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Toronto Eglinton Line 5 | ?m | ?s | Metrolinx | Arcadis

Took my first, brief trip on the Crosstown today. Had a reason to be up along Eglinton in the area of Warden (wanted to hit Adonis for those gorgeous, freshly baked Pitas), and decided, why not? When I'm done my errands, I'll hop on at Lebovik.

With that preface. My observations.

1) The shelters are every bit as useless as I imagined. No precipitation today, but it was windy, from the west. I got to the platform just as a train had departed, and faced a 12 minute wait (that is not the scheduled headway, ahem.)....

The shelters have only 2 windscreens each, and they stick out maybe a foot from the edge. In Toronto, the most common (prevailing) wind is from the west. Here, there were only 3 spots to hide, you had to tuck yourself right up against the shelter wall, the other three screens were available, but were essentially the outside of the shelter on the east side, so no seats, and no ceiling on the side that protected you from the wind. Utterly impractical, verging on useless.

If there had been rain, anyone under the celing would have been drenched by the wind blowing it in...........

2) The aforementioned headway issue. I watched vehicles in both directions and the times on the screens, headway had a range of 5m to 13m. It was quite variable. Not acceptable.

3} Travel time. Lebovik to Kennedy was 8 minutes, so not terrible, but not great. That's a speed of just over 17km/ph. Hold times at stops for passengers were reasonable. We sailed through on a green at Warden.

We had two holds at lights, one at Sinnott, and another at Ionview. Only Sinnott/Thermos was unreasonably long with about a 50s hold.

IF they resolved that light, to a sail--through, you'd get just over 19km/ph.

This does indicate to me that speeds between stops could be a bit more aggressive as well.

4) Vehicles. Fine overall...........but wow is the PA system terrible! All that crackling noise.

5) Train placement at farside stations/platforms. With farside platforms, passengers enter/exit from the rear/back of the platform. But 2-car trains park at the very front of the station, where you can't enter or exit.

I assume the logic is to spread passengers out, but I find it rather silly, most passengers would prefer to have the vehicle as close to the entrance/exit as is practical. I'd prefer the trains stop one length back. But that's me.
 
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Northern Light said:
Took my first, brief trip on the Crosstown today. Had a reason to be up along Eglinton in the area of Warden (wanted to hit Adonis for those gorgeous, freshly baked Pitas), and decided, why not? When I'm done my errands, I'll hop on at Lebovik.

With that preface. My observations.

1) The shelters are every bit as useless as I imagined. No precipitation today, but it was windy, from the west. I got to the platform just as a train had departed, and faced a 12 minute wait (that is not the scheduled headway, ahem.)....

The shelters have only 2 windscreens each, and they stick out maybe a foot from the edge. In Toronto, the most common (prevailing) wind is from the west. Here, there were only 3 spots to hide, you had to tuck yourself right up against the shelter wall, the other three screens were available, but were essentially the outside of the shelter on the east side, so no seats, and no ceiling on the side that protected you from the wind. Utterly impractical, verging on useless.

If there had been rain, anyone under the celing would have been drenched by the wind blowing it in...........

2) The aforementioned headway issue. I watched vehicles in both directions and the times on the screens, headway had a range of 5m to 13m. It was quite variable. Not acceptable.

3} Travel time. Lebovik to Kennedy was 8 minutes, so not terrible, but not great. That's a speed of just over 17km/ph. Hold times at stops for passengers were reasonable. We sailed through on a green at Warden.

We had two holds at lights, one at Sinnott, and another at Ionview. Only Sinnott/Thermos was unreasonably long with about a 50s hold.

IF they resolved that light, to a sail--through, you'd get just over 19km/ph.

This does indicate to me that speeds between stops could be a bit more aggressive as well.

4) Vehicles. Fine overall...........but wow is the PA system terrible! All that crackling noise.

5) Train placement at farside stations/platforms. With farside platforms, passengers enter/exit from the rear/back of the platform. But 2-car trains park at the very front of the station, where you can't enter or exit.

I assume the logic is to spread passengers out, but I find it rather silly, most passengers would prefer to have the vehicle as close to the entrance/exit as is practical. I'd prefer the trains stop one length back. But that's me.
Click to expand...
Metrolinx hired the best and cheapest traffic engineers for the project. What do you expect?
Traffic Engineering Fr3THpSWIAECf8C.jpg
 
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Since the opening of line 5 Eglinton, this what the Eglinton station bus terminal looks like. Does it now make sense to close down this bus terminal for good and have direct bus routing along avenue road from queens park to highway 401 and mount pleasant route from glen echo loop to st Clair station?
Click to expand...
 
A few factoids about the building that the bus station is in, as I used to live in the area. It's 2200 Yonge Street, named Canada Square, and it used to have a 2nd storey winding hallway leading all the way south to Berwick Street, serving shops including a Cineplex and a Mandarin restaurant. The last time I took the escalator up (of which there is only one, going up) to the upper level, which was a long time ago, the hallway was still there but all the businesses were gone, and it looked like they were getting ready to close the hallway and make it part of office space, not open to the public. When the TTC closed their bus terminal to the northwest of the building (intending to sell off the property), they leased the building's half-below-ground parking lot and converted the entire level to a TTC bus station connected to the subway. station It struck me as an odd thing to do, as this was a major bus hub with a dozen routes, and it should have made more sense for the TTC to keep or upgrade their existing platforms in the open lot. I have never seen a bus terminal built inside a private office building in Toronto before. I don't know whether to say I'm surprised or not, that they may go back to using the lot. The building is often discussed as something to be torn down, but apparently nothing has been decided.

The building across the street, on the southeast corner of Y&E, is in a similar situation: 1 Eglinton East. Connected to the subway station, it used to have an underground PATH-like mall, with a Druxy's Deli. The mall is long gone, the lower level is closed except as a subway entrance, and the building has been rezoned for a condo, for which the proposed height has received a lot of discussion. But I see the property owners are still advertising it for office space, so I don't believe there is any plan to close or tear down the building in the near future.
 
A 6264 said:
A few factoids about the building that the bus station is in, as I used to live in the area. It's 2200 Yonge Street, named Canada Square, and it used to have a 2nd storey winding hallway leading all the way south to Berwick Street, serving shops including a Cineplex and a Mandarin restaurant. The last time I took the escalator up (of which there is only one, going up) to the upper level, which was a long time ago, the hallway was still there but all the businesses were gone, and it looked like they were getting ready to close the hallway and make it part of office space, not open to the public. When the TTC closed their bus terminal to the northwest of the building (intending to sell off the property), they leased the building's half-below-ground parking lot and converted the entire level to a TTC bus station connected to the subway. station It struck me as an odd thing to do, as this was a major bus hub with a dozen routes, and it should have made more sense for the TTC to keep or upgrade their existing platforms in the open lot. I have never seen a bus terminal built inside a private office building in Toronto before. I don't know whether to say I'm surprised or not, that they may go back to using the lot. The building is often discussed as something to be torn down, but apparently nothing has been decided.

The building across the street, on the southeast corner of Y&E, is in a similar situation: 1 Eglinton East. Connected to the subway station, it used to have an underground PATH-like mall, with a Druxy's Deli. The mall is long gone, the lower level is closed except as a subway entrance, and the building has been rezoned for a condo, for which the proposed height has received a lot of discussion. But I see the property owners are still advertising it for office space, so I don't believe there is any plan to close or tear down the building in the near future.
Click to expand...

Pretty sad how malls in the Yonge-Eglinton area have declined. Is that more to do with COVID or the disruption that construction caused you think?
 
A 6264 said:
A few factoids about the building that the bus station is in, as I used to live in the area. It's 2200 Yonge Street, named Canada Square, and it used to have a 2nd storey winding hallway leading all the way south to Berwick Street, serving shops including a Cineplex and a Mandarin restaurant. The last time I took the escalator up (of which there is only one, going up) to the upper level, which was a long time ago, the hallway was still there but all the businesses were gone, and it looked like they were getting ready to close the hallway and make it part of office space, not open to the public. When the TTC closed their bus terminal to the northwest of the building (intending to sell off the property), they leased the building's half-below-ground parking lot and converted the entire level to a TTC bus station connected to the subway. station It struck me as an odd thing to do, as this was a major bus hub with a dozen routes, and it should have made more sense for the TTC to keep or upgrade their existing platforms in the open lot. I have never seen a bus terminal built inside a private office building in Toronto before. I don't know whether to say I'm surprised or not, that they may go back to using the lot. The building is often discussed as something to be torn down, but apparently nothing has been decided.

The building across the street, on the southeast corner of Y&E, is in a similar situation: 1 Eglinton East. Connected to the subway station, it used to have an underground PATH-like mall, with a Druxy's Deli. The mall is long gone, the lower level is closed except as a subway entrance, and the building has been rezoned for a condo, for which the proposed height has received a lot of discussion. But I see the property owners are still advertising it for office space, so I don't believe there is any plan to close or tear down the building in the near future.
Click to expand...
Perhaps I am misunderstanding here, but the site of the current Eglinton bus terminal is the old Eglinton Garage which opened as a Streetcar Carhouse in 1922 and then became a full-time bus/trolley bus garage in 1954 before finally closing for good in 2002. So as far as I am aware its not the TTC that built a bus terminal under an office building but instead the TTC sold the air rights above the garage and the building was built over it (like at York Mills and Wellesley).
 
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Part of what happened with that conversion is that, when it was first constructed, Eglinton was the northern terminal of the subway, making it the main transfer point from suburban services, which is why it needed such a high-throughput transfer terminal and an adjoining garage facility.

By the late 90s this capacity was excessive and unlikely to ever be required again, and the bus platforms were also impossible to make accessible. Thus, converting the garage facility into a barrier-free bus terminal. (So long as you enter off Yonge.)
 
I just want to voice that being able to use the Eglinton LRT is messing with me! Went with a friend to show him Oakwood Village/dinner and emerging to the street from the station left me disoriented! Like being in Westboro in Ottawa as it looks similar to a Toronto arterial but something is not right!
 
Natika33 said:
But don't routes 13 & 61 still use the bus loop?
Click to expand...
Both Avenues and both Mount Pleasant buses, along with, Eglinton, and the 97C Yonge still do. Six in total, aside from the nightly shuttle.

Quite frankly, I'd rather see them as through services that, connect to Line 5 at their respective stations, but continue into downtown somewhere busy enough so there are alternatives to just Line 1, and for now, the 97C. That's just me, even if there would be a dead zone between Bloor and St. Clair for ridership. I know the thoroughfare likely serves less people though, as I normally see people go for Line 1 or the mall. However, when the area gets redeveloped, I'm speculating that there will be closures, possibly long-term periods, requiring some interlining function between these four routes while 34 stays on Eglinton altogether unless they build another temporary loop somewhere.

From what I've been seeing at Eglinton:
Cinnabon, the neighbouring convenience store, and perhaps the other one across the hall, are the only business still getting noticeable traffic from my POV. No telling if any of them would relocate into the "New Tenant Coming Soon" space(s) provided by Metrolinx in the Line 5 area.
I'll just add these photos I took last week of most of the shops still at Eglinton (this is at nighttime, for the record), but most seem ready to leave soon:
IMG_20260325_231252874_HDR.jpgIMG_20260325_231238318_HDR.jpgIMG_20260325_231146203_HDR.jpgIMG_20260325_231128792_HDR.jpgIMG_20260325_230728657_HDR.jpgIMG_20260325_230432367_HDR.jpg


And my impression with Line 5... the 34 is just easier, if/when you catch it.
Ridership and traffic fluctuates on it through the day/week, but its far easier to hop, shop, and pop back or go elsewhere. And half a bus' worth of passengers or more, on average, travel between Keele and Dufferin from what I have seen, and little less towards Cedarvale before dropping off dramatically thereafter, where it picks up again around Don Mills, and again in Scarborough.

The 34, when Line 5 goes down, gets packed more so than the shuttles I find; time and place, I guess. But also, even if the disruption on Line 5 is somewhere east, for example, I've witnesssed quite a few or many continue to use the 34 further beyond the disruption span. Like, Fairbank "further," for the downed wire the other day in the east.

Keelesdale Road and Eglinton is a decently-used and convenient location for transferring from bus-to-bus (ideally east, not so much west), without having to go so far into the station, and for the No Frills. But that light taking generally two minutes to cycle is ridiculous.

And finally, up to just last week, people, despite signage at the bus bays, and on the buses themselves, are still going west out of Eglinton station on the 34 when they wanted east and get off at Henning Avenue or Lascelles Blvd and walk back. I have already reached out to the Commission on this, as the east buses should have continued serving the bays paralleling Yonge where westbound continued along the platforms paralleling Eglinton. It was what people remembered for so long since this terminal was built and opened. Though most regulars are already have gotten used to it, and it might not be long before the terminal gets demolished anyway.


Line 5 is still a work in progress, I think, but still a good line and great for those travelling from far, faster.
 
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TDE said:
Both Avenues and both Mount Pleasant buses, along with, Eglinton, and the 97C Yonge still do. Six in total, aside from the nightly shuttle.

Quite frankly, I'd rather see them as through services that, connect to Line 5 at their respective stations, but continue into downtown somewhere busy enough so there are alternatives to just Line 1, and for now, the 97C. That's just me, even if there would be a dead zone between Bloor and St. Clair for ridership. I know the thoroughfare likely serves less people though, as I normally see people go for Line 1 or the mall. However, when the area gets redeveloped, I'm speculating that there will be closures, possibly long-term periods, requiring some interlining function between these four routes while 34 stays on Eglinton altogether unless they build another temporary loop somewhere.

From what I've been seeing at Eglinton:
Cinnabon, the neighbouring convenience store, and perhaps the other one across the hall, are the only business still getting noticeable traffic from my POV. No telling if any of them would relocate into the "New Tenant Coming Soon" space(s) provided by Metrolinx in the Line 5 area.
I'll just add these photos I took last week of most of the shops still at Eglinton (this is at nighttime, for the record), but most seem ready to leave soon:
View attachment 725295View attachment 725296View attachment 725297View attachment 725298View attachment 725300View attachment 725301


And my impression with Line 5... the 34 is just easier, if/when you catch it.
Ridership and traffic fluctuates on it through the day/week, but its far easier to hop, shop, and pop back or go elsewhere. And half a bus' worth of passengers or more, on average, travel between Keele and Dufferin from what I have seen, and little less towards Cedarvale before dropping off dramatically thereafter, where it picks up again around Don Mills, and again in Scarborough.

The 34, when Line 5 goes down, gets packed more so than the shuttles I find; time and place, I guess. But also, even if the disruption on Line 5 is somewhere east, for example, I've witnesssed quite a few or many continue to use the 34 further beyond the disruption span. Like, Fairbank "further," for the downed wire the other day in the east.

Keelesdale Road and Eglinton is a decently-used and convenient location for transferring from bus-to-bus (ideally east, not so much west), without having to go so far into the station, and for the No Frills. But that light taking generally two minutes to cycle is ridiculous.

And finally, up to just last week, people, despite signage at the bus bays, and on the buses themselves, are still going west out of Eglinton station on the 34 when they wanted east and get off at Henning Avenue or Lascelles Blvd and walk back. I have already reached out to the Commission on this, as the east buses should have continued serving the bays paralleling Yonge where westbound continued along the platforms paralleling Eglinton. It was what people remembered for so long since this terminal was built and opened. Though most regulars are already have gotten used to it, and it might not be long before the terminal gets demolished anyway.


Line 5 is still a work in progress, I think, but still a good line and great for those travelling from far, faster.
Click to expand...
In no way is the 34 better than Line 5. Maybe in scarborough, but in the centre of the city the bus will get held up at every major intersection especially avenue and approaching Allen either way. I've taken this bus route for 10 years and Line 5 is leagues better.
 
rdaner said:
I just want to voice that being able to use the Eglinton LRT is messing with me! Went with a friend to show him Oakwood Village/dinner and emerging to the street from the station left me disoriented! Like being in Westboro in Ottawa as it looks similar to a Toronto arterial but something is not right!
Click to expand...
I understand the feeling. Our mental routing maps that we've had in our heads for decades have to be recalibrated. It really is a bit of a brain scrambler.

One of our warehouses is near Eglinton Square. Getting there without a car was a miserable hour long transit experience waiting for buses that were often packed if we went in the morning. Today, it's all rapid rail transit on comfortable trains. The 5 minute frequency means virtually no waiting and the complete transit time is cut in half. 25% of the commute time was waiting for a bus.

It's going to be even pronounced when the Ontario Line opens. You mean to tell me that I can get from Riverdale to King West in 10 minutes on a subway? 🤯
 
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