How is that possible?
[snip]
Can I stress again that the Go RER upon completion is still vastly different from the SBanh in Berlin/Munich or the RER in Paris or the Yamanote line in Tokyo? If I take the Go, the closest station from Toronto is probably Dundas West station.
Today that's the case.
When all 7-lines become RER-ified and same "inside 416" fares on both GO/TTC (it's going to happen; obvious evidence), and the possible addition (currently theoretical) of the
Midtown GO line (Crosstown GO RER south of Eglinton and north of Bloor), there will be a lot more gridding of the GO lines in 25 years than today. There's enough feasible right-of-way - Google Earth shows enough room to cram 4 tracks for most of it -- crosstown to allow CN corridor sharing with GO RER). Once people love RER, there will be huge demand for more RER routes, and some sweetheart deal will end up being made with CN, to permit them to share the corridor (two tracks each, plus occasional bursts of a 5th passing track). We haven't exhausted all possible crazy ideas (e.g. short gondola between TTC Castlefrank and a theoretical new Don Valley GOstation as a "DRL lite" with 5-min peak service; some cities have added gondola connectors), with opportunities to add a LOT more gridding and rapid loops to de-star the GO network. We have lots of perfectly feasible opportunities. Now, Imagine a future Tory (or someone else) making a midtown "SmartTrack 2" promise during his run for 2nd or 3rd term that uses the midtown corridor (once it's confirmed CP is willing).
Three times as many "SmartTrack" stations will be within 416 as today (GO RER-ified GOstations) with a lot more interchanges, when we have 7 SmartTrack style lines (SmartTrack is simply GO RER #1). Maybe even more than that, if the GO midtown line gets activated.
It may not be as dense as Paris' system, but by Toronto standards, the next 15 years will an order of magnitude more stationadds of "dedicated right of way subway-like frequent-service train transit stations" (TTC/GO RER/etc) than the last 15 years.
Just wait and see. It may not be Paris RER, but GO will become 416-rapidtransit-friendly within a single generation, with three times as many 416 GOstations, thanks to infilling.
GO RER will be still be commuter-friendly yet far more urban-rapidtransit-friendly, with pretty much inevitable fare unification (within 416 zone) & approximately triple the number of inside-416 stations
Don't forget SmartTrack stops at the GO stations and there's no faregates between SmartTrack and the other GOtrains. Don't forget the lack of faregates between GO/TTC at the Crosstown endpoints. They're not going to duplicate the platforms, and they're not going to use short UPX-length trains for GO RER (including SmartTrack). Don't forget TTC finally agreed to make transfers 2-hour timed passes (in principle) at their last meeting. Don't forget the announcement of full Presto TTC acceleration for 2016. Don't forget Metrolinx said GO RER has lower operating costs. (And TTC fares will have risen a bit, while inside-416 GO RER fares have fallen, beginning with SmartTrack). The writing is on the wall of fare unification, interchange points, extra stations. People are going to demand continued RER expansion once SmartTrack users rave about it, and GO RER users rave, activating increased interchange work and potential create new extra GO corridors (e.g. Eglinton corridor because of SmartTrack, GO midtown, etc).
Now reiterating:
Toronto's unified "subway" map is tripling in size in less than one generation
(Parameters: Whole GTA for subway-style-frequent (no rarer than 15 minutes) hop-on-next-train unified-faresystem dedicated-right-of-way train service that whoosh at subwayspeeds or faster, not streetcar speed and NO level crossings; with maps displayed in both TTC and GO RER stations (including all GO RER brand names such as SmartTrack)). In 15 years (or 20) when you look on the TTC wall or Metrolinx station wall, the map is triple size. That's what is going to be happening in front of our eyes, assuming GO RER is not cancelled.
