I have my doubts on all the GO RER expansion promises. It's been 7 years since this has been promised and very little has materialized except for some small service improvements. Yes Lakeshore service frequency is better and some 2 way service exists on the Barrie and Stouffville line but that's about it. There is almost no work happening towards electrification. Procurement for this project is dragging out. I'll be surprised if there is anything truly finished by 2030. Maybe by 2040s we will have some electric trains.
It's somewhat concerning. While we do see grade-separations going ahead, the timeline is Torontonian-ly slow, and I hope that Metrolinx's promise of electrification bids closing this year is met.
Yes, the radio silence is worrying.
The (almost throwaway) line from
Alon Levy last year:
Makes me worried that a well thought out, pan-GTHA, electrified Regional Express Rail system could be scuppered by old fashioned railroad infighting/inward thinking.
This is probably safer than many inner-city projects, because it's a 905-centric project. For once, our pandering to the suburbs is benefitial.
If all Toronto gets is the occasional electric locomotive on the Lakeshore West line or up to the Airport - with no changes in frequency, speed (timetables!) or cost - what's the point.
To me, it's mostly about service. Which, of course in the EAs, require electrification (to my knowledge). Again, I think that service increases are coming, because the 905, and because it would be easy for opposition parties to say that "The government has been spending billions for no new improved service." Also, it would benefit developers near stations.
If the GTHA is going to survive the Climate Crisis we're entering - suburbanites and major cities in the GTHA need to be weened off their cars.
So, Toronto needs to build North America's first proper Regional Rail system - reasonable cost, fast, frequent, unified with other transit modes, accessible, comfortable.
In my opinion - there isn't a network in the US or Canada that meets all of these requirements right now, and Toronto could easily be the first.
Let's hope so.
I fear this is it. It's not just the railroad infighting, it's the lack of leadership at the province. We continue to build GO train stations as commuter rail with massive parking lots. RER in Europe often doesn't have large park & rides. Sure there are some but most treat an RER station as a hub with lots of services around. Here we build stations in the middle of nowhere and we rarely make a goal to density around the station and work it into an urban zone around to allow for walk-in traffic. What's the point of all-day 2-way service if everyone has to drive and park at the station. Metrolinx and the province have not yet looked at how to solve this except for building massive parking garages. What happens if the garage is full by mid-day? With no options to get to station but drive, if there is no parking, the commuter will simply keep driving. With no destinations around the stations in the suburbs, what is the point of 2-way all-day service except for the few students/seniors that could make use of it.
The mindset needs to change, but there's little way you are changing last-mile options. If you want people to use transit, you need to make it the most convenient and fast option for the most people. I also hope for an end to parking-fest, but until GO provides better transit options/local municipalities provide better connections, including transit and active transport, parking-fest is all we have.
Right now this is the track we are on. I don't see this mind-shift that we should STOP building the way we are and truly adopt RER and what it can bring. Until we get there, GO expansion is simply slight improvements on commuter rail service.
Simply providing the service helps a lot. The Sheppard Line from Don Mills would not attract 50,000 riders daily without that subway. Neither would Spadina, and it's not hard to anticipate demand increases when the service is in place.
I do agree with that sentiment, but at the same time, we need to have a regard for how things are right now and move around it.
