The Great Canadian Transit Thread

[Nouvellecosse]

Those stupid one-way bus routes seem to be a staple of smaller cities. Pretty much all of Moncton's bus routes are one-way for at least part of the route. Fortunately Halifax only has a couple routes like that for any significant section, although several others have a short one-way section between the bridge and downtown.

[ssiguy]

Metrolinx buying yet more bi-levels is incredibly short-sighted.

Toronto doesn't need more monster diesel trains but rather single level electric one which have faster acceleration and even if diesel to begin with they are still MUCH quicker than bi-levels because they have more door, level boarding, and you don't have to wait till the people from the upper level of the train get down the stairs to depart.

As for the Evergreen Line, it's really coming along nicely.

[Innsertnamehere]

Ok as long as you are wiling to give us the billions upon billions of dollars needed to upgrade go lines that typically run between 5-9 trips a day...

And it's not like they wait for people to come from the top level.. Have you ever riden in a bi-level coach? (They do have them in Vancouver you know) they all line up on the stairs to get off, having single level coaches wouldn't change boarding times too much unless you added more doors.

GO has looked at EMUs before and they typically save only around 4-5 minutes on a full line trip.

The only GO line with significant enough ridership for electrification really is lakeshore, and there are plans for that 10 or so years down the road. While there are no specifics on the project, one can presume that it won't use bi levels anymore regardless (at least for off peak, bi level haulers will probably still be used to handle peak loads)

[goodthings]

Originally Posted by miketoronto

From York Region Transit. They are really giving the American transit systems a run for their money for poor service levels.

Feb 2014 Service Improvements:

ROUTE 7

Weekdays:
Frequency in the evening after 7 p.m. will be adjusted from
45 minutes to 90 minutes due to low ridership.
No change in span of change.

10 WOODBRIDGE
Weekdays:
Frequency in the evening after 7 p.m. will be adjusted from
45 minutes to 90 minutes due to low ridership.

NEW ROUTE 15 STOUFFVILLE

Weekdays:
Weekday rush hour frequency will be every 70 minutes.


Saturdays and Sundays:
Frequency will be every 65 minutes. Service to only operate a few hours in the morning and afternoon. No midday service.

VIVA ORANGE
During evenings, frequency changes from 30 to 28 minutes.

HOO-WHAT?!?!?!!?

90-minute frequencies on routes like this? But again, this is YRT, with $4.00 one-zone cash fare, so what do we expect?

I like the splitting of Major Mack, Rutherford, and Leslie though. Really shows that the Vaughan section of these routes are well-used, and eastern Major Mackenzie really has low ridership.

Will check out the Spadina Subway Service Plan PIC on Monday only if I make it early on from work.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by caltrane74

GO Transit Ordering 65 More Bi Level Trains From Bombardier

Wow, that would make the cab cars look like actual cabs!

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

The only GO line with significant enough ridership for electrification really is lakeshore, and there are plans for that 10 or so years down the road. While there are no specifics on the project, one can presume that it won't use bi levels anymore regardless (at least for off peak, bi level haulers will probably still be used to handle peak loads)

The electrification feasibility study from a few years ago also recommended the Kitchener line be electrified and the section up to Brampton will be done at the same time as the airport train electrification.

[caltrane74]

Lakeshore is going to electrified after the Airport/Kitchener Line, so says the province and Metrolinx. As for using EMU/DMU's bi-level/single level coaches, for me as long as it's electric it wont matter if the trains are bi level/or single level. Because with electric service, we can now basically have another metro line in Toronto that will be integrated with the TTC with the presto card.

Here are some pretty cool bi-level electric trains

caltrain - in California



bi level bullet train

[Beedok]

Originally Posted by vid

A reminder that this is a bus route that existed:


Part of the reason for its failure was that the bus drivers forgot where it went and took the wrong turns. Also, there were no marked bus stops outside of the built-up part of the city, so no one really knew where or how to get on the bus.

That should surprise me, but it doesn't. Thunder Bay.... What more can be said?

[vid]

Originally Posted by niwell

^So ummm.. how DID people get on and off the bus?

To get on, they were expected to stand wherever there was room for the bus to safely pull over and wave it down. To get off, they just pulled the cord and as soon as it was safe to do so, the bus would pull them over and let them off.

I should also add, this route was served by one of our 40 foot buses. They get 5-8 miles per gallon and this route was something like 40 miles long.

Originally Posted by Beedok

That should surprise me, but it doesn't. Thunder Bay.... What more can be said?

They also brought back the South Neebing bus. I should add, both the route I posted and a similar route going south of the city both existed in the 1970s, since the province demanded the city provide all services to all parts of the city. We used to have a bus route that went to the local ski hill and to this day have rules about skis on buses.

This is the first draft of what will be going into place either this year or next:



There is no text because of how I extracted the image from the PDF it was in.

With a few exceptions, all routes will be entirely bidirectional. Most of our existing routes are as well but this will bring that to the next level.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by caltrane74

Here are some pretty cool bi-level electric trains

caltrain - in California

It should be mentioned that this isn't an actual Caltrain carriage, just an idea of what Caltrain electrified stock may look like if and when the service is actually electrified. Presently it's in the same boat as GO, as in hoping and dreaming of electrification, and seeing very real discussion from political leaders, but not actually started or about to start imminently.

[caltrane74]

Metrolinx is completing the EA for electrifying the Kitchener Line/Airport Line. The environmental assessment is required for placing the substations to power the lines and trains, and study impact in the surrounding community. Metrolinx hopes to have the airport and lakeshore lines electrified in 10 years. The Sumitomo DMU/EMU's locomotives which have been purchased by Metrolinx can have upgrades made to modify them for electrification/electric rail service, along with the addition of the power catching photographs. The Kitchener Line/ Airport Line is will be electrification ready when the current work line upgrades are complete, the only thing required now is the power substations and overhead wiring.





The reason I chose the caltrain rendering is because, like you said it runs a system very similar to GO Transit. The only difference being California is far more car centric than Ontario, and that electrified GO Transit lines can serve as a relief to overcrowed subways, with higher frequency and more stops than the diesel units can currently handle. Metrolinx is investing billions of dollars in separating the commuter lines from freight and grade separating the lines in the GTA, all of which bodes well for an addition intra-city rail line to provide an assist to overwhelmed city transit, especially with the introduction of electrification. An electrified city rail project like this is just what the doctor ordered until the additional subway ring around the downtown core can be built. And can be done at a far more reasonable price than a subway as well.

[north 42]

This would be awesome if it was possible, a subway system that includes both Windsor and Detroit!

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/su...-windsor-it-s-all-just-fantasy-1.2520981

[caltrane74]

Airport Rail Link / New GO Transit Kitchener Line Construction Keeps Residents Up All Night

[It was the latest skirmish involving residents along the train tracks and Metrolinx, the provincial agency in charge of expanding the rail corridor. They are the tracks where the Union Pearson Express train will run next year, and eventually, they will carry all-day, two-way GO service to Brampton and Georgetown.
The overnight construction was necessary to keep the project on its timetable, said Metrolinx spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins.
“We have lost time due to the severe weather we’ve had and we are committed to keeping this very important project on schedule,” she said.

[someone123]

4th ferry for Halifax is almost done. It'll start service in May:


Source

[caltrane74]

Interesting looking ferry....

Never seen one of those before.

[franktko]

Can it fly??

[kevinbottawa]

Update from the City of Ottawa on LRT tunnel construction.

Things continue to move forward on time and on budget for the Confederation Line light rail transit (LRT) project! Chewrocka, Crocodile Rouge and Jawbreaker, the three excavators carving out the LRT tunnel, have now completed 10% of the job. Check out the map below to track their progress on the 2.5 kilometre tunnel.



At the West Portal in LeBreton Flats, Jawbreaker has carved out 228 metres of tunnel and is currently digging under Queen Street just west of Bay Street.



At the East Portal near uOttawa and Laurier Avenue East, Crocodile Rouge has mined 22 metres towards Rideau Street.



Mining at the Central Shaft near Queen and Kent streets by the machine called Chewrocka has just begun over the last two weeks with 7 metres of the gallery that will lead from the construction shaft to the tunnel excavated to date.

[caltrane74]

How long is that tunnel, looks serious?

When is that LRT going to be finished?

[OTSkyline]

^ The downtown tunnel is 3.2km. The whole LRT line is supposed to be finished in done/functional in 2017.

[caltrane74]

Cold Weather Testing for New Streetcar



Peter Kuitenbrouwer: Toronto’s sexy, shiny new streetcars get a ‘real-world’ test in less-than-ideal snowy conditions

Imagine our shock when we saw, sliding down Bathurst Street southbound, a huge, new, fat shiny red streetcar, taunting us with a sign on its door and on its digital display: “Not in service.”

Walking 15 more blocks, I arrived at city hall (streetcars finally caught up with us at McCaul, and passed us at University). I called Brad Ross, the TTC spokesman, about the shiny streetcar sighting.

“We want to see how it functions in the snow,” he says, explaining that we saw a “test vehicle.” “This is real-world conditions.

“The testing is going really well. We are going to have our first production vehicle in March.”

I decided not to whine about my own particular commute. The poor man has enough on his plate.

“We are closing the SRT [Scarborough Rapid Transit] line to clear the tracks, switches and power rail in anticipation of evening rush hour,” he said. “The SRT has never liked the snow.”

On the subways, the TTC is running “storm trains” which spray a de-icing agent on the third rail. “It gets covered with snow and ice,” Mr. Ross explained.

Meanwhile in these conditions the TTC also deploys six “storm streetcars,” which don’t pick up passengers, but carry a special shoe on the trolley pole, “which acts as a cutter or slider,” he explains, to clear the wires of ice and snow. The storm streetcars also clear snow and ice from the switches on the streetcar tracks.