Given that SmartTrack will recycle a lot of GO platform lengths (plus a lot of much-needed new infill stations and interchange/intermodal stations), the electric trains will probably be vastly longer than this. Would be a shame to waste the platform length opportunity that Union and other GO stations already have.
You know Metrolinx is tooting the "RER" acronym -- Rapid Express Rail -- Paris has a similiar system although it stands for Réseau Express Régional ("Regional Express Network"), but the acronym is kept the same as a homage to Paris' system which apparently nearly exactly resembles what Toronto would have ten years from now.
The best model for comparison I can think of is the
Paris RER which is the actual acronym of their frequent electrified service on "surface subways", that I believe GO borrowed. I see a lot of evidence that GO took a page from the French RER rulebook. Paris' RER is a 'surface subway' and covers hundreds of kilometers, just like the GO network. Assuming SmartTrack is modelled after Paris RER, the trains will be very similiar to subway-length or GOtrain-length, but be single decker for some of them.
(...the acronym GO took advantage of -- this is Paris' eqivalent of GO train but they run them every 15 minutes or more often)
I've ridden the Paris RER system, and it's rather neat how they distinguish the super-express trains, the semi-express trains and the all-stop trains, by having videoboards that display all subsequent station names with checkmarks next to them. When a train arrives, all the future stations it will stop at, are highlighted extremely clearly (no scrolling). So it was easy to know which which express train to step on for where you're going. Some Paris RER trains are bilevel and other Paris RER trains are single-levels -- exactly the hybrid mix that GO mentioned they are planning to do.
The resemblance to Paris RER to the upcoming GO electrification seems more than coincidential, from what I've witnessed.
Comparing GO upcoming "RER" versus Paris existing "RER"
- Paris RER is the Paris version of Toronto's GO Train system.
- Surface subways, just like GO will be
- Long trains, just like GO will keep even when single level (long subway-sized train lengths)
- Electricification, just like GO will be
- Some of these trains routes are over 100km long, just like GO Kitchener or Lakeshore lines.
- Good interchanges with the subway and buses, just like GO plans to (more integration with TTC is coming)
- Some single decker trains and some double decker trains, just like GO will.
(Metrolinx already said they're expanding GO with single-level trains since bilevels are too empty for 15-minute service on some routes; this is obvious as it can be a waste to use the bilevels during offpeak)
- Paris RER felt just as convenient as catching a subway. Just like GO wants their RER network to be.
So you see why Metrolinx borrowed the Paris "RER" acronym...
They ARE essentially copying the Paris "subway-like" ultrafrequent commuter train system!
All in all, I think Smarttrack is a great idea -- if the Smarttrack and the GO electricification is executed properly and similiar to Paris' similar sized RER system. Mix some quick express trains with some all-stop trains, just like Paris does. They should choose the same single-level electric trainsets if possible, for simplicity. For a long time, they will still fill up the bilevels for the busy routes/peak/longer-hauls/non-electric lines -- and GO will still need the single-level electric trains for the frequent-service (Smarttrack + GO electrification) expansions.
Metrolinx was planning to do this anyway, even before John Tory, too. See
2009 report, the original poster. To Metrolinx, Smarttrack is just simply another GOtrain route (even if the media has made it quite a distinct thing). They were planning to get single-level electrified trainsets anyway for frequent off-peak service on a lot of the GO network (eventually). That's exactly what Smarttrack is too. They can just buy the same trainsets for both. Smarttrack even runs along a portion of the UP Express electrification too. It all blends perfectly into the Metrolinx 10-to-15 year plan even before JT said 7 years.
Bring it on, Metrolinx.
