Toronto Eglinton Line 5 Crosstown West Extension | ?m | ?s | Metrolinx

19-178 - Technical Advisory Services for the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension Project

DESCRIPTION
Announced by the Government of Ontario in April 2019, the Eglinton Crosstown
West Extension project (the “Project”) is a new rapid transit line in the GTA. The
Project will extend the Eglinton Crosstown Line further west from Mount Dennis
to the eastern end of the Mississauga Transitway at Renforth Gate and with
possible extension to Toronto Pearson International Airport.
In order to support this initiative, the Technical Advisor shall provide technical
advisory services in relation to the Project as described in the Scope of Services.
A critical component of the Services involves reviewing, evaluating and
challenging current information and approaches to foster greater efficiency,
innovation and improvements to project delivery.
 
crs1026 said:
^Just getting out of the wind/rain may be as important as anything. Better shelter design rather than heaters may be the answer.

Here we are in one thread debating carbon mitigation as an urgent matter, and wanting to add carbon-laden heaters in another.

What’s the carbon footprint of a fully heated transit station?

I love heated shelters when I find one on a cold night, but I have to admit, this is Canada, after all.

- Paul
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The heated shelters are electric. Considering that 90% of Ontarios electricity comes from zero carbon sources, the footprint would be extremely low.

There are also smart heater designs; for example, and this is something a lot of people fail to understand on this board, infrared heaters DO NOT heat the shelter or air. Thats simply NOT HOW THEY WORK. They use infrared light, photons, to heat ONLY the subject that stands under them.

You can design these heaters to be motion activated, or have a button, so they only heat when someone requests. They use very little energy compared to forced air heat. Air is a terrible transfer of heat and energy.
 
sixrings said:
Agreed. It will likely break and not be fixed. Or be fixed and keep breaking. So I don't get the point. Just wear mitts and a hat.
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They are fairly simple and reliable things. Heaters have been in most of Ottawa's stations since the 80s, and it's extremely rare to see them broken. It's nothing compared to how often elevators and escalators, or even shelter glass needs maintenance
 
Anytime I have to squeeze myself onto a packed Islington bus heading towards the subway, I think to myself, "only 2 more years until the Eglinton Crosstown opens and takes a bunch of these riders off the bus before it gets to me!" only to realize, "oh wait..."

Thanks, McGuinty.
 
Kyle Campbell said:
They are fairly simple and reliable things. Heaters have been in most of Ottawa's stations since the 80s, and it's extremely rare to see them broken. It's nothing compared to how often elevators and escalators, or even shelter glass needs maintenance
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Just increase the frequency of the trains so you don't have to wait in the cold so much. And wear a hat and mitts.

I lived in Calgary at a time where the trains ran once every 15 mins and it was often minus 30. That's a whole different situation.
 
Towered said:
Anytime I have to squeeze myself onto a packed Islington bus heading towards the subway, I think to myself, "only 2 more years until the Eglinton Crosstown opens and takes a bunch of these riders off the bus before it gets to me!" only to realize, "oh wait..."

Thanks, McGuinty.
Click to expand...

Or the Finch West LRT. That'll be three rapid transit routes. Now if only there was a GO Train station along Islington.
 
Towered said:
Anytime I have to squeeze myself onto a packed Islington bus heading towards the subway, I think to myself, "only 2 more years until the Eglinton Crosstown opens and takes a bunch of these riders off the bus before it gets to me!" only to realize, "oh wait..."

Thanks, McGuinty.
Click to expand...
You should thank Harris too
 
W. K. Lis said:
Or the Finch West LRT. That'll be three rapid transit routes. Now if only there was a GO Train station along Islington.
Click to expand...

I'm surprised there isn't one in the works for Bloor and Islington considering all the towers going up there. Maybe once the lines are electrified it will be strongly considered.
 
sixrings said:
Maybe but some things are luxuries not essentials. If the train comes every day 5 minutes you won't freeze
Click to expand...

True, but the incremental cost on the project is peanuts. You could argue why build any shelter at all, you can carry an umbrella when it rains and countdown timers are frivolities since people have smart phones.

If it was an exorbitant cost then sure, but I doubt the savings would by you more then a couple of metres of additional rail. You should actually want to make transit travel appealing, and a heater is a small price to pay.
 
Hmmm. Shelter has one electrical circuit for the lighting, let’s assume 15 A. Heater probably wants a separate circuit, especially so they can be shut off in the spring. May have to be 20 A, I’m not an electrician. Does it need any special protection breaker or grounding? How much does the ability to mount to the shelter add to the cost of the shelter? Do shelter suppliers all offer a mounting bracket, or does that exclude some suppliers of the barer-bones shelters? Lighting is used all year, failures become apparent easily. Heaters will need pre winter checks each year. Do we check them periodically all winter or wait for customer complaints?
It’s not rocket science, but it’s two wires to the shelter instead of one, hopefully within the same conduit, may be twice as many breakers at the panel. That’s cost. Reasonably doable at point of initial construction, a pain to retrofit. And only ok if you are sure the shelter won’t be relocated at some point.
My point: the added investment and upkeep is not trivial. Value engineering would probably push back on the idea.You can see why it’s positioned as nice to have, not must have.

- Paul
 
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