Toronto Union Pearson Express | ?m | ?s | Metrolinx | MMM Group Limited

I have to cross the whole city on the 401 to get to the airport. The damn thing seems to be backed up at all hours these days. Now I can get a lift to Rouge Hill and take the train to the airport in 1h to 1h20m for $15.26. That's well worth it for me. I'm seeing more people with large luggage on the Lakeshore East, so I imagine a lot of people feel the same way. UP is not just a convenience for people who live/work downtown.
 
W. K. Lis said:
Two or three car trains?

Maybe they need to lengthen the trains, by adding cars (plural). Is there room on the high platforms? Or do they need more construction?
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The ones I've been on were two car trains, can't seem to catch a 3 car one. But I seem to have the best timing because the trains that I've been on would probably be standing room only even if it has three cars, although it'll be much more pleasant standing room.
 
Admiral Beez said:
That's good to know. The four times (2 round trips) I've taken the UPE it was entirely empty, spare two or three others.
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Work day peak it's almost guaranteed to be packed with standing passengers. Just so airport passengers aren't left without seats (and they are paying a premium) at Union, they have them line up on one side, and 'others' on the other side. Airport passengers enter first, and then the plebes. The passengers are counted as they enter, and during the heaviest part of peak, some are left on the platform in line for the next train.

It is a case of feast or famine though. Typically during the day, it is as low as a quarter used, but that compares favourably to other all-day GO service.

There is no doubt in my mind that opening the route to GO fare has been a raging success. It bodes very well for RER along that corridor from Bramalea.

As to how the rationing of seats occurs in the morning peak, I'm not sure.
W. K. Lis said:
Two or three car trains?

Maybe they need to lengthen the trains, by adding cars (plural). Is there room on the high platforms? Or do they need more construction?
Click to expand...
They only have 18 cars, and the production line is no longer set-up, plus they cost a bundle, twice what they should have, not to mention problems in the design. No more cars will be ordered. Which leaves a conundrum on platform height for whatever is used to supplement that corridor.
 
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Bombardier M7 design with a pantograph and a 25kV transformer should do nicely in a replace-UPX scenario, if M8s from Kawasaki Nebraska were deemed politically unappealing. Rotem Silverliners should be a hard no.
 
I envision one possibility is a creative Stadler KISS compromise (that I mentioned earlier).
Those bilevel EMU trains come in low-door(low platform), midlevel-door(high platform) and dual-platform-level variants (the one Caltrain is getting).

What I like about this idea, is this permits fleet flexibility and a single trainset to maintain -- same trainset for RER and UPX. Cheaper to maintain. If it's a few dual-level KISS trainsets, then the spare UPX trainsets can run on other GO routes easily. Operational flexibility.

Most KISS trains could be low doors only, with only enough fleet to also be able to double as being able to serve the UPX route (both low and high doors, fast double-file boarding unlike Bombardier MultiLevel)
 
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I don't see why GO would keep around UPX cars for other purposes because of the issue with high floors/low platforms. The only place which might work as an exception to that is Niagara-Waterfront West shuttle, especially if VIA/Amtrak could use the same platforms.

The Nippons seem to me to be a better long term answer for VIA operations to Sarnia than the Budds, but not on rural routes like Jonquiere or White River which require baggage cars.

As for Bombardier, the inside track is the inside track. No point in ignoring the political metrics - the Scarborough subway would be dead already if they didn't matter. Decision making about a common fleet between UPX and GO may be a bit different now that UPX has been essentially folded into GO Transit rather than being kept as a entity which might one day be easily hived off in a privatisation.
 
APTA-2048 said:
I have to cross the whole city on the 401 to get to the airport. The damn thing seems to be backed up at all hours these days. Now I can get a lift to Rouge Hill and take the train to the airport in 1h to 1h20m for $15.26. That's well worth it for me. I'm seeing more people with large luggage on the Lakeshore East, so I imagine a lot of people feel the same way. UP is not just a convenience for people who live/work downtown.
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My family in Mississauga has been using it to get downtown too. They are about 5-10 minutes away from Pearson so my dad drops my siblings off at Pearson on his way to work in Vaughan, and they take the UPX in. It's also come in handy during Jays games too.
 
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