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

ssiguy2 said:
The Melbourne system use to be double-decker like Sydney but they realized that due to ease of boarding, no stairs, everyone not crowding at the small doors, no accessibility for wheelchairs or baby carriages resulting at more time at the doors, led to far greater station dwell times and much lower reliability and on-time performance.
Click to expand...

Melbourne has never used double-decker trains, aside from a single train prototype that they ordered, and Sydney exclusively uses double-deckers...
 
nfitz said:
To the airport? Can't do much better than ever 15 minutes, because there is only one platform at Union.
Click to expand...

Not so.

If they had the equipment and manpower, they can operate every 10 minutes without difficulty. In short bursts, they could probably run at a 7 and a half minute headway, although the slightest hiccup would cascade pretty badly.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.
 
ssiguy2 said:
Yes, absolutely.

ST at TTC fares would be very useful for people from Weston, Eto. North and especially Hwy#27/Humber serving a hundred thousand new residents and a major hospital, Woodbine, and a college. It would also enjoy a lot of local transit from Brampton & York Region via buses. This is to say nothing of the thousands of employees at Pearson who would now have a viable and affordable transit route to work.
Click to expand...

You're aware that the vast majority of the employees at Pearson live west of the airport in Peel or Halton regions...right....the whole "employee pricing" thing stirred up pre-opening was just a red herring.


ssiguy2 said:
^^^^ The problem with your idea is that Toronto doesn't have decent transit to Pearson. Toronto brought in transit expansion to Pearson ass-backwards. 90% of the cities on the planet build mass transit to their airports first and then worry about express trains. In other words they had their priorities straight..........serve the masses who need transit before you serve the few who don't.
Click to expand...

If buses count for transit to the airport then Toronto did the exact same thing.....if you are discounting buses as transit i seriously doubt that 90% of the airports on the planet have any sort of mass transit.
 
Yes I know that most Pearson employees don't live downtown but that doesn't mean the line wouldn't be used especially considering all the other thousands who work near but not right at Pearson. Think of the thousands who live and work in the Humber area to say nothing of connecting buses from York Region & Brampton.

Metrolinx should just give to line to the TTC and have it run as the western portion of ST. It's already a grade separated line and clearly the current model isn't working as ridership still sucks. With ATC the trains could easily run every 6 minutes and the 3 car DMU is the equivalent size of a 4 car subway train. As for there being an accident/delay and the line would back up quickly...........what the hell's the difference between it happening on the UPX as opposed to any subway line?

The UPX has been a ridership and financial failure has earned the ire of people along the line as trains roll by they can't afford to take, they have to deal with the high fumes and noise, t's bleeding red ink and requires an obscene amount of subsidy on a per-capita ridership level, and has been a public relations disaster for Metrolinx.

Converting it to catenary subway would delight the people along the line with TTC rapid transit, no fumes, less noise, no construction mayhem, no loss of income/work for businesses along the route, stations can be phased in with little fanfare, and yet providing subway service to hundreds of thousands of people who don't have it now.........an urban planner's wet dream.

There would be nothing but welcome mats laid out by everyone in the city as opposed to every other line which is a political football.
 
ssiguy2 said:
Metrolinx should just give to line to the TTC and have it run as the western portion of ST. It's already a grade separated line and clearly the current model isn't working as ridership still sucks.
Click to expand...

1) No, they shouldn't
2) I agree that the ridership sucks--it's too high, the fares need to be raised+GO RER introduced to lower it back to a more reasonable level
 
^^^ So what do you propose doing with the UPX? As it stands right now it is sucking the budget dry with it's obscene per-capita subsidy requirements and doing nearly nothing in terms of reducing congestion due to pathetic ridership. I'm all ears but clearly the status quo is not optional.
 
ssiguy2 said:
^^^ So what do you propose doing with the UPX? As it stands right now it is sucking the budget dry with it's obscene per-capita subsidy requirements and doing nearly nothing in terms of reducing congestion due to pathetic ridership. I'm all ears but clearly the status quo is not optional.
Click to expand...

Good lord...
1) "Sucking the budget try" is i) an exaggeration, and ii) in more realistic terms, public transit is a service operated by governments for citizens, not a profitable operation run by a business, if you dislike this vote libertarian
2) Can you link me to where it was ever stated that the primary purpose of UPX was to reduce congestion? With 2-3 car trains running every 15 minutes?!? That's an absurd notion--it's not meant to reduce congestion, it's meant to provide a direct, quick, frequent, comfortable public transit service between Pearson and downtown, primarily for air travellers, where no such option previously existed. I also strongly doubt, for that matter, that Pearson-Union traffic via 427-Gardiner amounts to more than a couple of percent of the traffic on those stretches of those highways.
 
I would roll it into the GO transit system and have GO rates for anywhere on the line, except a premium for the Airport stop. Make it as long as possible and bi level if possible too. This would sove many issues with it now.
 
In order for people to use the UPX to Pearson, there got to be a better incentive for people to do so. A terrible connection at Bloor/Dundas West doesn't help. One would have to walk outdoors in place where there are shady bars and somehow take their luggage down two levels. Union is not the best place to transfer from the subway to UPX either. One would have to walk 300m and down a set of stairs and through many doors to even get into the subway concourse and of course another set of stairs onto the platform assuming they find the subway. Not only there's no discount for UPX to TTC, there's no good connection either. Basically either one would take the GO that winds up at Union or they are close to Union to actually benefit from the UPX.

The truth is TTC riders will not benefit from the UPX going to the airport even if it was part of the TTC network. Only Weston, Bloor and Union commuters would skyrocket.

micheal_can said:
I thought that it was still horribly expensive...
Click to expand...
GO rates start around $5 within TO. Rouge Hill is like $6.25 and it's still within TO. SmartTrack isn't going to get TTC fares, that's not happening. Don't dream about it either. ML isn't going to spend billions so Torontoians can ride it for $3. Thank John Tory for such useless project instead of funding the relief line.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top