I hope that TC supporters not only show their support for TC but also bring forward the very legitimate concerns many, including myself, have with it.
First, it's not at all rapid, this is local service on a ROW. Finch and Sheppard should have one-third the number of stops they have.
Your opinion, and certainly not one shared by both the experts paid to do the work nor by the people living along the lines. I also suppose you didn't hear that most of the people who attended the open houses wanted MORE stops, to make it easier for them to access the line....
Second, better align the routes. I think the idea of Sheppard not going to STC was sheer lunacy.
Why? Most ridership along the Sheppard corridor does not want to travel to the STC - like Finch, they want to travel to somewhere else along Sheppard. If they want to travel to STC, there will be a number of good transit connections for them, not the least of which will be the extended SRT.
Third, do it on a budget. $1.2 billion for an tiny little 6 km SRT conversion is obscene. It shouldn't cost more than $200 million and should only require the line to be shut for 8 months to a year.
Based on what, exactly? Every station will have to be rebuilt, not to mention the "tunnel" north of Ellesmere as well as a completely new Kennedy Station facility. How, pray tell, is that only going to take 8 months - or a year - to build when you are doing so above and around existing facilities that can not be shut down?
Do you have experience building or managing multi-million dollar contracts? Or bidding them out?
Better yet just up grade the SRT with MK111 and save the over $1 billion by taking the line to the airport.
Right, let's just revisit that mistake again. Oh, by the way, the line still has to be closed to rebuild it for the new cars. Just so you know.
Fourth, make use of existing rail ROW and hydro corridors.
I don't disagree with this, but it has to make sense in terms of where the travel corridors are located. Using a hydro corridor for the sake of it being there is almost as bad as building a subway line to nowhere. Oh, wait a minute....
Dan
Toronto, Ont.