The Great Canadian Transit Thread

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by Beedok

Depending on how busy freight traffic is... I think a few Hamilton lines would be tricky, as would the most useful Thunder Bay line due to the frequency of freight trains. You'd need to basically build a third rail to make them practical.

Even to get a GO like system, I think there is enough space in the movements that it could be done. The problem comes down to cost. The trains we cannot use are the ones that would work well for these places.

[p_xavier]

Today marks the start of two new transit agencies in the Montréal region and the end of 10+.

The ARTM (www.artm.quebec) will plan and finance transit operations and infrastructure.

The RTM (www.rtm.quebec) will be responsable of operating suburban trains and buses.


The ARTM is akin to Metrolinx/Translink except that 2/3 of it's chairman board is made of independent members as to not politicize transit planning. The Montréal transit operators will not be allowed to do any transit planning. The agency will be able to levy money from a new construction tax and highway tolls.

[caltrane74]

Shoring work beginning for the new Eglinton LRT/subway stations.

http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/threads/tor...metrolinx-norr.26480/page-4#post-1229016

[Innsertnamehere]

Announced today that Stouffville GO will introduce all day hourly service on weekdays effective June 28.

RER in action! This is the first part of RER to "finish" that allows for more train service!

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

Announced today that Stouffville GO will introduce all day hourly service on weekdays effective June 28.

RER in action! This is the first part of RER to "finish" that allows for more train service!

That makes 4 out of 7 GO lines with off-peak service, right? (Two Lakeshores, Brampton line, Stouffville)

BTW, is Brampton service still hourly midday or do they have evening/weekend service now too?

[TorontoDrew]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

Announced today that Stouffville GO will introduce all day hourly service on weekdays effective June 28.

RER in action! This is the first part of RER to "finish" that allows for more train service!

About time. I'm sure this will make a lot of people happy especially in Markham.

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

Announced today that Stouffville GO will introduce all day hourly service on weekdays effective June 28.

RER in action! This is the first part of RER to "finish" that allows for more train service!

The entire line? Impressive.

[gunnar777]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

The entire line? Impressive.

I believe the off-peak, hourly service is only Union-Unionville. It's progress, though!

[SkahHigh]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

That makes 4 out of 7 GO lines with off-peak service, right? (Two Lakeshores, Brampton line, Stouffville)

BTW, is Brampton service still hourly midday or do they have evening/weekend service now too?

What's the current service level on Stouffville?

[WhipperSnapper]

Sorry, I should have been more clear. I meant Unionville. I was thinking how they could do it with so much of the line still single track but, hourly is still a while. I guess the section (south of Sheppard?) they were building a second track is now complete.

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by SkahHigh

What's the current service level on Stouffville?

one direction ... rush hour

[SkahHigh]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

one direction ... rush hour

How many trains per day is more what I'm asking. I'm trying to compare the current/future service with the AMT service.

[caltrane74]

Single track, rush hour only, maybe max 20 trains a day.

[niwell]

Looking at the schedule it appears to currently be 8 in the morning and 8 in the afternoon. 7 of which go all the way to Stouffville, 1 terminates at Unionville.

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by SkahHigh

How many trains per day is more what I'm asking. I'm trying to compare the current/future service with the AMT service.

It's going from a unidirectional rush hour commuter service to a bidirectional, hourly service. Number of trains don't tell the whole story. This is hopefully just the first phase. They have 2/3rd of the corridor still to twin and somewhere around a dozen street crossings to separate for it to become a full fledged transit (alternative) than a political marketing strategy.

I've driven over this crossing dozens of times thinking it was former spur line for the long gone industrial area until I took the wrong train one day.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.7245325,-...4fywiOEK14hUYpflPpdig!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[SkahHigh]

Originally Posted by niwell

Looking at the schedule it appears to currently be 8 in the morning and 8 in the afternoon. 7 of which go all the way to Stouffville, 1 terminates at Unionville.

Similar to Mascouche then. Good news for TO!

[Innsertnamehere]

Current service is 7 peak trains in the evening and afternoon. An additional off peak train runs from Unionville directly after morning rush hour into Union (10:15 arrival or something), and two trains in the afternoon, an hour apart, before the afternoon rush (2:18 and 3:18 departure). Total of 17 train trips.

Also note that as the entire corridor is not yet double tracked, counter peak service is not yet in place. During rush hours, counter direction service will continue with buses. This will be rectified in 2-3 years once the full double tracking is complete. Double tracking is just starting construction now.

I believe they have 2 grade separations on the Stouffville line planned as a part of RER. Steeles and Finch. There are about a dozen that really need to be done, but doing them all at once is simply too expensive. Metrolinx is only doing 10 separations across the entire system for RER, and is trying to place a high priority moving into the future for more.

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[Chadillaccc]

Not bad. A good piece of infrastructure for Hamilton!

[Chadillaccc]

Originally Posted by Aylmer

Actually, Halifax has a transit ridership per capita higher than Boston and only a bit lower than Washington or San Francisco.



Canadian cities are in a different world of transit ridership than their American counterparts, but it's also true that, if you look at the infrastructure or the funding, you wouldn't suspect it. Looking at LRT ridership per mile between the two countries, Canada's worst-performing line (Ottawa's single-tracked, semi-temporary O-Train) is still the 6th best out of 40. The only American cities to surpass it are San Francisco and Boston, and the other four are other Canadian cities. We can pat ourselves on the back for having such high ridership - it's definitely a good thing - but we should also be wondering why it is that Canadian cities have to wait for our transit to be bursting at the seams before we allow ourselves to invest in our infrastructure.

If Norfolk can build an LRT line carrying a paltry 5600 riders per weekday over 12 km, then surely Regina should be building a subway network!

That's really interesting numbers! I always knew Canadian cities did better with public transit usage than the US, but I had no idea it was this significant. It seems out of date as it still shows Ottawa as larger than Calgary, while it's now nearly 100 000 smaller. I wonder when an updated version will be released?