44 North
Senior Member
I could not resist doing a back of the Excell envelope model on this business of interleaved express and stopping trains on a two-track route.
Obviously, the parameters I chose are arbitrary and pulled out of the air. You can redo the model if you have better data, or just for fun.
I used WislaHD's notional line from Langstaff to Gerrard Square, using mostly straight lines to reach the CN line.
The distance is assumed as 21 kms.
I assumed a top speed between stations of 80 kph
I assumed a train would stop or start from full speed in 90 seconds, straight-line speed increment/decrement. This means the distance needed to stop or start to/from full speed is 1.0 km
I assumed an RER train would stop 4 times. (which is 5 start-stop cycles and 4 dwell periods)
I assumed a ST train would stop 7 times. (8 start-stop cycles, 7 dwell periods)
I assumed a station dwell time of 45 seconds.
The resulting end to end time for a RER train would be 23.25 minutes. The resulting time for a ST train would be 27.75 minutes.
If you assume 10 trains per hour, one every 6 minutes....
The first (stopping) train departs at :00, arriving at the far end at :27.75
The next (RER) train departs at :06, arriving at the far end at :29.25 - a gap of 1.5 mins
The next (stopping) train departs at :12, arriving at the far end at :39.75
So, the gap is possibly barely sufficient, but the service frequency at the outer end becomes ragged.
If you assume RER trains every 15 minutes, with only one ST train in between, for a 7.5 minute headway, it fits...but that's a pretty minimal ST capacity.
- Paul
That's pretty good, nice work. And 23mins is a lot quicker than the currently ineffective RH line. IIRC 42mins on the RH line was quoted in the Yonge North business case, and naturally any realignment using the Don Branch and Leaside Spur was overlooked (though thankfully they're finally considering it now).
What Gweed, WislaHD, and a few others are supporting here seems reasonable. And what crs1026 has calculated shows us that the times are very attractive and competitive, particularly with the $700M/km Yonge North project (which has Union-RHC travel time roughly double that of this commuter-friendly RH-DRL-RER). This is a real SmartTrack IMO. And considering it'd be highly popular, provides relief, and uses a combination of open air sections and tunnels - I'd say its very much like Crossrail. Or at least a helluva lot more like Crossrail than SmartTrack east (which is little more than an all-surface GO upgrade to Unionville and at best will only carry <20k).
Having said that, I'd support this idea 100% if I knew for certain that it would be rapid transit in terms of service offered, and similar to the GO-ALRT program of yore. That is: high-frequency, high floor, high-speed, automated(?), etc. In other words, not like a premium commuter service with bilevels, carpeting, and washrooms.