Well, at least the DC area isn't the only metropolitan region with a Silver line train to the airport that will be delayed....
Why DART is pushing back the opening date for the Silver Line to DFW Airport
By Chloe Bennett
Jul 12, 2021
Dallas Morning News
"The opening of the long-anticipated Dallas Area Rapid Transit Silver Line has been pushed back again and will now open two years after it was initially set to begin carrying passengers between Dallas/Fort Worth Airport and Plano.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit North Texas, the line was scheduled to open in 2022 but has now been pushed back twice due to construction delays and unsettled agreements..."
Why are construction or improvements focusses on major cities? It would be nice also to give attention on some provinces. However, thumbs up for the continuing projects.
GO transit is extending service from Kitchener to London in October using existing infrastructure. This is a significant extension of the existing line - 95 km / 57 miles, but it comes in the form of a single morning and evening rush hour train that will take about 4 hours to make the trip.
This is considered a first phase, with efforts to improve frequency and travel times likely to occur later. The train would use a corridor which is in very poor shape. The corridor between Kitchener and Toronto was purchased by Metrolinx about a decade ago and is finally seeing some significant upgrades to increase train speeds, I imagine Metrolinx will now purchase the remainder of the corridor and make similar upgrades. Even the upgrades already underway on the existing corridor should make significant differences on travel times.
This seems to be GO's expansion model - start with a slow train with limited frequency and slowly upgrade speeds and frequencies to a more complete service. This has occurred on the Kitchener extension since 2012 when it first opened with existing infrastructure and only two peak hour trains, evolving into a faster service with much higher frequencies, and is also already underway on the Niagara extension which opened in 2019 with a similarly terrible travel time but with plans to make large improvements.
SEPTA's Line 15 trolley was scheduled to reopen in Fall 2021 along with the Port Richmond extension, but I've yet to see any news on the progress of the refurbishment of the vehicles. Here's an article from March 2021 showing the testing underway: https://phillyyimby.com/2021/03/trol...ladelphia.html
Honolulu's HART was said in the beginning of the year that it would open by the end of 2021, but I haven't been able to find any recent news that confirms that it would open.
Milwaukee's HOP streetcar is supposed to open it's second branch by Summer 2022, or its federal grant could be recalled. The tower that will host the final stop of the line is now under construction, and the developer will be obligated to pay the grant back if the line can't open by then. https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2021/05/0...egins-may-5th/
Toronto Eglinton Crosstown West - 5.7 miles (9.2 km)
The construction so far involves the excavation of the tunnel launch shaft at the future Renforth Station. the TBMs are expected to be launched in the spring to begin the dig eastwards through the planned underground portion of the line.
A future connection is planned to Pearson International Airport, bringing TTC rapid transit service to the airport for the first time, subject to the design of a planned rapid transit hub at the airport. The line also brings TTC rapid transit to Mississauga for the first time, with Renforth station lying just on the opposite side of the City of Toronto border with Mississauga. The line will be entirely grade seperated.
Phoenix Metro has quite a bit of train expansion beyond the street car above I thought I would Detail
Northwest Extension
Northwest Extension is not particularly long but it is connecting the old(now closed) Metro-center Mall (Of Bill & Ted fame), the entire mall is working on a redevelopment plan as many malls have to convert into new office/retail/apartment space. Particularly exciting as its the first elevated station in the system (outside of the airport train).
South Central Extension
Already under construction for over a year this is a 5 mile extension that also includes a new central hub as now the light rail will have multiple lines instead of one long line.
Former Central station will hopefully become this but they seem to be falling through right now:
Tempe Street car (connects to light rail) Under construction:
The Airport Sky Train expansion
Connects to the light rail, all terminals and Remote parking, is now connecting to the Rental Car center, also they are going to build an Airport Hotel that will connect to the Skytrain and maybe commuter rail :
Completed Stations, endpoint built right into rental car center (Hopefully they make that landscaping nicer !!!)
Commuter Rail/Brightline/ Amtrak
And lastly the long term potential plan to build commuter rail and inter-city between Phoenix and Tucson and LA. Basic plans have been finalized but it isnt funded and not a state priority at the moment. Maybe some day:
Yellow Route was chosen
Additionally Amtrak is planning to bring Amtrak service back to Phoenix which would reopen our long dead City station, as well as Brightline planning to extend its service to Phoenix after the LA-Vegas line is completed which would likely also come into the central station and link up with the entire system, commuter, airport, light rail etc.
I mean good for those that want alternatives to cars but I really can not understand why at grade rail, basically glorified streetcars, are chosen over BRT with dedicated lanes, signal priority, and dedicated ROW.
I mean good for those that want alternatives to cars but I really can not understand why at grade rail, basically glorified streetcars, are chosen over BRT with dedicated lanes, signal priority, and dedicated ROW.
BRT just hasnt captured the public or city planners like rail has. But Phoenix is working on a BRT line if its successful you will see more:
Tampa targets streetcar expansion for infrastructure bill funds
By Lloyd Sowers
November 9, 2021
"TAMPA, Fla. - While some drivers would like to see every penny spent on new and bigger roads, Tampa’s mayor says we need to change our view of mass transit.
"Mass transit in the south is more than two people in an SUV," said Mayor Jane Castor. "We have to get people used to riding the bus, to riding the streetcar and seeing that as a very reliable and safe mode of transportation."
The mayor invited a group of transportation leaders for a day that included a ride on Tampa’s historic streetcar. Among her guests was the state transportation secretary who will have a say on how Florida’s federal infrastructure dollars will be divided..."
San Diego's Mid Coast Trolley Extension opens on Sunday, 11/21/21! And yes, I plan on being there to take some pictures and hopefully post here.
$2.1 billion, 11 miles, 9 new stations, servicing and connecting UCSD, University Town Center to Downtown and the rest of the Trolley network. It will be an extension of the existing Blue Line which currently ends at the San Ysidro international border crossing and was one of the first light rail lines constructed in the modern era.
I stopped by one of the new Trolley stations and snapped a picture of the Trolley map effective tomorrow. The light shaded blue route on the upper left side of the map is the extension that's opening tomorrow.
San Diego's Mid-Coast/Blue Line extension is officially open! I took a couple pictures from some platforms, I didn't get a chance to take any onboard, it was too crowded.
Congrats San Diego! Boy that 2020 & 2021 list is sparse.
A good extension for San Diego!
As for the 2020 & 2021 list, you could add Seattle's Northgate Link extension to the 2021 list, though that only makes it three instead of two... still very sparse!
Preliminary works have quietly begun for Toronto's Ontario Line in the past month, starting with preliminary grading works along the Lakeshore East Rail Corridor. The Ontario line will run along this corridor at the surface, adjacent to 4 GO tracks for GO RER service.
The preliminary works will replace several bridges along the shared corridor and raise the grade of the corridor by several metres to improve bridge clear heights for the underpasses.
Further preliminary works at Exhibition Station on the west end of the line are expected to begin in the next few months.
Full construction of the primary construction contract is expected to begin by Fall 2022.
an update on the Eglinton West LRT Extension with some photos of construction. The Tunnel Boring launch shafts have been dug over the summer. TBMs are expected to launch in the spring, and are currently in the process of being shipped from Germany where they were manufactured.
The line will initially run from the terminus of the Crosstown LRT at Mount Dennis (due to open next year) to Renforth Station in Mississauga, however it is intended to eventually run to Pearson Airport. It will be fully grade seperated and functionally operate as a metro line.
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