Downtown Rapid Transit Expansion Study

[W. K. Lis]

Not to mention, the i-Metro-e would draw feeder bus riders from major east-west routes such as Steeles, Finch, Sheppard, that would normally ride the long bus journey all the way to Yonge St. The buses on Steeles/Finch especially see busy loads near Kennedy Road.

Don't think Union Station would be able to handle the large crowds the i-Metro-e would add. The rail corridor will be overwhelmed by GO upgrades, ARL, and just plain increases in passenger load.

Better if the i-Metro-e, or the DRL, have a terminal further north of Union, in the business center of Toronto or City Hall.

 

[M II A II R II K]

There should also be a separate rapid transit line under Queen even if it is short, so there can be additional drop off stops at Leslieville, and Parkdale for a western equivalent of this idea for a line.

 

[unimaginative2]

Union can easily handle it. Shinjuku has the same number of platforms and ten times as many riders per day. That's an extreme example, but there are all kinds of stations around the world that handle far more people than Union. The main issues at Union are the number of staircases from the platforms, which will be resolved with the current project, and the width of the platforms, which sadly won't. Nevertheless, smaller vehicles will alleviate most of the crowding issues.

With electrified trains and improved track on a route like the Stouffville line, additional stations could be added while maintaining existing travel times.

 

[gweed123]

Union can easily handle it. Shinjuku has the same number of platforms and ten times as many riders per day. That's an extreme example, but there are all kinds of stations around the world that handle far more people than Union. The main issues at Union are the number of staircases from the platforms, which will be resolved with the current project, and the width of the platforms, which sadly won't. Nevertheless, smaller vehicles will alleviate most of the crowding issues.

With electrified trains and improved track on a route like the Stouffville line, additional stations could be added while maintaining existing travel times.

Not to mention that adding additional stations on either side of Union (I'm thinking Cherry and City Place) will help alleviate some of the congestion at Union.

But I agree, smaller trains running more frequently will help eliminate some of the congestion. I think that also running the lines as through lines in Union would help as well.

 

[Paleo]

It'd siphon off some of the traffic off the Yonge and Danforth lines for sure. It'd probably make the Sheppard subway look even more useless.

I looked and there are still many level crossings along the Stouffville line. I think I counted over a dozen up through Markham so assuming $50,000,000 per grade separation, that's somewhere around $500,000,000 for bridges.

Throw in track and electrical infrastructure, new signal system, rolling stock, new stations, what would the total cost be and how much line capacity would it have?

Though realistically I can't see this line electrified any time before Lakeshore, Georgetown, or Milton.

 

[rbt]

I looked and there are still many level crossings along the Stouffville line. I think I counted over a dozen up through Markham so assuming $50,000,000 per grade separation, that's somewhere around $500,000,000 for bridges.

Throw in track and electrical infrastructure, new signal system, rolling stock, new stations, what would the total cost be and how much line capacity would it have?

Metrolinx has spent $2B on the Georgetown corridor over the last decade (including changes underway) on this exact stuff.

It's not an unreasonable amount ot spend on 40km of frequent rapid service.

 

[M II A II R II K]

The Sheppard Line could act as a bridge between Agincourt and Yonge, as well as Downsview.

 

[M II A II R II K]

And plus this line should have a divergent route to SCC. It could diverge where the Sheppard Subway to SCC was going to be built originally and then go back to the main route by using the existing SRT corridor.

 

[unimaginative2]

Metrolinx has spent $2B on the Georgetown corridor over the last decade (including changes underway) on this exact stuff.

It's not an unreasonable amount ot spend on 40km of frequent rapid service.

The key is that it all needs to be done in an integrated way. We need to see the objective at the end. That's not what we're seeing in the Georgetown corridor, which is what makes this Stouffville corridor proposal so interesting.

 

[Rainforest]

And plus this line should have a divergent route to SCC. It could diverge where the Sheppard Subway to SCC was going to be built originally and then go back to the main route by using the existing SRT corridor.

I think it will be difficult to turn the trains around at STC. Plus, the diversion will add to the travel time, delaying the majority of riders who are not going to / from STC.

It will be a lot easier to build an interchange station at Ellesmere, and have riders from STC take the RT from STC to the Ellesmere station and transfer to the new line.

 

[M II A II R II K]

And to divert the bus connections to the Ellesmere Station instead turning it from the least trafficked station to one of the busiest.

 

[gweed123]

Metrolinx has spent $2B on the Georgetown corridor over the last decade (including changes underway) on this exact stuff.

It's not an unreasonable amount ot spend on 40km of frequent rapid service.

Exactly. When you consider how much building that long of an in-median LRT line would cost, $2B seems like a pretty good bargain, especially when you consider how many more people per day it will carry when the upgrades are all completed.

 

[BurlOak]

I think it will be difficult to turn the trains around at STC. Plus, the diversion will add to the travel time, delaying the majority of riders who are not going to / from STC.

It will be a lot easier to build an interchange station at Ellesmere, and have riders from STC take the RT from STC to the Ellesmere station and transfer to the new line.

If they are studying extension of B-D to STC, they should consider having the SRT go from Malvern to Ellesmere station and connect with this GO. You can transfer to the subway at STC, or transfer to GO at Ellesmere. Abandon the SRT in the rail corridor and give this space to GO.

 

[Tulse]

Councillor rallies support for double-edged subway relief plan.

Essentially, Pasternak is proposing two lines, a "North York Relief Line" extending Sheppard west to Downsview, and the DRL.

The inclusion of the Sheppard extension may be savvy politically, but I wonder if connecting the Spadina leg to the Yonge leg might not actually make the situation on the latter worse.

 

[Northern Magus]

Add this to the mix too:

Josh Matlow's tabling a motion on exploring options to fund future transit expansions.

Personally, I think as long as the DRL is recognized as the real priority, then if the private sector can be brought in to pay for and build the stations for Mayor Rob's gravy train, so be it.

But I think you're right: a "North York White Elephant Line" would probably just add to the overcrowding that's already on Yonge.

Whereas a "Yonge Relief Line" along Bay St and Avenue Road would probably have much higher ridership -- and more than recoup its operating expenses -- from Day One.