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Danforth Line 2 Scarborough Subway Extension

The subways will stretch out to all major Centres surrounding Toronto just as it is already started, and currently being designed and built. It is really nothing comparable to GO which acts mainly as a funnel from non-central Southern Ontario locations into Union station.

This GTA subway backbone is well underway with North York, Vaughan, Scarborough, soon to be Richmond Hill. Mississauga (Etobicoke West) has been lobbying (simple google search) and waiting to get in the que. The Sheppard subway will be built and will be set up the link for Pickering there just as LIne 2 will already have set up the link for Markham in the future. It would have been a bit further along if amalgamated Toronto didn't try to pull the stunt it did with Scarborough Centre. Keep in mind that type of corner cutting planning will never happen in other Cities or even at the Province, there will not even be a debate.

While I certainly disagree, I do hear the reasons why some dont like the idea of connecting suburban Centre growth nodes to the subways as a backbone. Its really like some here live in an alternate world to the degree they'll mock those pointing out the obvious reality of what is actually being built and what is being seriously discussed outside of DT Toronto in other GTA Cities
I think the subways should go as far as Barrie in the north, Niagara falls in the West and Kingston in the east. Subways are even better than VIA trains.
 
The maximum useful subway length is determined by several factors, including the ridership in the outer sections, the travel times, and the ability to operate reliably.

A day only has 24 hours, of which a typical person needs ~ 8 hours to sleep, and spends ~ 8 hours working. Few people would be willing to spend much more than 1 hour each way on a transit trip. That puts one limit on the useful subway length: the travel time from the outer subway terminus to the city centre should not exceed 45-50 min. When combined with a 15-25 min on a local/feeder route trip, that leads to 60-75 min total each way.

The operational reliability puts another limit, but that one is harder to estimate in advance, and the operational constraints can change over time, for example by adding ATO.

Either way, with the Line 2 extended to Sheppard & McCowan, and Line 1 to Hwy 7, we will be at or close to the limit of the useful length for both Lines 1 and 2.
 
The subways will stretch out to all major Centres surrounding Toronto just as it is already started, and currently being designed and built. It is really nothing comparable to GO which acts mainly as a funnel from non-central Southern Ontario locations into Union station.

This GTA subway backbone is well underway with North York, Vaughan, Scarborough, soon to be Richmond Hill. Mississauga (Etobicoke West) has been lobbying (simple google search) and waiting to get in the que. The Sheppard subway will be built and will be set up the link for Pickering there just as LIne 2 will already have set up the link for Markham in the future.

That's an interesting concept, but I believe we should look at each connection separately; not all of them are equally viable.

1. Yonge subway to Richmond Hill: certainly justified, lots of potential ridership, just need to add the Relief Line in the south.

2. Vaughan subway: already there, but wasn't a very good idea, the ridership north of Steeles is extremely low. Vaughan Centre is not really an established urban centre, just a potential one. The subway could terminate at the Pioneer Village instead.

3. Mississauga: my best hope was to use the Milton GO line for a direct connection between the Toronto and Mississauga downtowns, but it looks like the CP mainline is untouchable and the Milton line idea is not going anywhere.

Maybe, the best bet at this time is a branch of Line 5 (Eglinton) running into Mississauga. A Line 2 western extension may be considered, too.

4. Markham: I would not extend the eastern end of Line 2 further north from the Sheppard & McCowan terminus, due to the travel time concerns and operational stability concerns. Plus, most of density in Markham seems to be located west of McCowan.

Instead, I would eventually send the OL / Don Mills line into Markham. Either up Woodbine, or diagonally to the Enterprise area and Downtown Markham.

5. Sheppard Line to Pickering: there is an appeal in connecting the Sheppard corridor to the Lakeshore East GO line, that would enable many new transit trips and maybe even compete with driving on the 401.

However, both the route and the technology would have to be scrutinized. It should be something fairly fast, running at much higher speed than most of TTC's subways, and at the same time, it does not need the 30K+ capacity.
 
I think the subways should go as far as Barrie in the north, Niagara falls in the West and Kingston in the east. Subways are even better than VIA trains.

Brilliant idea.

I think the Niagara Falls stop should share a platform with Maid of the Mist.

Is there anyway we can run the Maid of the Mist underground? I feel like making people stand outside and get the mist all over them is unfair. Why should the people of Niagara Falls be treated like second class citizens?

Maybe we can even eliminate it and just add an extra Niagara Falls water stop on the subway, eliminating the transfer. People deserve better than the transfer-Maid of the Mist solution, especially when they have to travel so far.

Let's make it happen FOR THE PEOPLE!
 
I don't think the TTC should be the only rail network connecting the major population centres of the Toronto area. Markham and Brampton's centres, especially, are distant enough from the core of Toronto that they would be better served by electrified GO lines. As difficult as fare integration may look right now, once we have two-way all-day service between Union and those two city centres, it would be the cheapest option by far than adding even more tunnels.

In the same vein, Pickering being served by the Lakeshore East GO line is sufficient, since it's a far greater distance to downtown Pickering than to Mississauga/Vaughan. I think Scarborough Centre is ultimately more comparable as the major employment hub in the eastern part of the city. I personally think Scarborough Centre should be served by Line 4 before we consider Line 2, since if the need arises to connect Line 2 to the Hurontario LRT in the future, then we can have both Scarborough and Mississauga directly connected to an east-west line without worrying about overloading Line 2.

As for connecting the TTC to the Lakeshore East line in Scarborough, I would want to see Line 2 continue eastwards to Kingston/Markham, with an intermediate stop at Eglinton GO. If only every other Line 2 train uses the SSE then perhaps the second train can go east instead of short turning at Kennedy.
 

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