The Great Canadian Transit Thread

[Wharn]

Originally Posted by caltrane74

Here is a look at our New Sheppard Subway!!!

Sheppard East LRT vs Rob Ford’s subway plan
Published Wednesday, Dec. 01, 2010 3:20AM EST
Last updated Wednesday, Dec. 01, 2010 8:23PM EST

This looks like it's shaping up to be really good. One thing I would do is place a station at Birchmount to serve the tower blocks already there, and expand opportunities for land intensification. Maybe we should look at imposing special developer fees to (partially) compensate the city for some part of the positive externalities this project will undoubtedly create.

[niwell]

Fun fact: Sheppard ain't happening. This is Ford's (which one?) way of admitting defeat. No private enterprise will front the money for this, pretty much guaranteed.

Now, if I'm wrong I'll eat my words. Literally, I'm so sure a private Sheppard line won't occur I will eat something that might be considered words.

Eglinton FTW.

It's Finch I feel terribly sorry for...

[BretttheRiderFan]

Originally Posted by niwell

Fun fact: Sheppard ain't happening. This is Ford's (which one?) way of admitting defeat. No private enterprise will front the money for this, pretty much guaranteed.

Now, if I'm wrong I'll eat my words. Literally, I'm so sure a private Sheppard line won't occur I will eat something that might be considered words.

Eglinton FTW.

It's Finch I feel terribly sorry for...

Would crow do the trick?

[caltrane74]

New Spadina Subway Extention - renderings for the York University Station

Last week UrbanToronto looked at the new Steeles West station plan for the Spadina Subway extension now under construction in the city's northwest. This week it's time for a look at another of the stations; York University, engineered by Arup Canada and designed by London UK-based Foster + Partners. Pritzker-award-winning Foster is responsible for the London Underground's renowned Canary Wharf station, and for the U of T's Dan Pharmacy Building, amongst an extensive list of notable buildings worldwide.




The site plan. The station will be located at the east end of York University's central common.




















For a more detailed report on the New Station and Subway line go to Urbantoronto.ca

http://urbantoronto.ca/content.php?1704-...-Station-on-the-Spadina-Subway-Extension

[caltrane74]

http://www.insidetoronto.com/news/cityhall/article/956775--mayor-moves-to-make-subway-plan-reality

DAVID NICKLE|Feb 18, 2011 - 11:20 AM| 0
Mayor moves to make subway plan reality

Plan to access private funding for Sheppard subway 'a work in progress'

The City of Toronto could be taking over responsibility for building a subway along Sheppard Avenue - while the provincially owned Metrolinx continues to build the Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail line and the new Scarborough Rapid Transit Line.

Metrolinx and the city have been talking since Tuesday, after Mayor Rob Ford delivered a proposal to revamp Toronto's Transit City network of light rail.

That plan, incorporated into the provincial government's regional Big Move transit expansion plan, would have seen light rail along Sheppard Avenue through Scarborough, and also along Eglinton Avenue and Finch Avenue. The replacement of the aging Scarborough RT line from Kennedy Station to the Scarborough Town Centre would also have been replaced.

But Mayor Ford made it clear during last fall's election that he would scrap the surface light rail lines, and instead build subways, largely in Scarborough.

On Thursday, Ford confirmed the communication had taken place last week.

"I can't get into details," he said. "I said I was going to build subways, I am building subways. I said public money's not available, that the private sector would be asked. That's what's going to happen."

Ford indicated to reporters that the city's proposal is still a work in progress, and wouldn't speak to any further details.

But officials at Metrolinx confirmed that the city's proposal would see the Sheppard LRT cancelled, and a subway built with city money.

The provincial government has $8.15 billion committed to the project in Toronto. The Sheppard subway would be removed from that pie, and would be paid for by a mix of development charges and tax increment finances - essentially, new taxes.

The Eglinton Crosstown, meanwhile, would be constructed by Metrolinx.

[Coldrsx]

Edmonton's Transit ridership jumps 10%!!!!

LRT is the Way We Move


February 15, 2011

The number of Edmontonians choosing to ride the LRT continues to grow, as shown by ridership statistics recently released by ETS.

Ridership on the entire system, for both bus and LRT service, in 2010 reached 76.3 million an increase of 7.8 million over that of 2009 (68.5 million).

“We can thank the expansion of the LRT to Century Park in April 2010 for the tremendous growth in public transit,” says Bob Boutilier, General Manager of Transportation. “It’s exciting to see so many people in the Capital Region jumping on board with ETS.”

The number of weekday boardings on the LRT increased significantly in 2010 to 93,600 from 74,400 in 2009.

“We anticipate continued high use on the LRT system,” continued Boutilier. “These numbers makes us confident that our focus on expansion of the LRT will truly transform the way we move.”

http://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/news/lrt-is-the-way-we-move.aspx

[240glt]

The udeniable success of the system should be mandate enough for Edmonton to move forward with the agressive expansion plans to add three more legs to the system.

I fear though, as it appears that Edmonton and region could be going into a massive building boom costs may derail expansion plans.

[Boris2k7]

10% is pretty fucking impressive. Way to go, Etown.

[Wooster]

great job Edmonton!

[Darkoshvilli]

The winning concept of our new trains

http://tvanouvelles.ca/lcn/infos/regional/archives/2011/02/20110218-110925.html

[caltrane74]

Montreal's new Subways look a lot like the new LRT's we'll be getting here.



Obviously subways are longer and wider than our LRT's but they have the same snubnose look.


Eglinton Line - in previous above ground setup.

[ue]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

Edmonton's Transit ridership jumps 10%!!!!

LRT is the Way We Move


February 15, 2011

The number of Edmontonians choosing to ride the LRT continues to grow, as shown by ridership statistics recently released by ETS.

Ridership on the entire system, for both bus and LRT service, in 2010 reached 76.3 million an increase of 7.8 million over that of 2009 (68.5 million).

“We can thank the expansion of the LRT to Century Park in April 2010 for the tremendous growth in public transit,” says Bob Boutilier, General Manager of Transportation. “It’s exciting to see so many people in the Capital Region jumping on board with ETS.”

The number of weekday boardings on the LRT increased significantly in 2010 to 93,600 from 74,400 in 2009.

“We anticipate continued high use on the LRT system,” continued Boutilier. “These numbers makes us confident that our focus on expansion of the LRT will truly transform the way we move.”

http://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/news/lrt-is-the-way-we-move.aspx

You should check the previous page, this was already posted.

[ue]

double post.

[Coldrsx]

triple post!

[Alexcaban]

Video on the new Metro cars

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2zDSdVy9hg

[rbt]

Originally Posted by niwell

Fun fact: Sheppard ain't happening. This is Ford's (which one?) way of admitting defeat. No private enterprise will front the money for this, pretty much guaranteed.

It is possible, if combined with Federal LRT money (earmarked for Sheppard AFAIK) to find funds for a Consumers Road and VicPark extension.

1/3rd Federal, 1/3rd Toronto, and 1/3rd private money.

Private funds is building the two stations. I think you could find a pair of developers willing to put up a pair of office towers and half dozen condos with a station in the basement for that area. It would actually fit in quite well too.

[rbt]

Originally Posted by caltrane74

Obviously subways are longer and wider than our LRT's but they have the same snubnose look.

I had been lead to believe Eglinton LRTs were somewhere around 2.65m wide, about 15cm wider than Montreal subway trains.

[dtgeek]

The Sheppard LRT plan was ridiculous. Stops at Palmdale and Bay Mills? That's absurd when those streets are each about a 30 second walk from Warden. And those are also the current bus stop intervals. Unless they were to cut out half of the stops, that line would have been slow as hell, so I'm glad the plan is being abandoned, even though a Subway is probably overkill.

[caltrane74]

Trains for Union-Pearson rail link approved

Megan O'Toole February 18, 2011 – 2:57 pm

The Metrolinx board of directors on Friday approved the purchase of 12 clean diesel trains from a U.S. firm for the planned express rail link between Union Station and Pearson Airport.

The $55-million contract with Sumitomo Corporation of America includes an option to purchase six additional vehicles, which would add about $20-million to the total cost.

“We are excited to be taking the next step towards providing a link from the busiest airport to the busiest passenger rail hub in Canada,” Metrolinx president Bruce McCuaig said, calling the link — expected to be operational by 2015 — “a vital transit service” for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area.


While the vehicles will be produced in the United States, Metrolinx will work with the manufacturer “to optimize Canadian content” where possible, the regional transportation agency said in a statement.

The diesel vehicles would be converted to run on electric propulsion if the rail link is electrified.

National Post

[email protected]

http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/02/18/trains-for-union-pearson-rail-link-approved/




Picture of the New Train provided by Metrolinx

[caltrane74]

Tunnel Boring Equipment for the Eglinton Crosstown Line

Metrolinx orders tunneling machines

Tess Kalinowski
Transportation Reporter
More about
Transportation»
Who says Toronto’s new light rail lines won’t be as good as a subway?

Metrolinx has ordered four giant tunnel-boring machines for $54 million to build the underground section of the Eglinton Crosstown Transit City light rail line.

“The LRT in the 11- to 12-kilometre tunnel is a subway in the sense that it is rail cars travelling underground with underground stations and no other traffic,” said Metrolinx head Rob Prichard. “The LRTs will be one, two or three cars in length. A subway is typically six cars. Therefore an LRT station underground has a shorter platform.”

About 12 kilometres of the $4.6 billion Eglinton LRT will run underground, from about Black Creek Dr. in the west to Laird Ave. in the east.

The beauty of the LRT, according to Prichard, is that at the end of the tunnel, riders can stay on the same vehicle and ride above ground all the way east to Kennedy station rather than transferring to a bus or streetcar.

The customized machines will be built by Lovat Inc. in Toronto, the same company that is supplying the TTC with four other tunnel-boring machines.

The TTC’s $58 million order for machines last year will be used to extend the subway into York Region.

The same machines could not be used for both projects because the tunnel on Eglinton will be about 6 metres wide, compared with the 5.4-metre tunnel on Spadina.

Light rail vehicles require pantographs (overhead structures) for their power supply, unlike the subway, which uses a third rail, said Prichard.

The ridership on Eglinton will be adequately served by light rail rather than subway, he said.

The first of the tunneling machines, which take about 18 months to build, will go into the ground around Black Creek.

On the east side, the LRT will continue above-ground all the way to Kennedy station. A second above-ground phase of the project on the west side, still unfunded, would see the line extended to the airport in the future.

Most of the tunneling will take place between 2012 and 2014, with the entire first phase of the line complete by 2020.

The tunnel-boring machine order is the latest proof of the Ontario government’s commitment to funding Toronto’s Transit City lines in the next 10 years, Prichard said.

David Miller has repeatedly insisted that the Transit City projects, which also include a makeover of the Scarborough RT and new LRT lines on Sheppard and Finch, might never be built since the government deferred about half of the $8 billion it committed to those projects in its spring budget.

The current Metrolinx plan calls for all four Transit City projects and a $1.5 billion express bus lane system in York Region to be completed over 10 years.

This report is before Rob Ford requested that the entire line be built undergound. This project will not take 10 years as planned. Maybe 20 years to build the whole thing.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/transportation/article/841424--metrolinx-orders-tunneling-machines