Pearson Airport to Viscount Parking Lot Train

[nfitz]

Keep in mind that London's Heathrow airport (far busier than YYZ) runs fine with only two runways.

I'd hardly say Heathrow runs fine ... and they have been crying to add a 3rd main runway. And far more busier? They are very similar in terms of aircraft movements .... according to Wikipedia, Heathrow was 466,393 in 2009, and Pearson was 417,761. Busier, yes a bit. Far busier ... No.

We don't need more than our current five.

There's only 3 main runways at Pearson ... if they are using 15/33 then there are only 2 runways in use.

 

[rbt]

I'd hardly say Heathrow runs fins ... and they have been crying to add a 3rd main runway. And far more busier? They are very similar in terms of aircraft movements .... according to Wikipedia, Heathrow was 466,393 in 2009, and Pearson was 417,761. Busier, yes a bit.

Due to the way Air Canada and WestJet schedule connections in the morning/evening, I would guess Pearson's peak hour has many more movements than Heathrow's peak hour today. Is this type of number published anywhere? Heathrow doesn't seem to have that slow period during most of late morning and afternoon.

 

[CDL.TO]

Runs fine? Heathrow is infamous for the problems associated with its lack of runway capacity.

 

[airplane-dude]

I'd hardly say Heathrow runs fine ... and they have been crying to add a 3rd main runway. And far more busier? They are very similar in terms of aircraft movements .... according to Wikipedia, Heathrow was 466,393 in 2009, and Pearson was 417,761. Busier, yes a bit. Far busier ... No.

Perhaps fine was a wrong choice of words. I know all about the failed 3rd runway, and do wish they had gotten it. While the movements are a close number, LHR gets way more larger planes than we do. This is evident by their pax-movements. YYZ is talking about hitting the 38 million mark within the next few years, while Heathrow had 66 million passengers last year. And of course, bigger planes means they have to space out arrivals and departures more.

There's only 3 main runways at Pearson ... if they are using 15/33 then there are only 2 runways in use.

Indeed.. 33's are usually only used on windy days. But five runways, is still five runways.

 

[Dan416]

The report on runways on the Pearson website says even after they add the sixth runway, they only have until the 2020s or so until maximum efficient use of the runways is reached, after which their will be more delays and such. They mentioned that the runways run as pairs or something.

 

[afransen]

I seriously doubt the lower cost assertion. That was essentially all that Pearson focused on when purchasing theirs (capital and operations).

I doubt the technology was in scope of their studies.

 

[EnviroTO]

How could a fleet of equipment with motors, batteries, and complex electronics be cheaper than an lightweight cart attached to a rope?

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

Perhaps fine was a wrong choice of words. I know all about the failed 3rd runway, and do wish they had gotten it. While the movements are a close number, LHR gets way more larger planes than we do. This is evident by their pax-movements. YYZ is talking about hitting the 38 million mark within the next few years, while Heathrow had 66 million passengers last year. And of course, bigger planes means they have to space out arrivals and departures more.



Indeed.. 33's are usually only used on windy days. But five runways, is still five runways.

Passenger movements aren't really a function of runway capacity though, that's more of terminal design. Yes I understand that larger planes need wider spacing for landings and take offs but still airplane movements are most affected, IMHO, by runway and airside facilities and that's evident from the two airports aircraft numbers. One of the reasons for adding the sixth runway is that the northern tenents (terminal 3, fedex, UPS, private) can use the Norherly pair for take offs and landings while T1 would use the southerly pair. This arrangement would limit the number of, and length of, airside movements by aircraft. Secondarily does Heathrow have significant freight operations? I know that freight is a significant use of PIA's facilities, and this would not reflect in passengrer numbers.

 

[afransen]

It's funny how the lightweight cart weighs an order of magnitude more than the vehicles we're comparing to.

For what it's worth, ULTra gives a cost per km of $7.5 - $15 million inclusive of guideway, vehicles, stations, and infrastructure. I can't imagine the Pearson APM was built for under $50 milion, but I have been unable to find figures.

Even if the cost was similar, a PRT system would be more flexible and could be expanded to serve the rest of the airport more readily.

 

[rbt]

For what it's worth, ULTra gives a cost per km of $7.5 - $15 million inclusive of guideway, vehicles, stations, and infrastructure. I can't imagine the Pearson APM was built for under $50 milion, but I have been unable to find figures.

I'm pretty certain the Pearson APM also considered the airport rail link and incurred costs as a result of that project (supports specifically). So even if you do have a specific number, it's not just for that one thing.

 

[afransen]

Just for information: I found a Star piece describing the project as costing $54 million.