[PL1]

Opinion | Doug Ford says the Eglinton LRT may finally open this year. Be prepared for a letdown​

Finally, the Eglinton Crosstown looks set to open. You’ll be disappointed when it does

For more than a decade, Torontonians desperate for transit have had a burning question: when will the Eglinton Crosstown light rail line open? Now, with the premier signalling a September

www.thestar.com

Key points:

The Eglinton Crosstown was planned to be a subway line decades ago, like lines 1 and 2 today. It actually got built in its modern form as a “light rail” line, which will rely on much smaller, streetcar-style vehicles as opposed to subway trains. The trains will be narrower, shorter, and will also have some of the most annoying parts of the modern streetcars: limited doors and tight aisles.

All of this adds up to only about 40 per cent of the capacity of a traditional subway line. Oddly, the tunnels on the Eglinton line are larger than on the latest extension of the subway to York University, and the stations are palatial, with big entrance pavilions and multiple entrances and exits. One wonders whether that all money would have been better spent on bigger trains in the first place, with additional entrances integrated into new developments on an as-needed basis. You can always add a new set of stairs down to the platforms, but making the platforms longer and higher is much harder.

Some of these decisions might have made more sense 15 years ago when the project was starting. But they’ll surely feel short-sighted in today’s bigger, denser city, and even more so when more of the forests of towers planned along the line sprout. Expect a crowded ride.

This is an opinion piece by Reece Martin

Edit to add: only adding the author's name (as many here are familiar with him), but I haven't had a chance to read the piece as yet

 

[evandyk]

He's probably right on the points about speed. I doubt there will be capacity issues evident at the start.

 

[T3G]

And where exactly are the stops "so close together that only seconds after leaving one you’ll have arrived at the next"? It's so hard to have a serious conversation about the merits, or lack thereof, of this project, when its detractors use such extreme rhetoric.

 

[cplchanb]

And where exactly are the stops "so close together that only seconds after leaving one you’ll have arrived at the next"? It's so hard to have a serious conversation about the merits, or lack thereof, of this project, when its detractors use such extreme rhetoric.

well with how many stop and go signals each train has to wade through in between stops, you might as well call those stations as well...

 

[Thaboss]

Oddly, the tunnels on the Eglinton line are larger than on the latest extension of the subway to York University, and the stations are palatial, with big entrance pavilions and multiple entrances and exits. One wonders whether that all money would have been better spent on bigger trains in the first plac

I think we can all agree that capacity vs a subway would've been higher. However, the cost of the tunneling and stations themselves was never cross towns problem. In fact, the stations were rather cheap compared to everything else involved in building this thing. I'm certainly not convinced that simplifying already simple stations and narrowing the tunnels would lead to cost savings implied in the article. In fact, cost saving concerns is what led ppl to choose LRT construction over a proper rappid transit option in the first place.

Expect a crowded ride.

Outside of rush hour, i doubt this very much as well but we'll see soon enough i suppose

 

[cplchanb]

Taken today at 1pm. Looks like they're removing the science center signage.

 

[ctf5650]

Opinion | Doug Ford says the Eglinton LRT may finally open this year. Be prepared for a letdown​

Finally, the Eglinton Crosstown looks set to open. You’ll be disappointed when it does

For more than a decade, Torontonians desperate for transit have had a burning question: when will the Eglinton Crosstown light rail line open? Now, with the premier signalling a September

www.thestar.com

Key points:

The Eglinton Crosstown was planned to be a subway line decades ago, like lines 1 and 2 today. It actually got built in its modern form as a “light rail” line, which will rely on much smaller, streetcar-style vehicles as opposed to subway trains. The trains will be narrower, shorter, and will also have some of the most annoying parts of the modern streetcars: limited doors and tight aisles.

All of this adds up to only about 40 per cent of the capacity of a traditional subway line. Oddly, the tunnels on the Eglinton line are larger than on the latest extension of the subway to York University, and the stations are palatial, with big entrance pavilions and multiple entrances and exits. One wonders whether that all money would have been better spent on bigger trains in the first place, with additional entrances integrated into new developments on an as-needed basis. You can always add a new set of stairs down to the platforms, but making the platforms longer and higher is much harder.

Some of these decisions might have made more sense 15 years ago when the project was starting. But they’ll surely feel short-sighted in today’s bigger, denser city, and even more so when more of the forests of towers planned along the line sprout. Expect a crowded ride.

He makes good points but all the complaining about "it should have been a subway" makes this comes off to me as a bit of a broken record. But I understand that negativity and exaggeration gets more clicks in the media

 

[afransen]

Opinion | Doug Ford says the Eglinton LRT may finally open this year. Be prepared for a letdown​

Finally, the Eglinton Crosstown looks set to open. You’ll be disappointed when it does

For more than a decade, Torontonians desperate for transit have had a burning question: when will the Eglinton Crosstown light rail line open? Now, with the premier signalling a September

www.thestar.com

Key points:

The Eglinton Crosstown was planned to be a subway line decades ago, like lines 1 and 2 today. It actually got built in its modern form as a “light rail” line, which will rely on much smaller, streetcar-style vehicles as opposed to subway trains. The trains will be narrower, shorter, and will also have some of the most annoying parts of the modern streetcars: limited doors and tight aisles.

All of this adds up to only about 40 per cent of the capacity of a traditional subway line. Oddly, the tunnels on the Eglinton line are larger than on the latest extension of the subway to York University, and the stations are palatial, with big entrance pavilions and multiple entrances and exits. One wonders whether that all money would have been better spent on bigger trains in the first place, with additional entrances integrated into new developments on an as-needed basis. You can always add a new set of stairs down to the platforms, but making the platforms longer and higher is much harder.

Some of these decisions might have made more sense 15 years ago when the project was starting. But they’ll surely feel short-sighted in today’s bigger, denser city, and even more so when more of the forests of towers planned along the line sprout. Expect a crowded ride.

AFAICT, it likely would have been cheaper to build the underground portion of Line 5 as subway. The stations could have been smaller, with shorter platforms for the same throughput, and the trains could be automated. The above ground portion maybe should just have been a BRT until extending Line 5 eastward was justified. Or perhaps elevated over Eglinton. It is a wide stroad in that area.

 

[jordanmkasla2009]

He makes good points but all the complaining about "it should have been a subway" makes this comes off to me as a bit of a broken record. But I understand that negativity and exaggeration gets more clicks in the media

The time to complain about "it should have been a subway" was back when Mike Harris cancelled the Eglinton West Line subway project which would have already been extended west to Renforth and Carlingview and east to Yonge and instead of waiting for this entirely new line to open, we would be waiting for an extension east to Kennedy to open.

 

[Steve X]

The time to complain about "it should have been a subway" was back when Mike Harris cancelled the Eglinton West Line subway project which would have already been extended west to Renforth and Carlingview and east to Yonge and instead of waiting for this entirely new line to open, we would be waiting for an extension east to Kennedy to open.

Too bad if it was designed as a subway again, it’ll have a gigantic price tag and probably wouldn’t even be funded in the first place. The OL took a miracle to get funded. Probably end up with another short line like Sheppard. That miracle hasn’t been transferred to Sheppard extensions either.

The whole point of LRT lines is affordability. At that time the lines were pitch with a much lower price tag which was able to get the funding.

It’ll probably be another 5 years till we see another significant transit commitment.

 

[chrisw]

Whatever happened to Transit City? | TVO The Agenda

Featuring David Miller, Jennifer Keesmaat, and John Lorinc

 

[ARG1]

Whatever happened to Transit City? | TVO The Agenda

Featuring David Miller, Jennifer Keesmaat, and John Lorinc

Given David Miller's twitter antics before he quit, I'm scared to watch this.

 

[Coolibop]

^ + urbantorontos moderator listed as source.

Some quotes I thought were relevant:

"it [Eglington crosstown] will open probably next year not this year"
- David Miller

"we put all our eggs into one basket called infrastructure Ontario and triple P's and its done precisely the opposite of what it's promised to do [on time and on budget]"
-John Lorinc

"The PPP model has failed [for large projects]"
-David Miller

 

[MisterF]

He makes good points but all the complaining about "it should have been a subway" makes this comes off to me as a bit of a broken record. But I understand that negativity and exaggeration gets more clicks in the media

The "it should have been a subway" brigade would be a lot smaller if we did LRT properly. Our insistence on making them glorified streetcars that stop at red lights is giving the entire concept a bad name.

 

[A 6264]

Given David Miller's twitter antics before he quit, I'm scared to watch this.

Go ahead and watch it. Miller didn't say much of anything objectionable. The only one who got egg on his face was John L., when he said that regime changes in Toronto city council have been a big problem, but changes in the Ontario government have never really impacted planning. He got challenged by everyone on that. Of course, this being a Canadian panel show and not American, everyone kept things cordial and friendly.