Toronto Eglinton Line 5 | ?m | ?s | Metrolinx | Arcadis

[drum118]

First impression of Line 5
View attachment 714159

I guess they haven’t found a budget to hire caretaker staff.

Snark aside, is this going to be a problem? The TTC was already operating in the red, short tens of millions each year, is the supposed new ridership going to be enough to cover running 2 new lines? What about the Ontario Line? Where are the operating funds going to come from?

Added thought: Perhaps fare evasion could lessen because fewer people will be accessing the TTC via POP (buses) and more through fare gates. Certainly not enough to operate these new lines.

It the slobs who have no respect nor welling to deal with their garbage in the first place. They are the ones who think someone who waited hand and foot that will deal with their mess a great expense to everyone.

 

[daptive]

First impression of Line 5
View attachment 714159

I guess they haven’t found a budget to hire caretaker staff.

Snark aside, is this going to be a problem? The TTC was already operating in the red, short tens of millions each year, is the supposed new ridership going to be enough to cover running 2 new lines? What about the Ontario Line? Where are the operating funds going to come from?

Added thought: Perhaps fare evasion could lessen because fewer people will be accessing the TTC via POP (buses) and more through fare gates. Certainly not enough to operate these new lines.

This isn’t an impression of Line 5, it’s an impression of some of our fellow Torontonians

 

[Full Metal Junkie]

How many times can you be told bilingually by the world's least pleasant TTS system to stay back from the yellow line before you need to be committed to an asylum?

What if it was the soothing voice of Seth Rogen that made the announcements? And what if that announcement went for waaaay too long for people to keep triggering it every 5 seconds? And what if it was a new version of the announcement every time?

Hey everyone, this is one of those announcements I never thought I’d be making, but here we are...
please stand back of the yellow line.
It’s bright yellow. You can’t miss it.
It’s doing a lot of work for us today, let's all respect that.

Uh, hey, folks. Yeah, hi, it's me again. So if you could just, uh, stand back of the yellow line… that’d be great.
The yellow line is there for a reason.
It’s… not a suggestion.
Okay, cool. Thanks.

Alright, so, quick thing... See the yellow line?
That’s like… the line.
Life is better on this side of it.
So let’s all just stand back of the yellow line and have a good day, yeah?

Heyyy everyone! Uh, real quick... If we could all just take, like, one small step back of the yellow line…
Not a big step. A tiny step.
Just enough to say, ‘Yeah, I respect the yellow line.’
Thanks, guys.

Okay, so apparently I’m supposed to tell you to stand back of the yellow line. Says so in the script they gave me.
And honestly? It’s a solid line. Very yellow.
Let’s all just trust it, 'kay?
Don't be a douche bag, please stand back.

Hi folks, quick reminder that the yellow line is not, uh, part of the platform experience.
It’s more of a boundary.
So if you could stand back of it, um, that’d be amazing? Truly.

 

[drum118]

If only Sheppard, from Don Mills to Morningside, had transit as good as Finch West.

How does the ridership compare to the two routes to justify your request???

 

[turini2]

Onboard of T9 in Paris which opened in 2021, worth a watch. You can see the dedicated transit signals throughout (and the flashing signals that indicate awareness of the tram, and that the signal is about to change - so operators can go at full speed towards a "stop" signal, knowing that a proceed aspect is about to appear)

Also note the grass tracks throughout, substantial tree planting and complete lack of dedicated turn lanes - and that most stops you can board from both ends!

 

[zang]

Funnily enough, I have the exact same opinion of unimaginative people like you who have no idea how transit works in other parts of the world and believe that subways are the only valid form of transit, and insist on hogging all the capital cost dollars on building a few highly limited megalomaniacal transit projects that deliver far less upgraded transit per km than a network of surface LRTs ever would. I'm sure all the people who would be stuck riding buses in mixed traffic under your transit vision because there isn't enough money to go around and upgrade their line are absolutely thrilled with you.

I’m literally in Kyoto right now, (similar size and CMA to Toronto) reading all these people saying “it should’ve been underground” while riding above ground train after above ground train that’s fast and on-time.

Kyoto has a two-line subway, with a whopping 32 stops, and no one is complaining the much larger above ground system is slow and should’ve been buried.

It’s a bit surreal sometimes how much we think the only way to make transit fast is by getting it out of the way of cars. And it’s so frustrating that transit (yes, including buses) is something that we have to bloody ourselves in a long battle just to get tiny morsels of, only to have self-proclaimed “pro-transit” folks say “that wouldn’t work here” at every opportunity.

 

[mikey7767]

Money is always an issue, that's why Sheppard is half the intended length, that's why Finch is half the intended length.
Eglinton as a subway would have been half as long as cost twice as much if Ford had his way.
And the cost probably would have killed the Ontario line.

Ford negotiated a deal with the province to bury the entire Eglinton Line from Mount Dennis to Kennedy. It was a done deal. Karen Stintz had it reversed when Ford lost his powers. It would have been the same length.

 

[mikey7767]

I’m literally in Kyoto right now, (similar size and CMA to Toronto) reading all these people saying “it should’ve been underground” while riding above ground train after above ground train that’s fast and on-time.

Kyoto has a two-line subway, with a whopping 32 stops, and no one is complaining the much larger above ground system is slow and should’ve been buried.

It’s a bit surreal sometimes how much we think the only way to make transit fast is by getting it out of the way of cars. And it’s so frustrating that transit (yes, including buses) is something that we have to bloody ourselves in a long battle just to get tiny morsels of, only to have self-proclaimed “pro-transit” folks say “that wouldn’t work here” at every opportunity.

Most of us are talking about grade separation, not just burying it. Kyoto doesn't use above ground trams that go through traffic lights for mass transit. They only have two tiny lines that are mostly used for tourism and as a historic remnant.

 

[nightstreak]

I deliberately took the wrong fork of Line 1 so that I could cross over to the one I wanted to go. I only used the tunnel portion but that was fast and painless. Have to say, it felt like I was in a new city. Can’t believe this is Toronto. It really got me eager for the Ontario Line which will be not only as good as this but better. We’re in for a treat in… uhh… checks calendar… 5 (or 10) years.

 

[mikey7767]

Speaking from experience, it is easiest to transfer on St Clair than to go down to Line 2. Under no circumstances ever should you be using the 32 Eglinton bus to switch sides of Line 1 (guess that is no longer a concern, hah).

But agreed overall with the message, it was one of my biggest takeaways yesterday. The network effects of Eglinton are simply game changing. So many new routes, destinations, and travel patterns unlocked in this city by just this line alone. The speed of movement through a central chunk of the city that was simply inaccessible without significant time and effort is incredible. I visited places and food spots on Eglinton West that I never thought of going to as easily as one would visit a place in Koreatown or Ossington/Bloor.

The time savings are mostly due to the underground portion. I've had a bus past us on rush hour this morning when riding it to go west from Kennedy, and another bus was just catching up. It isn't because surface LRTs work. It's because grade separation works.

 

[zang]

You complain about the over crowded buses that used to run along Eglinton, and yet the line is already showing signs of capacity issues.

…At current headways.

Putting more trains on the track and useful signal priority seems like a much easier and less costly prospect. But if it’s not a subway it doesn’t matter, right?

Something that wouldn't had been an issue had we constructed a subway instead.

The yonge line is currently at capacity; I guess we should’ve built catapults?

So yes, you may not want to hear it, but wrong form of transit was built along Eglinton.

I think what people don’t want to hear, is the repeated moaning from those who keep repeating “this should’ve been a subway”.

 

[christine]

Ford negotiated a deal with the province to bury the entire Eglinton Line from Mount Dennis to Kennedy. It was a done deal. Karen Stintz had it reversed when Ford lost his powers. It would have been the same length.

Not at all.

On Feb 8 2012 the city voted to revert back to the LRT projects including the Crosstown in its original form. Ford lost his powers more than a year and a half after the vote.

 

[zang]

We could afford to build a subway. Money was never an issue.

Sure. Keep saying that, and put it on your dream board. It’ll manifest someday.

 

[smallspy]

Assuming that pillar is structurally unavoidable, the handrail configuration is about the best that it can be. Merging on a staircase is to be avoided for safety reasons.

I am surprised however that the ML publicity machine hasn't bragged about this space as a new drop-in recreational space for disadvantaged youth. Or 20 new housing spaces for the housing deprived.

Yet.

- Paul

PS - Seriously, with a little tweaking , it ought to be better used. It could become the perfect platform for subway buskers. I bet the accoustics are actually pretty favourable.

That column is one of the three that run down the length of the platform, and that ares holding up the Eglinton station platforms above. There are other columns on the other sides of the track from them, but they are covered by false walls, and so invisible to passengers.

It is as unavoidable as it gets.

Dan

 

[ssiguy2]

This line should have been a subway which means it could also have elevated sections and it should have had far fewer stations on the underground and especially at-grade sections. While the TTC and the City are responsible for the current slow running due to it's stupid vision-zero policy and it's lack of signal priority, the actually fundamental issues as to why the line took so incredible long to build is 100% on ML. ML couldn't have been more incompetent when designing this line if they tried. The issue is NOT about P3 projects which can work well {see Vancouver Canada Line} but rather how ML put it's plans out to tender and what those plans included. A 5 year old could have done a better job.

When you put a contract out to tender, it is exactly that, a contract and once signed, there is no going back. This means you need to put out a tender with 100% of what is expected........vehicles, construction zones, speed required thru sections, what the stations/stops will entail, what stations there are and where, trackage requirements, timelines,.............basically everything down to the colour of the paint. Once every single detail needed is determined THEN you put it out to tender and take the contractor who provide the best deal for what you need, the budget and timelines you have, with a reputable company that has a solid record of bringing in such projects.. Once the contract signed there are NO changes for any reason..........both parties signed on the dotted line and are expected to follow thru and if either party want changes during the construction, they are out of luck.

The juvenile delinquents at ML never understood this basic concept and the Eglinton fiasco is the result. ML wanted to change the rules mid-stream and then are somehow surprised that effects timelines, budgets, and doesn't result in endless lawsuits from the contractor. This is akin to so to going out and buying a car for a set price and then when the car is about to arrive, you want a different colour, different engine, and different interior design and expecting the car dealer to still provide the vehicle on the same schedule and budget and not expecting them to take you to court because you signed one thing but expect another free.