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Bloor-Yonge Station Capacity Enhancement

before you guys get all hyped up with this announcement please be wary of the context....its election season so empty promises and pledges for funding will be flowing like honey from all parties esp. the libs.
I would hold your breath until December to see if the money is actually going to start flowing from the feds.
 
I wonder if this 'improvement' is worth it in the long run or will it just ease the pain for a few years before the pent-up demand just fills the space. Is it worth spending $1B-$2B on just adding a new eastbound platform on Line 2? Or would that money be better spent on improving the College/Dundas/King/Queen streetcars by giving them a full ROW? Or perhaps putting that money to ensuring the Ontario (ie Relief) Line gets built up to Sheppard to truly give more relief to Bloor/Yonge.
 
I wonder if this 'improvement' is worth it in the long run or will it just ease the pain for a few years before the pent-up demand just fills the space. Is it worth spending $1B-$2B on just adding a new eastbound platform on Line 2? Or would that money be better spent on improving the College/Dundas/King/Queen streetcars by giving them a full ROW? Or perhaps putting that money to ensuring the Ontario (ie Relief) Line gets built up to Sheppard to truly give more relief to Bloor/Yonge.

From the report in April, TTC is expecting Bloor/Yonge to cause capacity reductions on both Line 1 and Line 2 in 2028 due to passenger congestion on platform levels.

The Ontario Line is pretty far from guaranteed to be finished at that date to relieve that issue, particularly if that time arrives a few years early.

A non-trivial capacity reduction across the entirety of Line 1 and Line 2 could be painful for both Ontario and Canada finances as that hits a lot of people. This seems like relatively cheap insurance and still quite useful even if the Ontario Line does end up finished before that.

Main report: https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2019/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-131545.pdf
Appendix (with most of the detail): https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2019/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-131525.pdf


If the DRL construction was funded (as TTC intended) in that announcement then I probably would have agreed about deferring Bloor/Yonge for a while depending on the what vendors thought about the DRL schedule.
 
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From the report in April, TTC is expecting Bloor/Yonge to cause capacity reductions on both Line 1 and Line 2 in 2028 due to passenger congestion on platform levels.

The Ontario Line is pretty far from guaranteed to be finished at that date to relieve that issue, particularly if that time arrives a few years early.

A non-trivial capacity reduction across the entirety of Line 1 and Line 2 could be painful for both Ontario and Canada finances as that hits a lot of people. This seems like relatively cheap insurance and still quite useful even if the Ontario Line does end up finished before that.

Main report: https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2019/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-131545.pdf
Appendix (with most of the detail): https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2019/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-131525.pdf


If the DRL construction was funded (as TTC intended) in that announcement then I probably would have agreed about deferring Bloor/Yonge for a while depending on the what vendors thought about the DRL schedule.

Realistically if they half capacity i.e. 1 train every 10 minutes there will be hell to pay. It would cut the number of people at the station but it would piss off alot of people.
 
We're at the point where King and College seriously need a full on strip it to the guts renovation and expansion too. It's no good to increase capacity in to downtown with trains passing through faster and more frequently at Yonge and Bloor going south when they get to those stations and there's literally no space on the platform left for people to exit from the train.

King station renovations could have been rolled into new subway construction if Tory, Keesmat, and other city hall insiders weren't pressed to force feed city hall with 4 subway stations.
 
They should "do a Berri-UQAM" in Toronto of markings on the floor, the spots for where people must wait (to the side of the doors) to let exiting passengers exit faster. It is not 100% but may save 3-to-5 seconds per exiting passenger. All that builds up to slight extra capacity which is easier with the slightly enlarged station area.

I'm pretty sure I've already seen some of these at Yonge / Bloor station - on Line 1 southbound at the north end of the platform.

edit: I knew I wasn't seeing things - http://ttc.ca/Customer_Service/Improving_Boarding_Times.jsp

Train.png
 
before you guys get all hyped up with this announcement please be wary of the context....its election season so empty promises and pledges for funding will be flowing like honey from all parties esp. the libs.
I would hold your breath until December to see if the money is actually going to start flowing from the feds.

I'm wary of derailing this thread into a political grudge match, and they've given us plenty of other reasons to mistrust them, but have the Trudeau Liberals actually gone back on any promised transit funding since they took power? I can't think of any cancelled projects but maybe I'm missing something.
 
I'm wary of derailing this thread into a political grudge match, and they've given us plenty of other reasons to mistrust them, but have the Trudeau Liberals actually gone back on any promised transit funding since they took power? I can't think of any cancelled projects but maybe I'm missing something.

I think that the concern is moreso about any potential change in government, and the potential for the new one to cut pre-existing contracts and renege on announcements - rather than the ones currently in power.

Dan
 
The RL has clearly been pushed back already, sadly.

Add to that, this is needed regardless.

Its still an overdue project; so is the RL, and we should not settle for an either/or proposition.

Considering the Ontario Line currently as proposed runs on pixie dust and faeries, this seems like a necessary stop gap. You need something now, not another 15 years from now.
 
Ontario Line shouldnt stop at Ontario place but needs have a few more stops on King or Queen Street and then move up to link up with Dundas West and then Mount Dennis so you have a closed circular loop.
 
I wonder if this 'improvement' is worth it in the long run or will it just ease the pain for a few years before the pent-up demand just fills the space. Is it worth spending $1B-$2B on just adding a new eastbound platform on Line 2? Or would that money be better spent on improving the College/Dundas/King/Queen streetcars by giving them a full ROW? Or perhaps putting that money to ensuring the Ontario (ie Relief) Line gets built up to Sheppard to truly give more relief to Bloor/Yonge.

It absolutely will be worth it, even with the introduction of the Relief Line.

Automatic Train Control will substantially increase the carrying capacity of Line 1, and the number of peak hour passengers transferring to Line 2. Even with the DRL/OL to Eglinton, the Yonge Line will still be very close to capacity.

The Line 2 Bloor-Yonge platforms are too narrow to accommodate all that additional demand from transfers. Crowded platforms means delayed trains, which means a reduction in headways and capacity on Line 2 and potentially even on Line 1. The Bloor-Yonge expansion is going to be critical for managing the increased transfer demand induced by ATO on Line 1.
 
I'm wary of derailing this thread into a political grudge match, and they've given us plenty of other reasons to mistrust them, but have the Trudeau Liberals actually gone back on any promised transit funding since they took power? I can't think of any cancelled projects but maybe I'm missing something.
They have not. Our cynicism is winning out over our confidence in government to carry through with (promised) needed improvements to public infrastructure.
 

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