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Here is a quick but useful comparison of the platform area at a modern, European rail station and Union Station. First up is Berlin Hauptbanhof. And now Union. (source: Torontoist Flickr image pool). I think the point I am getting at should be immediately clear. If not, then look at the...

I pretty much agree with Second_in_pie about Summerhill. Useful for a GO midtown line, but thats about it. If there was a rail line that served North York as example, it might be different since that is becoming a rather important destination point in itself. Even then it would be questionable...

I think a lot of it depends on how many passengers would use GO/VIA/an airport link to get to Pearson...and what the split between those services would be. By the time such a station would be in place Pearson will probably have 40 million passengers a year (some projections put it as high as 55...

Don't forget the context in which the suburbs (or at least the iteration we are familiar with) came about. In the 50's and 60's Canada was still very much trapped in between being a British country and developing its own identity (though by the end of the 60's it was far more Canadian than...

I agree. I don't have a problem with that service existing, and haven't suggested it should go away if there is GO direct service (any plans or ideas I had about a direct connection always included that sort of service). I just think its unfortunate that Blue 22 had to come before GO, but I...

Personally, I don't see it as wasted. Putting in a Union-Pearson direct service is something that is absolutely needed (even if it is the less than perfect Blue 22). And in a way this is no different then when highway construction, or other construction projects, require temporary roadways or...

No. The whole Georgetown corridor/Blue 22 project is pegged at around $500 million. Most of that money is going towards the Georgetown corridor and thus any many spent on the corridor will/would benefit GO even if there was not a spur line going in. I don't know if that includes the cost of...

Your right. And using the example of European train stations again, it is also clear that most of them have undergone a series of major and minor renovations and upgrades over the years to keep accommodating increased train and passenger traffic. Jwill also reminded me just how narrow Unions...

I forgot about that aspect of it. I could see that being an issue. I would think there would be ways of dealing with that and add more capacity within the existing layout, but maybe I am wrong (I really don't know enough about the details of Union to get any sense of what could be done and where).

HSR is not going to be barreling though at full speed through that part of the corridor. The amount of time lost is marginal, if any is lost once you consider the time and distance it takes for a stop...whether its a stop at Woodbine or right at Pearson. And yes Pearson will see some of its...

Having spent a lot of time in European train stations I find it hard to believe that Union would reach capacity in 20 years time. Maybe with existing rolling stock and signal systems. But EMU's (and electric locomotives in general) as well as more advanced signal systems should easily allow...

An LRT and Blue 22 are fine as stop gap solutions or for providing local service to Pearson but are far from real solutions to the problem of connectivity with the airport and the rest of the city. The only real solution is a new deviation of the Georgetown line that goes directly under Pearson...

I said suburbs are inevitable. And yes, suburban areas are inevitable. I never said the auto-centric version we have seen since the 1970s are inevitable. Just that people will always like the suburban ideal. I don't disagree. I do think there needs to be more regulation. But, Canada is not a...

LAz: I am definitely not a free market cog. I believe in strong labour unions, in universal health care, more investment in transit and public housing, in stronger protection and measures for the poor and especially the mentally unhealthy (who have been left to rot after the Harris reforms). I...

Ah yes...I remember that now. All the hot weather this summer seems to have to slowed my brain to a crawl. Thanks for jogging my memory.

Well you never what can happen in even just a decade. If you were to say in the early 1990's that Toronto would see the level of condo construction in its urban core that it sees today and talk about massive scale projects such as the whole Waterfront revitalization you would have gotten more...

Where is this seaway tunnel proposed for exactly? And is this tunnel something that is being more formally discussed....or is just something that has come up casually among GO planners?

I remember the Toronto of the 1980's (well at least most of the 80's) and I would not have called it one of the best cities. Better managed maybe, but it was not without its share of problems. I do agree that sprawl has created its own set of problem and wastelands to deal with. But suburbs...

After spending a hot weekend listening to great music (Metric, Wintersleep, Tokyo Police Club....and Rush) and relaxing in parks and on patios here in Ottawa it got me thinking about how Canadian cities have changed over even just the past decade, but even more dramatically since the 80's and...

^Well put Hipster. While Ottawa and KW may seem to be similar I would argue that isnt the case. For one transit was not seen in the same way 25 years ago and Ottawa made a choice at the time that made sense. If Ottawa was in the same position now, would it have chosen LRT? Its hard to say but...