Toronto Ontario Line 3 | ?m | ?s

I don't think anything to do with the Richmond Hill corridor should involve the DRL anymore, and that most plans involving it lead down a rabbit hole of dead ends. I know it seems optimal considering its routing, but I feel there's too much wrong with it between Eglinton and YUS/Union to be of use for anything with some semblance to rapid transit. How/where would any divergent tracks branch off from? Are enormous gradients considered in their routing? Where could the stations be located?

The line is too meandering to serve as a Yonge Relief, offers little in the way of connections, and other than an Oriole-Eglinton/Wynford-Union shuttle there's not much it can do for anything DRL-related.
 
44 North said:
I don't think anything to do with the Richmond Hill corridor should involve the DRL anymore, and that most plans involving it lead down a rabbit hole of dead ends. I know it seems optimal considering its routing, but I feel there's too much wrong with it between Eglinton and YUS/Union to be of use for anything with some semblance to rapid transit. How/where would any divergent tracks branch off from? Are enormous gradients considered in their routing? Where could the stations be located?

The line is too meandering to serve as a Yonge Relief, offers little in the way of connections, and other than an Oriole-Eglinton/Wynford-Union shuttle there's not much it can do for anything DRL-related.
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The southern section of the route does not seem to be useful for DRL.

However, the northern section can be used in some scenarios.

In case they decide to build a new downtown tunnel for the SmartTrack / RER trains, I can think of DRL being a branch of SmartTrack. It would split off around the Queen and Pape area, and head north in a tunnel, just like the standalone DRL in the majority of plans. The connection to Danforth subway would be at Pape or Donlands. Then the line would continue in a tunnel to serve the Thorncliffe area.

After Thorncliffe, the line would emerge and run north-east alongside the CP tracks; then veer east and submerge to serve Flemmington and Science Centre; pretty much like your "Don Line". Then it can continue in a tunnel under Don Mills, until it reaches the Bala Sub bridge (that's 600 m north of Lawrence, and just north of The Donway). At that point, the line could emerge and continue along the RH tracks.

Of course, it may be desirable to run on 5-min frequency between Union and Science Centre, and only 15-min north of Eglinton.
 
Still think that the RH should make use of the straighter tracks that already exist. But if it must remain as an RH to Union express line, it could at least have a connection to the DRL somewhere, so those riders don't all have to stay on it and end up at Union.
 
This would be interesting to see on a map...a DRL considered a partial "local" branch of Richmond Hill and intersecting with its trunk at three different points. It'd be like a figure 8.

The southern overlap point at Queen could possibly have an interchange station if a RH platform were to be set up Corktown Common https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.6535453,-79.3511493,293m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en And maybe the middle point (in the valley between Thorncliffe and O'Connor) could theoretically have a place to transfer. It would have to be floodproof, possibly with the RH mainline elevated. Perhaps an enclosed staircase/elevators connecting to the surface and bus routes, adhered to the Leaside Bridge maybe?

One question that's slightly OT, but came to my attention when thinking about the previous post re: connecting RH to Broadview Stn is how far apart can two interchange stations realistically be? With the Richmond Hill line connecting to B/D it's around 400m, and 10-stories. Is that realistic for interchange stations, even if it were to include moving walkways and elevators? Or is there a certain cutoff point for rapid transit?
 
I wanted to see how this would look. It does seem cool to have a local/express transit system running through the city.
DRL-RH-line_3.png
 

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We would all agree that politicians shouldn't be promising transit extensions catering to neighbourhoods that would like better transit in their back yard. And frankly the only reason why this DRL talk has come back to the forefront is because the congestion crisis has forced the issue.
 
M II A II R II K said:
We would all agree that politicians shouldn't be promising transit extensions catering to neighbourhoods that would like better transit in their back yard. And frankly the only reason why this DRL talk has come back to the forefront is because the congestion crisis has forced the issue.
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Agreed. It will be interesting if gas prices drop, because ridership will too. Will the DRL still be a hot button issue?
 
denfromoakvillemilton said:
Agreed. It will be interesting if gas prices drop, because ridership will too. Will the DRL still be a hot button issue?
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Downtown-bound, peak-time ridership might not drop at all.

Regardless of the gas prices, it is a major pain to drive under those conditions. Subways are just more comfy for such trips.
 
44 North said:
This would be interesting to see on a map...a DRL considered a partial "local" branch of Richmond Hill and intersecting with its trunk at three different points. It'd be like a figure 8.
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I made a map. The first picture is the southern part (Toronto and East York).

Oi7mzQb.jpg
 
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The second picture is the midtown route (Don Valley crossing to York Mills).

J6T0GOi.jpg


I assume that all Richmond Hill RER service will use the new DRL route.

The old track is too indirect, and won't be faster even if it has much fewer stops. There would be no reason to double-track it if all RH RER trains can use the DRL tunnel.
 
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Rainforest said:
I assume that all Richmond Hill RER service will use the new DRL route.

The old track is too indirect, and won't be faster even if it has much fewer stops. There would be no reason to double-track it if all RH RER trains can use the DRL tunnel.
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Ah, I see. I like it.

M II A II R II K said:
We would all agree that politicians shouldn't be promising transit extensions catering to neighbourhoods that would like better transit in their back yard. And frankly the only reason why this DRL talk has come back to the forefront is because the congestion crisis has forced the issue.
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I don't know if I fully agree with that first part. And the second part, I'd actually say the DRL is less on the forefront now than it was four years ago. Back when Ford cancelled TC everyone wanted their say as to what the $8bn Prov money should be used for instead; or any future money. Now that it's earmarked back to TC and the Scarb Subway, people don't care as much. And on the campaign trail both Chow and Tory said a DRL is so far away it's not a debatable issue. Other than the National Post's expose on the crawl that is streetcar commuting, or some irrelevant polls on The Star, the media doesn't even mention downtown congestion or a DRL all that much. The loudest voice is Byford, and he's got enough on his plate as it is.

Regardless, the DRL is still being studied by both Metrolinx and the TTC. So even if it was or wasn't 'on the forefront' politically, it's still hopefully being investigated behind closed doors by (at least somewhat) neutral organizations.
 
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Well, that's to be expected. That said, just planning for a DRL properly would take 7 years - that should proceed in parallel with Smarttrack, with a sharper focus on just what role should the next DT subway line take on.

AoD
 
salsa said:
Tory rail plan nudges TTC relief line off track

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...ef-line-off-track/article21529398/?cmpid=rss1
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I'm starting work on a document that thoroughly explains how the DRL can be incorporated into the SmartTrack plan. It's based off my GO REX map that I posted a bit ago, with the Red Line service basically being SmartTrack. What I intend to argue is that SmartTrack can be completed in two phases:

1) Run the abbreviated Lakeshore, Brampton, Pearson, Markham, and Scarborough (to STC) GO REX lines into Union.

2) Construct the Central Tunnel, Don Mills Tunnel, Scarborough Extension, Square One Spur Tunnel, North Mississauga/South Brampton Spur, and Richmond Hill GO REX, and route all of the Red Line services through the Central Tunnel. This would leave the Toronto-centric services running through the Central Tunnel, and the 905-centric services running through Union, thereby eliminating the Union capacity crunch.

I don't know how long it'll take me to actually produce it, but I have most of the maps for it already made, or partially made.

EDIT: Still haven't fixed the map to include Islington, I will do that shortly.
 
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