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

[asey20]

For whatever reason, some ATC installations have their interlocking signals set up this way rather than in the traditional manner.

And I'm not sure that there have been any studies indicating that one manner is superior to the other.

Dan

Might it be related to too closely following the highway traffic act regulations (regulation 626 1.(2))?

(2) Green arrow, amber arrow, circular green, circular amber, circular red and white vertical bar indications may be used for traffic control signals and, where they are used, they shall be arranged vertically from the bottom, as follows:

right turn green arrow, right turn amber arrow, left turn green arrow, left turn amber arrow, straight through green arrow, circular green, circular amber, circular red and white vertical bar.

 

[APTA-2048]

A little detail I noticed on the LRVs: the Bombardier badge on the front that they were delivered with was removed. All the LRVs I saw were blank, but the one for the launch photo op had an Alstom badge.

 

[thettctransitfanatic]

A little detail I noticed on the LRVs: the Bombardier badge on the front that they were delivered with was removed. All the LRVs I saw were blank, but the one for the launch photo op had an Alstom badge.

Also the Ontario logo on the outside has finally been changed to the current one. Till recently they still had the pre 2019 one

 

[nfitz]

With the cost to date of $9.3 billion for Line 5 ...

The cost of Line 5 has been over $13 Billion. Finch West over $3.5 Billion. I don't know where you are getting your numbers from.

because the future costs and the current costs add up to the total costs of a project.....It's isn't rocket science.

The future costs aren't construction costs. We certainly didn't include 30-years of O&M/financing costs on any of the previous transit line construction costs. And I don't seeing it being used internationally.

You clearly said the the Line 5 cost has been $13 billion in response to my statement that costs to date had been $9 billion. If you knew that $4 billion of that was non-construction costs until 2055, you would have said "will be" not "has been" and not questioned my statement. Judging by your confusion over where the $9 billion number came from, you were unaware that $4 billion of that number is not construction costs - and only now choosing to defend your claim that the costs-to-date have been $13 billion by moving the goalpost from 2025 to 2055.

You're acting like just because we've paid 9 Billion to date means the other costs aren't relevant....it's a cost that we will have to pay for therefore it's part of the project, because otherwise with your logic the Scarborough Subway only costs $2.6 Billion.

Perhaps you aren't aware that the Scarborough Subway hasn't been completed yet. This is a reference to the future Line 2 extension that won't open until next decade!

 

[nfitz]

A friend reported a situation during this evening's commute.

They arrived to find a standoff occurring at Cedarvale station. The ATC would not drive into the station platform unless people stood clear off the platform edge. Apparently, a teenager was trolling by jumping on the platform edge whenever the vehicle attempted to drive into the station causing the vehicle to halt. My friend arrived at the same time as station staff did, whereupon the teenager fled. Supposedly, the train had been in the tunnel for 7 minutes by that point, and waited another 5 minutes at Cedarvale afterwards to ensure the track was clear.

I observed this entire thing, from the very beginning to end.

Riding south on Line 1, there was a relatively typical crazy person wandering up and down the train taking to himself, but very happy and polite. I'd say young 20's. As I was coming from 407 to Danforth, I decided to use Line 5 to check it out.

On the Cedarvale platform, I saw him again walking up and down the platform. Then he decided to stand way on the yellow and the "stay off yellow line" announcements started (guy beside me said there were censors under the yellow, but I suspect there's some beam of some kind along the platforms - ? ). We started discussing how this was going to end badly (for us) as he showed every sign of going onto the tracks.

Then he went on the tracks. Walked further down and got off, as the train approached very slowly, and stopped at the tunnel entrance. And then yes, long wait (I'd say closer to 20 minutes). We boarded and eventually slowly moved forward. As we passed the east end of the platform, talking to 3 or 4 security/TTC staff. So he was nailed. He was well dressed and cared for ... looked mentally unwell, but otherwise normal.

The train ride to Eglinton station was very slow - I'm not sure why they didn't resume normal speed, at least after Forest Hill station, as they knew he hadn't entered the tunnel.

I find it crazy that we seem to be the only city dealing with such things. How do other cities handle this as they have teenagers too. Why can’t we just manually override ATC and move the train slowly into the station.

This wasn't teenagers. This was mental health. And they didn't look like a teenager - I was standing right next to him, watching him, on the Cedarvale platform; he even was very polite and well-spoken when I got out of the way for him to continue pacing.

Not at great first impression of Line 5.

And that's now the last 3 TTC excursions and crazy incidents in a row for me. First last week was unusual dead-looking unconscious person lying in middle of Line 2 floor (probably drugs - but maybe other health issues). One person checked for vitals and I used the TTCApp - which works very well; security staff intercepted us a few stops later at Yonge, checked for vitals and stopped the train (I got off - presumably not a long delay, as it didn't show up on TTCNotices).

The next day another crazy pacing person on the 506. But then sits down next to a young woman across from me. I thought he knew her at first - but no, he was hitting on her. And wouldn't take no for an answer and she got very quiet. And he persisted, so I got up, made a scene, got pushed and scratched (probably accidental) for my troubles, and others started shouting at him and he got off. (the woman was very thankful, and sadly apologetic ... irony is she said she's a mental health worker, and had never encountered this before).

It's no wonder transit ridership is dropping. To hell with the cold weather, TTC and the province need to deal with transit turning into provincial asylums.

 

[Mind_the_gap]

Behold transit porn:

Cabride from Kennedy to Mt. Dennis at dusk.

 

[smallspy]

Might it be related to too closely following the highway traffic act regulations (regulation 626 1.(2))?

(2) Green arrow, amber arrow, circular green, circular amber, circular red and white vertical bar indications may be used for traffic control signals and, where they are used, they shall be arranged vertically from the bottom, as follows:

right turn green arrow, right turn amber arrow, left turn green arrow, left turn amber arrow, straight through green arrow, circular green, circular amber, circular red and white vertical bar.

The signals that we are talking about are specific to the interlockings - where there are switches and track crossings - rather than at intersections with automobiles.

Interlocking signals are not generally located at intersections. And because they are specific (and required) to the railway, don't need to conform to the HTA.

Dan

 

[nfitz]

Behold transit porn:

Interesting. Several places where it's going faster than some of the automobiles in free flowing sections - which presumably are the autos not speeding.

The lack of good transit priority is clearly a problem. Skimming through there were 3 or 4 times I saw the lights go red just before this train would have passed - did they time the lights to the final operating speed, not the interim one? There wasn't much indication of trains slowing at intersections or at switches. They hardly crawl into the stations, but they could enter a bit faster. What was with the very long red light entering Mount Dennis?

Bodes well for when they do finally open Line 5 though. If Finch problems are similar, perhaps proper TSP can significantly improve that too.

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

Behold transit porn:

Cabride from Kennedy to Mt. Dennis at dusk.

We can see where the automobile disciples have sabotaged Line 5 in favour of single-occupant SUVs in the open sections.

 

[cplchanb]

i sure hope that they will do something about the bunching up into kennedy.. i was sitting for almost 10 min from ionview onwards.

 

[evandyk]

It's no wonder transit ridership is dropping. To hell with the cold weather, TTC and the province need to deal with transit turning into provincial asylums.

Yeah. Using the TTC as winter shelter is not working either for the TTC or for the people using it for shelter. I'm riding the 505 most days, and when I get on at Broadview, there's usually one or two people sleeping in the back seats. They've probably been riding it for hours.

I'm not about to abandon the TTC - I ride it everywhere, including with my six year old, and have almost never felt unsafe. But I hear a lot of people saying that they drive more now because they don't feel safe on the TTC. Which is ridiculous if you look at it objectively (cars are generally the number one cause of injury to healthy young people), but you can easily feel unsafe, whether or not you are actually unsafe.

 

[nfitz]

Which is ridiculous if you look at it objectively (cars are generally the number one cause of injury to healthy young people), but you can easily feel unsafe, whether or not you are actually unsafe.

Some people seem to get stressed with such encounters as well - and I'd guess if they are triggered by observing people with mental health issues or homelessness, then I can see they'd knowingly put their lives at more risk by driving.

 

[Midtown Urbanist]

I'm not about to abandon the TTC - I ride it everywhere, including with my six year old, and have almost never felt unsafe. But I hear a lot of people saying that they drive more now because they don't feel safe on the TTC. Which is ridiculous if you look at it objectively (cars are generally the number one cause of injury to healthy young people), but you can easily feel unsafe, whether or not you are actually unsafe.

Even if I don't feel "unsafe" (and I say this with the full privilege of being an adult male), I would say it is rare to go a day or two without an incident that makes me "uncomfortable".

Which is enough to deter me from the TTC. I now bike everywhere in the city, specifically because the combined discomfort + endless service disruptions has tilted the balance away from seeing the TTC as 'the better way'.

Only the recent snowfall has brought me back to using the TTC everyday, where I am reminded why I don't use it the rest of the year.

And dare I say, we are taxed far too highly in this city for our essential and critical public spaces to be either 'unsafe' or 'uncomfortable' places to be in. Safe and comfortable should be the minimum bar of expectation that our public transit should meet.

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

Yeah. Using the TTC as winter shelter is not working either for the TTC or for the people using it for shelter. I'm riding the 505 most days, and when I get on at Broadview, there's usually one or two people sleeping in the back seats. They've probably been riding it for hours.

I'm not about to abandon the TTC - I ride it everywhere, including with my six year old, and have almost never felt unsafe. But I hear a lot of people saying that they drive more now because they don't feel safe on the TTC. Which is ridiculous if you look at it objectively (cars are generally the number one cause of injury to healthy young people), but you can easily feel unsafe, whether or not you are actually unsafe.

Which is why the Line 5 stations are unheated.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Even if I don't feel "unsafe" (and I say this with the full privilege of being an adult male), I would say it is rare to go a day or two without an incident that makes me "uncomfortable".

Which is enough to deter me from the TTC. I now bike everywhere in the city, specifically because the combined discomfort + endless service disruptions has tilted the balance away from seeing the TTC as 'the better way'.

Only the recent snowfall has brought me back to using the TTC everyday, where I am reminded why I don't use it the rest of the year.

And dare I say, we are taxed far too highly in this city for our essential and critical public spaces to be either 'unsafe' or 'uncomfortable' places to be in. Safe and comfortable should be the minimum bar of expectation that our public transit should meet.

The sad thing is that a large part of transit safety lies right in front of our noses. Active fare enforcement, rather than a honour system backed up by occasional random checks.