Sunnyside
Active Member
I'd reply to this by saying that while the transfer at Spadina is egregious, it is only so by comparison with the various other Line 1/2 interchanges. St. George, which for many is the subsequent stop, is obviously better than Spadina, but there is no corresponding "St. George" for LSW riders seeking Line 2; Main/Danforth is the best we got. Also, consider that the transfer at Spadina is bad insofar that people complain, but those complaints show some people actually use it, and its principle issue is length, not quality. If the transfer is so bad that there's no one around to comment on it, then I'd say that's decidedly worse because no one even bothers to make the transfer.
In any case, the issue seems to boil down to the necessity of a connection not being given serious attention (or that attention not coming to the public light). I do think the logical solution is for Metrolinx to ask one of the developers nearby to work in a tunnel. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they wanted to do it themselves, but I digress. These are the kind of QOL things Metrolinx should be able to easily ask for across the system to make it better for everyone. We can call Metrolinx inexperienced, but they should recognize that about themselves and work with developers- who are building an unprecedented amount region-wide- to capitalize on this rare opportunity to build a good transit experience together, everywhere. Obviously, this is an oversimplification, but Metrolinx holds a lot of 'carrots' to get the proverbial sticks moving. It's one of those urban design things I feel Vancouver has figured out even if they miss in a lot of other areas.
Yes, the Nippon Sharyo DMU's transmission makes it feel like a bus. I don't understand how they can pass off a Nippon Sharyo DMU (which is a DHMU / hydraulic) as convertible to a EMU. If the DMU was a DEMU (diesel-electric) then I could see it.