Leo_Chan
Senior Member
Isn't the Eglinton LRT suppose to be bus (and emergency vehicle) compatible on the surface sections?
Toronto Eglinton Line 5 Crosstown West Extension | ?m | ?s | Metrolinx
- Thread starter W. K. Lis
- Start date
jdmason
New Member
The Mississauga Transitway actually was designed for conversion to LRT. I know this because I worked on the project. The bridge clearances and station platforms were all designed with eventual conversion to LRT in mind. I believe the eventual plan is to have it connect with the LRT project on Hurontario, around Square 1. The original desire was to have LRT, but it made the most sense to use BRT as it aligned well with MiWay's existing fleet of busses.
I believe this was the plan. Keep it multi-use. I'm not entirely sure who would run the LRT train portion, although it makes the most sense (and looks the most like) it would be Metrolinx. It can connect with the EWLRT at Renforth Gateway station. Once it is one continuous line (Eglinton LRT out to Square 1), there would likely be certain trains that run up to Pearson, and certain that continue west.
aquateam
Active Member
That would be a wonky transit line, going all the way from UTSC to Square One, and alternating between being:
- In a 100% grade separated highway ROW from Square One to Martin Grove with stops every 1100 m (~11 km/10 stops)
- Running on street on Eglinton, stopping at every light and mid-block, from Martin Grove to Mount Dennis. Stops every 675 metres (~6.1 km/9 stops)
- Diving into a tunnel, with subway like stops (~10.3km/12 stops) every 860 m
- Emerging at grade to meet a red light before diving back into a tunnel to intersect with the future DRL
- Continuing at-grade on Eglinton east, with stops every 600 m (~6 km / 10 stops)
- Continuing at grade to UTSC, with stops every 600 meters (~10.8 km /18 stops)
From end to end (Hurontario to Sheppard) the line would be 48 kilometers!!! And if you include the airport branch, that makes ~52.5 km! The 501 Queen is one of the world's longest streetcar lines and it's less than half as long (25 km) ! If this was 100% grade-separated transit, I could see this feasibly being run as a single line. But you would probably break it up between:
- Square One
- Cedarvale (Eglinton West)
- BrentCliff or Don Mills
- Kennedy
- Sheppard
W. K. Lis
Superstar
The big problem with Square One is that it is nowhere near a GO Train station. You need 33 minutes to walk 2.7 km from the closest GO Train station (Cooksville) to Square One (Mississauga City Hall), compared with 12 minutes to walk 950 m from Union Station to Toronto City Hall. Most of that walk in Toronto can be done using PATH.
robmausser
Senior Member
All the more reason to grade separate all major intersections of this portion of the route, and remove all midblock stations as was intended, before that batshit insane report came out from the city.
Steve X
Senior Member
I meant the route itself. It can't be an extension of Eglinton West as it will never need 3 car consists between Renfoth and Square One. I would never see the Transitway become the main east-west transit line in the city to justify as a LRT. If converted, it would be a LRT from MCC to nowhere.
Streety McCarface
Senior Member
Do what they do in Japan; split the cars at Renforth, have some go to Pearson, have 1-2 car trains go to pearson, and the other 1-2 car trains go to Square One.
micheal_can
Senior Member
Or, do it like I said, have shorter trains for YYZ-Miss.
idc24
Active Member
I agree with you about splitting the LRT service at Renforth. It would make sense as not all the passengers would need to go to the airport. Just as many if not more would be heading to the Airport Corporate Centre, Square One and Mississauga City Centre. It would give more options for which agency operates the line. Miway or TTC could operate the services on behalf of Metrolinx. It would be crucially important to split the services once the Pearson Transit Hub is built.
With LRT track in place along Hurontario there's no physical reason why the Eglinton/Transitway LRT service would have to actually terminate at Square One. It could just as easily terminate at Cooksville or Port Credit.
As for having it as a super long line, there's the opportunity to run multiple routes on the same track. One from Port Credit to Pearson (a much needed direct airport connection from the Lakeshore West line for passengers coming from the west), one from MCC to Science Centre (bypassing the airport), one from Pearson to Kennedy, and one from Mount Dennis to Morningside. The busiest sections would have overlapping lines leading to a higher frequency, while the lower demand sections would have a single route on them.
idc24
Active Member
That would be a really efficient service plan for the Eglinton LRT. It could become the next great transportation spine in the GTA. Running multiple routes on a corridor like this is very similar to that of the Crossrail Project and the Elizabeth Line in London, UK.
idc24
Active Member
Steve X
Senior Member
Well, they do that with the VIA rail from Toronto to Ottawa/Montreal. They'll split the train somewhere near Prescott. It does take like a 3-5 minutes which won't work well during rush hour.
It's going to be very confusing for riders here. Japanese are way better with this kind of things. The more problematic question is what happens if half the train is missing at the merge point. It will either hold the entire line down at Renforth or there will be lower capacity if they decided to run with half the train.
Streety McCarface
Senior Member
With this, I must ask why we can't letter the LRT lines, and have the back colours of the roundals be the route the train is taking, kind of like in New York. Numbers refer to subway lines, letters LRT lines. You have 3 LRT services along Eglinton (A, B, & C) The A train goes from Square one to Pearson, The B train goes from Square One to Scarborough U of T, C train goes from Pearson to Scarborough centre (if the line is reverted). The same can be applied to other lines, especially if there are spurs on the Sheppard East LRT or Finch West LRT.
nfitz
Superstar
Part of it is. Particularly eastern end of the southern east-west runway. Unless the LRT passes under the runway, it's got to run through Toronto. Most of Silver Dart Drive past old Terminal 2, is in Toronto. The entire Silver Dart/Renforth intersection is in Toronto.
.Probably, but the entire Renforth to Pearson alignment is up in the air.
If I was Toronto, I'd be trying to hit that transit desert along Carlingview, and then along Dixon.