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SmartTrack (Proposed)

Amare said:
It's slipping where I saw the details, but I believe it was Kitchener and potentially (unconfirmed Barrie). I definitely dont recall seeing Milton line trains ever being proposed to stop at King-Liberty.

Now UPX trains on the other hand absolutely should not stop here, it's getting to the point that it's having an excessive amount of stops.
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All the more reason to discontinue stopping at Weston. There is a credible amount of potential business for airport employees and people who fly frequently - Liberty Village is quite possibly already where many such folks live.

- Paul

PS - Barrie will stop at Spadina, all the more reason to not have it also stop at Liberty.
 
^Not that I dont agree with you, but good luck to Metrolinx if they want to remove the Weston UPX station. They'd receive some pretty heavy backlash.

Now if they wanted to minimze that backlash, the way to do it would be by closing Weston UPX simultaneously while Mount Dennis UPX opens. But obviously Metrolinx doesnt think like that, so I highly doubt we'll see that happen.
 
Interesting that the renders appear to show the existing diesel GO trains. Won't all of the Smart Track integrated lines be electrified by the time the stations are operational?
 
Amare said:
^Not that I dont agree with you, but good luck to Metrolinx if they want to remove the Weston UPX station. They'd receive some pretty heavy backlash.

Now if they wanted to minimze that backlash, the way to do it would be by closing Weston UPX simultaneously while Mount Dennis UPX opens. But obviously Metrolinx doesnt think like that, so I highly doubt we'll see that happen.
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you wouldn't be able to close Weston UPx until 15 minute RER service is in place. I don't think people would complain at that point as most use the station as a commuter station, not airport access.
 
treplow said:
Interesting that the renders appear to show the existing diesel GO trains. Won't all of the Smart Track integrated lines be electrified by the time the stations are operational?
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These are supposed to open by 2026. I highly doubt electrification will be done by then
 
crs1026 said:
I have lost track of which lines are slated to stop at Liberty. I believe the answer is "only some of them". If UPX stops there, it's most logical to expect that the Kitchener line will make the stop also.

If Kitchener, Milton, and Barrie (and perhaps Bolton, some day) all stopped there, it would be excessive in service level and would require far more platforms than can be squeezed in. (But quite the trainspotting location!)

Liberty needs connectivity but I don't believe that means that it's destined to be a "hub" for every last line. But maybe I have missed a memo - is there an updated statement of which lines will stop there?

- Paul
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At the moment the only line planned is Kitchener.

1629386470367.png

This is the current plan for King-Liberty Village. The 2 tracks on the top of the corridor is meant for Barrie Line trains, and no platforms serve those tracks. The 2 platforms are only for potential local and express Kitchener Line trains (which likely means UP Express trains may stop here).
 
sacred said:
These are supposed to open by 2026. I highly doubt electrification will be done by then
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Not only that, its a bit of left arm/right arm. The contracted company to do this work is not privy to electrification/rolling stock info. So it would be presumptuous for them to put renderings of anything but what they already know. Which is the current GO trains.
 
Tristen said:
When will Metrolinx do public consultation on what kind of electric/battery/hydrogen trains to purchase?
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Pretty sure the answer to that is never. It was already announced (back in February), that they're doing an overhead contact system, with dual/mode electric/diesel locomotives for the areas they can't electrify that way. Whoever they get as their private sector partner will likely choose/supply the trains. Unless you mean the type of "consultation" metrolinx usually does where they just tell the public things they have already decided and then claim it's a consultation. Hydrogen could happen someday, but not in this round of electrification anyway.
 
tsm1072 said:
What does the public know about the power source behind trains? I'd rather leave that up to the engineers whose job it is to understand the pros and cons of different options and select the best one.
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And to the procurement people, who assess the bids which may involve tradeoffs between “technical best” and “economically competitive”.

- Paul
 
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syn said:
A silly question, and one possibly answered previously - why is electrification taking so long?
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There are no silly questions. To give this a serious answer, it's because electrification isn't needed yet, and can't really contribute fully until prerequisite work is completed.

Electrification only matters once the infrastructure is solidly in place and won't be moving around. No point in stringing wires to Barrie, Stoufville, or Kitchener when the tracks aren't finished and there's a huge amount of construction going on.... any OCS that was installed would likely have to be uninstalled or messed with. (Kind of like how they repave roads and then two weeks later some utility company is digging up all that nice, fresh asphalt.....) And no point until they fill in the intermediate stations that will establish once and for all the need for faster acceleration from station stops and regenerative braking so all that acceleration energy isn't wasted.

One could argue that the Lakeshore line has so many trains that it could have been electrified long ago. And possibly UPE. But that would have pulled capital away from improving those other lines and building ridership across its network. I think ML has (perhaps unwitttingly) done the right thing by not pushing electrification to the top of the list. There is more carbon saved by getting riders out of their automobiles and on to diesel powered GO trains in an expanded network than by converting existing diesel trains to electric.

Electrification is essential, and its time is getting close, but everything has its time, and it just isn't time yet.

Now, if you want to ask why ML can't manage its design and procurement better so the whole expansion happens faster, I'm right there with you....

- Paul
 
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