.

---

Upcoming Construction Activities

In the coming weeks, the following construction activities are scheduled to occur:

• Hoe ramming as part of work on the western section of the guideway.
• Delivery and installation of the Traction Power Sub Station east of Pimisi Station.
• Ongoing overnight work at the Rideau Station west and east entrances, and at the East Portal.
• Next stage of work at uOttawa Station requiring overnight lane restrictions.
• Final work on the pedestrian tunnel at uOttawa Station.
• Hydro connection work to Hurdman Station requiring lane restriction on Riverside Drive.
• Manhole work as part of guideway activities at intersection of Riverside Drive and Tremblay Road, requiring lane restrictions.
• Fencing installation on guideway just west of Tremblay Station.
• Systems installation along the guideway, including Overhead Catenary System poles and wires.
• Elevator installation at uOttawa Station.
• Masonry at the ancillary building at Bayview Station.
• Electrical and communications room installations at Lees Station.
• Soft ground excavation at Parliament Station requiring overnight work.
• Elevator installation at Lyon Station

http://www.ligneconfederationline.ca/construction/construction-update-125/

[caltrane74]

Bombardier might actually deliver 3 streetcars this month. (May)!

Now can they keep this up for another 5 years, plus deliver the LRT trains and Metrolinx Coaches?

That is the question, but thankfully Alstom has been hired to make sure we don't get any gaps in the delivery of all these trains.

[p_xavier]

Projet Montréal (a municipal party) has officially voted on an extended Pink line for the Montréal Metro to be their main electoral project. Here was the initial proposal, they voted to extend the Pink line to Pointe-Saint-Charles.

Bare in mind that it's not the city that would be building it so they can propose whatever they want they don't have the governance to actually build it.

[SkahHigh]

^it's a nice project even if it's a pipe dream, especially coupled with the REM. I wonder about that tunnel between Bonaventure and McGill though...

[Rico Rommheim]

That hypothetical line is exactly what we need. The current metro system completely neglects the bulk of the high density neighbourhoods east of downtown. The neighbourhoods between the blue line and the green line are some of the densest in North America, and yet are very hard to access by public transit other than buses.

[hipster duck]

Originally Posted by Rico Rommheim

That hypothetical line is exactly what we need. The current metro system completely neglects the bulk of the high density neighbourhoods east of downtown. The neighbourhoods between the blue line and the green line are some of the densest in North America, and yet are very hard to access by public transit other than buses.

Ah, what would a Canadian city be without a "Rapid Transit Desert"? That would be a dense, urban, transit-friendly neighbourhood totally reliant on surface transit and far away from the nearest rapid transit station. Meanwhile, rapid transit lines keep getting built in the 'burbs.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

Ah, what would a Canadian city be without a "Rapid Transit Desert"? That would be a dense, urban, transit-friendly neighbourhood totally reliant on surface transit and far away from the nearest rapid transit station. Meanwhile, rapid transit lines keep getting built in the 'burbs.

Even with the opening of the Confederation Line next year, the vast majority of dense inner city Ottawa will remain just that.

[J.OT13]

This website shows the density map of Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.

http://ajverster.github.io/blog/2013/09/16/population-density-maps-in-canadian-cities/

In all 4 cases, a lot of the denser parts of the respective city is poorly served. For Ottawa, the densest corridor by far is Bank-Rideau-Montreal. The City has 0 interest in serving it because the votes are in the suburbs.

The Confederation Line follows the Queesway on the east side (highway in yellow), the least dense area of the City.

[Doady]

Montreal has similar problem as Toronto. Toronto has relief line west of Yonge, but not east of Yonge. Montreal has relief west of Berri, but not east.

I am not sure diagonal line to Montreal-Nord is what's needed though. Wouldn't upgrading the existing commuter rail line be easier? Another direct connection not need. A new metro line should instead focus on intercepting riders traveling to Berri from the east, the same way a Pape-Don Mills subway would for Yonge.

[1overcosc]

And then Vancouver has the whole Broadway corridor down to UBC.. it really is a theme in Canada.

[Skygazer]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

And then Vancouver has the whole Broadway corridor down to UBC.. it really is a theme in Canada.

Downtown Vancouver is also fairly underserved by rapid transit compared to downtown Toronto and Montreal... the SkyTrain is incredibly useful for getting in and out of the downtown core, but not so much for actually travelling within it.