As I stated in the second part of my post, I acknowledged the possibility of any number of complications with such a process, and linking the current subway to a possible extension at Kennedy station is obviously one of them. However, you never actually answered the question. Would such an above-grade expansion not be far less expensive than digging underground? If so, why hasn't such a project been aggressively pursued? It seems to me that this could potentially be a way to "get the ball rolling", on the whole subway building agenda. Just a thought.
Have you ever been on the SRT? Some of the complications can be seen by just looking at google maps. Start there before aggressively pursuing it. Aside from the big problem of getting the subway from 3 floors below the SRT at Kennedy up and onto the SRT corridor, it then runs in a tight tunnel north of Ellesmere and elevated east of there. Converting this to LRT is a massive undertaking, let alone something bigger and longer and heavier.
The digging itself isn't where most of the capital cost goes. A subway extension to STC would not be particularly expensive to begin with so it's not clear how much money could be saved by rebuilding Kennedy station, rebuilding the tunnel, rebuilding the elevated structure, rebuilding all the stations, etc., just to save money by running the train on grass for a few km. It's probably cheaper to buy all the houses and industrial units on one side of Midland and run the subway there, if we're looking for the cheapest option. Perhaps a bored tunnel right through Brimley and Lawrence
is the cheapest.
The tracks that go parrellel to the GO tracks can be replaced for a subway extension (not including the 90 degree turn at kennedy) but the elevated sections would have to be rebuilt, or atleast upgraded since the running HRT would increase the load exerted on the pillars below. Another thing to keep in mind is that the stations would have to be extended and a few stations removed like Ellesmere since it's daily usage is only around 1800 or so. Still, it wouldn't be extremely expensive when compared to building a brand new subway line or extending one. Maybe $120-150 million per kilometre compared to the ~$290 million being spent on the Spadina subway extension.
If the SRT tracks were east of the GO tracks, it could turn and run right on the big hydro corridor, to Midland, Brimley, or even McCowan, where it could go up to STC. If Kennedy was rebuilt, that is...and there was a chance to rebuild Kennedy with the necessarily complicated connections with both Eglinton lines.
Here's where the Spadina extension costs are going:
http://www.ttc.ca/postings/gso-comr...8/TYSSE_Project_Delivery_Strategy_Process.pdf
Some figures have changed and more will, but the proportions will stay roughly the same. It's before inflation, mind you. That 26% contingency is being eaten up by things like "oops, we didn't know the water table was this high, so we're adding like 20% to each station cost." $/km figures for some of these inclusions, like the Wilson yard modifications or the "property and miscellaneous," are interesting and working them out is a mandatory thought exercise if one is comparing subway project costs. A Danforth extension would only have two or three stations, wouldn't need as many trains, etc.
Ellesmere would not be removed. If the subway was extended, a proper connection with the York Mills bus would be built and, if anything, you'd remove Midland. The resulting station would be used over 5,000 times per day, probably over 10,000.
I'm quite sure there's an old railway ROW along a possible corridor mostly to STC. It's at least good cut 'n cover opportunity, and importantly can hit an easily developable area around Lawrence and Brimley. Compare that to the areas on the SRT, which are mostly ugly and quite undevelopable industrial lands.
Nope. The old rail corridor is gone and built over with houses. Anyway, you'd only be able to use it for about 1km by the time you curve up into from Kennedy. After Brimley, you hit Thomson Park, which means no more surface running even if you buy all the houses and backyards and use the corridor. The old rail corridor doesn't even go to STC.
There are no redevelopment opportunities at Brimley & Lawrence, just houses and parks and the hydro corridor and hospitals and about one plaza. The real opportunity is Midland & Lawrence, a small cluster of towers with room for more in the form of stores and empty land.
