[TheTigerMaster]

uhhh....sure....if thats what you think. The real reason why there are so many projects now going on is that for the most part, TTC has been neglected for decades and we are just catching up (or struggling in vain...) to plans that were thought up in the 70s/80s. O yeah, not to be cynical, but the subway project in NYC although delayed and expensive for reasons similar to here is much larger in the grand scheme.

Toronto's rapid transit expansion is incredible my any measure.

As of now, the rapid projects that are underway are:
Toronto York Spadina Subway Extension
Finch West LRT
Sheppard East LRT
Eglinton Crosstown LRT
Scarborough Subway Extension
Yonge North Subway Extension (not sure if this is still on the table)
Relief Line
Milton RER
Richmond Hill RER
Barrier RER
Lakeshore East RER
Lakeshore West RER
Stouville RER
(Not including SmartTrack because it duplicates precious RT plans).

Also notable is the new high speed rail system. And these are just projects within the borders of Toronto. We're set to add at the very least a hundred kilometres (probably much higher than that) of rapid transit within the next 12 years or so. It's mind boggling.

 

[salsa]

Toronto's rapid transit expansion is incredible my any measure.

As of now, the rapid projects that are underway are:
Toronto York Spadina Subway Extension
Finch West LRT
Sheppard East LRT
Eglinton Crosstown LRT
Scarborough Subway Extension
Yonge North Subway Extension (not sure if this is still on the table)
Relief Line
Milton RER
Richmond Hill RER
Barrier RER
Lakeshore East RER
Lakeshore West RER
Stouville RER
(Not including SmartTrack because it duplicates precious RT plans).

Also notable is the new high speed rail system. And these are just projects within the borders of Toronto. We're set to add at the very least a hundred kilometres (probably much higher than that) of rapid transit within the next 12 years or so. It's mind boggling.

Most of the projects you listed are not really "underway" until shovels are in the ground. There continues to be huge push back against LRT on Finch and Sheppard, which were supposed to be shovel ready and yet we are still needlessly waiting for construction to start. The shit show that is the Scarborough subway is far from over. RER may be shelved if the Liberals lose the next election to the Regressive Conservatives. Yonge subway extension is unfunded, contingent on the DRL, and is many years away at best. Lets not be too optimistic.

 

[cplchanb]

Most of the projects you listed are not really "underway" until shovels are in the ground. There continues to be huge push back against LRT on Finch and Sheppard, which were supposed to be shovel ready and yet we are still needlessly waiting for construction to start. The shit show that is the Scarborough subway is far from over. RER may be shelved if the Liberals lose the next election to the Regressive Conservatives. Yonge subway extension is unfunded, contingent on the DRL, and is many years away at best. Lets not be too optimistic.

What he said.

Until boots are in the ground and construction is at an irreversible stage (Eglinton 1995 -_-...) most of the above is just another paper project that might as well be
written on foolscap. History has shown clearly that this has been the case for most TTC/GTA projects

 

[ehlow]

I agree. Yonge North and Relief line are even less under way because there's no funding or timeline.

But clearly Spadina extension and Eglinton Crosstown are beyond the point of cancellation so we're definitely adding 8.6km + 10km of underground transit and 9 km of surface ROW transit. That's pretty significant considering we haven't added any underground transit since Sheppard in 2002, which was only 5.5 km.

And of course projects like Georgetown corridor work & Union station lay the foundation for being able to run rapid transit on the GO corridors.

Anyways, the original post was about how there's lots of construction going on in general in Toronto, which is obviously true.

 

[kotsy]

But clearly Spadina extension and Eglinton Crosstown are beyond the point of cancellation so we're definitely adding 8.6km + 10km of underground transit and 9 km of surface ROW transit. That's pretty significant considering we haven't added any underground transit since Sheppard in 2002, which was only 5.5 km.

Great point. It may be a lot smaller than the big list mentioned earlier but we're definitely making a lot of progress compared to recent history. Here's hoping the trend continues

 

[TheTigerMaster]

RER may be shelved if the Liberals lose the next election to the Regressive Conservatives.

That's why the Liberals need to hurry up and get these projects beyond the point of no return quickly. I'm fairly confident that the RER projects will reach that point before the next election.

The shit show that is the Scarborough subway is far from over.

I think there's a good chance that the subway will be replaced by RER and the SRT refurbishment. There are still many votes that have to be passed in Council for that project.

 

[TheTigerMaster]

I agree. Yonge North and Relief line are even less under way because there's no funding or timeline.

Is there not a very rough timeline of the Relief Line? The Relief Line is far ahead of Yonge. Preliminary work has already begun for RL. Yonge is nothing more than a concept at this point.

But clearly Spadina extension and Eglinton Crosstown are beyond the point of cancellation

The cancelation of Spadina would be a nice April Fools gag

 

[CDL.TO]

Is there not a very rough timeline of the Relief Line? The Relief Line is far ahead of Yonge. Preliminary work has already begun for RL. Yonge is nothing more than a concept at this point.

Yonge North has an approved Environmental Assessment. It is far more advanced than the Relief Line.

In April 2009, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment unconditionally approved the Environmental Project Report (PDF) for the Yonge subway extension. In 2012, the Conceptual Design Study that looked at specific engineering elements was completed and approved by the Toronto Transit Commission and The Regional Municipality of York.

http://www.vivanext.com/yonge-subway-extension/

 

[innsertnamehere]

Yonge has had 10% design done on top of the EA as well I believe.

 

[aquateam]

Yonge has had 10% design done on top of the EA as well I believe.

It was also approved by Toronto city council in January 2009, with the caveat that Toronto doesn't pay for it and that capacity improvements are made so that the riders can be handled.

Technically, it's the only approved subway extension on the books (the Line 2 extension was voted as being "supported" and still needs to be approved, although at this point it looks like a done deal.)

 

[rbt]

... (the Line 2 extension was voted as being "supported" and still needs to be approved, although at this point it looks like a done deal.)

Not really. The EA is very likely to kick out a large number of issues with the current plan. In fact, I think the Smart-Track proposal killed it, but Tory is taking the politically smart route and letting the experts do the actual killing rather than saying it himself; voters demand we spend millions of their dollars coddling them.

 

[nfitz]

Not really. The EA is very likely to kick out a large number of issues with the current plan. In fact, I think the Smart-Track proposal killed it, but Tory is taking the politically smart route and letting the experts do the actual killing rather than saying it himself; voters demand we spend millions of their dollars coddling them.

I'm not sure how a once every 15-minute commuter rail service would have much impact on travel between Scarborough Centre and Kennedy by those currently on the SRT. Many might still take the subway from Scarborough Centre to Kennedy, and then switch to the GO every 15-minute service.

 

[ehlow]

I'm not sure how a once every 15-minute commuter rail service would have much impact on travel between Scarborough Centre and Kennedy by those currently on the SRT. Many might still take the subway from Scarborough Centre to Kennedy, and then switch to the GO every 15-minute service.

I'm not sure why everyone assumes that SmartTrack or GO RER will operate at an exact frequency of 15 min, no more, no less, all day. GO already operates more frequent than that in some cases during peak hours.

The 15 min figure has always meant 15 min minimum frequency.

Besides, it's simply too early to know the exact service levels of GO RER or SmartTrack. It could very well be every 5 or 10 min at peak times, 15 min off peak.

 

[nfitz]

I'm not sure why everyone assumes that SmartTrack or GO RER will operate at an exact frequency of 15 min, no more, no less, all day. GO already operates more frequent than that in some cases during peak hours.

GO has no sustained service for more than 2 to 3 departures at better than 15 minutes - unless you count both express and local services, which don't give any riders any real options for better than 15-minute service.

The 15 min figure has always meant 15 min minimum frequency.

Off-peak? I doubt it. And does John Tory's dumber-than-Ford idea actually get people to Scarborough Centre or Sheppard/McCowan? And then there's the long walking distance to transfer from rail at Union to the subway. It's no replacement for either a DRL, or the subway or SRT to Scarborough Centre.

 

[ehlow]

GO has no sustained service for more than 2 to 3 departures at better than 15 minutes - unless you count both express and local services, which don't give any riders any real options for better than 15-minute service.

That's GO now. GO RER could be more frequent than 15 min. We simply don't know at this point. The promise was at least one train every 15 min, it's very plausible that there could be more during peak hours. The service plan is still being worked on.

Off-peak? I doubt it. And does John Tory's dumber-than-Ford idea actually get people to Scarborough Centre or Sheppard/McCowan? And then there's the long walking distance to transfer from rail at Union to the subway. It's no replacement for either a DRL, or the subway or SRT to Scarborough Centre.

I'm not arguing it's a replacement for DRL or service to STC. All I'm saying is that it's possible GO RER on the Stouffville line could have more frequent service than once every 15 min during peak hours.

I don't really want to engage in your Tory comment, I'll just say that I personally disagree with your assessment and that it's been clear after the election that it was never Tory's idea. Tory's team stole or "adapted" the idea of SmartTrack from early GO RER and provincial ideas, and that SmartTrack east is simply GO RER on Stouffville, with more stations and lower fares.