Seeing it every day from below has been quite ugly sometimes, however (especially the experience when it's been stormy). Huge project though and it will be great when it's finally done in a couple years.
I know, i for one will not ride this upx. I'll take the regular TTC for one tenth the cost and only spend an extra 25 min getting right to Queen st station. This train is for suckers that dont live here.
I get the feeling that Union station will never finish construction. Right as the current work wraps up in 2016, the work for GO RER will probably start..
Because of where I live it will be easier for me to drive or taxi to the airport when heading out on vacation. Alternatively, my girlfriend lives in High Park, so leaving on the UPX from Dundas West is also an option to when leaving from her house there.
I know, i for one will not ride this upx. I'll take the regular TTC for one tenth the cost and only spend an extra 25 min getting right to Queen st station. This train is for suckers that dont live here.
I'll quietly hope that they eventually extend the Eglington line out there.
The Denver East Rail line is almost identical to UPX.
Both are under construction and about to open with 2 years, use current rail corridors, will run every 15 minutes all day, and Denver uses EMU which Toronto {hopefully} will in a few years. the Denver line is 22 miles and I believe the UPX is about 15 miles. Denver has 5 stations between Downtown and the airport and Toronto just 2 but again the Denver train is longer.
The similarities between the two lines are striking except for one little itsy bitsy little item...........the fare. The Denver Line is part of the standard fare structure and is in zone 3 so you pay the regular fare from downtown to DIA for $5 and of course less if you are in zone 2 and nothing extra if you live in zone 3 with your monthly bus pass.
These two systems are nearly identical except Denver is building an effective transit system and Toronto a tax write-off.
And the Toronto one pays for itself, at least in theory, while Denver requires huge subsidies. The system you describe in Denver is being built in Toronto as well, under GO RER.
Extending eglinton to the airport would likely result in0 time savings compared to the current setup, it would still take roughly an hour to get downtown.
Its because the Spadina line was closed between Spadina and St. Clair West, which just so happens to be the only part of the network that is rendered essentially useless with shuttle buses. (only part that doesn't follow a street)
What was essentially happening was that passengers were taking the St. Clair streetcar over to Yonge, or simply taking their bus further over, meaning that most of the Spadina passenger load was shifted onto the Yonge line. No good.
I get the feeling that Union station will never finish construction. Right as the current work wraps up in 2016, the work for GO RER will probably start..
Good for my wallet, and anyone else with half a brain that doesnt have money to throw away. This is not transit for the people of this city, it is a tourist convenience and should have been paid for with private money. You say Denver's new line will be heavily subsidized - well this one is too by the Tax payers of this city as this line will have very few riders.
Okay, it was blue skies and +31 degrees this past Sunday, so what better would I had to be doing than walking through the whole Evergreen SkyTrain contruction site taking pictures of the whole project from Lougheed (Burnaby) to Coquitlam.
This is the only mega update I am planning to have from this project, so enjoy.
The famous "WhiteSpot curve".
Up the North Road.
Track element waiting to be be installed.
The impressive gantry crane. Does anyone have a timelapse to show how this thing works?
North Road / Clarke Road curve.
Burquitlam station.
Diving into the tunnel.
At the other end of the tunnel. Alice has dug in to the mountain.
This is where the trucks will load.
Onwards towards Port Moody.
Evergreen banner. Note some tunnel elements in the background.
Wow that's really coming along, thanks for the pics! Someone from Vancouver should go to Toronto and show them how to build rapid transit.
I absolutely agree with you losername in terms of this just being tourist ride but with one exception. It's not just Torontonians who are subsidizing this line but rather all Ontarians thru their tax dollars.
The auditor general has been very critical of this line and thinks Metrolinx's forecast of 3 millions rides in the first 3 years is over optimistic. Let's say it isn't, well quick math roughly means about a very paltry 3,000 riders a day. That's going to do just wonders for Toronto's traffic woes and packed transit vehicles.
Well don't forget the Airport Bus from downtown to the airport is toast before the end of the year. And this line will still be 10 dollars less than a cab. At least for a single rider.
I think even with the very high price point the line will be very successful. Let's see!
Let's say it's the worst case scenario and it costs $30. A cab to the airport from downtown is $60. UPX takes 25 minutes from Union. Cab rides takes an hour and can be much longer if traffic is bad.
Among solo travellers--which is who this line is targeting--I don't see why it won't be successful. People travelling in groups, though, aren't really going to be attracted to the service, unless of course they're business travellers who are expensing it. Which there is no shortage of in Toronto's financial district.
A more reasonable fare would be $15-$20, that's generally around what Airport Express trains cost in most other major cities (for example, the Gatwick Express in London is 16 pounds). At that rate, it would become competitive among groups of 2 & 3.
In any case, UPX is likely going to get merged in with the London-Toronto HSR.
Also, note that the UPX construction resulted in the grade separation of the Georgetown subdivision. Very useful infrastructure for future use.
A more reasonable fare would be $15-$20, that's generally around what Airport Express trains cost in most other major cities (for example, the Gatwick Express in London is 16 pounds). At that rate, it would become competitive among groups of 2 & 3.
The difference in London, as VIce pointed out, is that cheaper rail alternatives exist (Heathrow Connect and the Piccadilly line for Heathrow and Thameslink for Gatwick).
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