hw621
Senior Member
Easy, just say "Passenger Rail System Map", done! Wait! What about the damned streetcars?
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robmausser
Senior Member
The entire L isn't rapid transit as far as i'm concerned. The downtown elevated portion is slow as hell, and constantly stopping for other trains.
L is a mess and the only people that compare it to the TTC's system and say its better have only seen it on a map, and not actually ridden it.
Streety McCarface
Senior Member
Plenty of it has sections where speeds exceed 40 km/h with stopping. Red line and Blue lines are examples of this.
innsertnamehere
Superstar
Which are the two newer lines that run primarily in the middle of freeway corridors.
Transit in Chicago is generally much worse than Toronto, actually. The city is way more auto reliant - but it also has a much, much larger capacity to handle automobiles with something like 28 lanes of freeways into the downtown (toronto has 6) and an extensive double/triple level road system in downtown to distribute the vehicles.
Transit in Chicago is generally much worse than Toronto, actually. The city is way more auto reliant - but it also has a much, much larger capacity to handle automobiles with something like 28 lanes of freeways into the downtown (toronto has 6) and an extensive double/triple level road system in downtown to distribute the vehicles.
robmausser
Senior Member
Arent the Red and Blue lines underground?
I meant the traditional "L" as in the portion thats elevated.
adHominem
Senior Member
Through downtown, yes, but further out they're elevated.
The L can be slow through the loop – I'd never take it for a couple of stops, it's almost always faster to just walk – but it moves quite well out of that area, in my experience, and it covers the city much better than our subway. The CTA also seems better with making announcements on trains in a timely fashion than the TTC is. I'd rank their rapid transit above ours. However, that's just one piece of the puzzle, and I've found their bus service to be frequently... challenging.
Leo_Chan
Senior Member
Hamilton Street Railway with no rail service?
felix123
Active Member
I have ridden the L several times and wouldn't kid myself by saying the TTC's system (I assume you mean subway only) is better than the L. TTC subway is more frequent on less trackage and I notice that L seems to primarily be a way of transporting the poor and suffering, while most of those with money don't consider it as a serious option. I've seen bad things on the TTC subway, but nothing like what goes on on the L.
Besides that, the L provides better coverage and has stations at 2 airports, has express and local sections, and blue/red lines run 24 hours/day. As far as I can tell, the TTC subway, which again is a nicer riding experience, has trouble staying open more than 5 days/week, nevermind 24 hours/day.
I would still pick coverage and 24 hour service as the winner though.
muller877
Senior Member
I've always wondered why on the subway and in the future Crosstown LRT that they close the entire line for 6-8 hours a night. Only a small portion of a line would be under maintenance on any given night. Why not use shuttles for that small portion of the line and continue to use trains on the remainder?
Leo_Chan
Senior Member
Trains need to rest
ShonTron
Moderator
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No. The L is well used by middle class and some wealthier commuters, like the subways in New York and Washington and even LA. It's true that the system goes through some very rough areas on the South and West Sides, but it is hardly "a way of transporting the poor and suffering." That's ridiculous.
Yes, the Loop can be very slow, especially during rush hours as track junctions are not grade separated, but that's why Chicago built two subways in its downtown core in the 1940s and 1950s and rerouted several of its services into those tunnels. As for the at-grade sections of the Pink, Purple, and Brown Lines, there at at the ends of those lines and offer complete train priority. They're railway crossings, and just an interesting exception to the rule for urban heavy-rail metro transit systems.
Leo_Chan
Senior Member
Is this discussion on-topic?
felix123
Active Member
Or make like the Copenhagen Metro and do trackwork every night, but on a single, alternating track. They reduce service frequency to every 30 minutes during maintenance time, and use only one track to serve both directions.
rbt
Senior Member
The new signalling system will allow for this type of thing (with 10 to 15 minute frequencies for bi-directional travel) but it requires rewiring a fair amount of the electrical feed which is currently shared between both tracks. Work on switches would likely still require both sides to be shut-down.
Much more practical is to alternate lines. Yonge OR Spadina, Bloor OR Eglinton.
felix123
Active Member
That's an interesting piece of information. I think the TTC is somewhat set in its ways, so even if it's entirely feasible, they may not provide 24 hour subway/crosstown service. The blue night streetcars give me hope though.
As for the idea to keep alternate lines open, my opinion is that those lines are just too far apart past the loop to stand in for one another while the other line is closed. We already use blue night where available - must we always use the subway as a feeder system, requiring a transfer to a bus? I don't think many passengers want an infrequent transfer at 3:30am. Personally, I don't mind the extra walk to the subway and rarely bother with my street's bus route.