News   Dec 12, 2025
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Toronto Eglinton Line 5 | ?m | ?s | Metrolinx | Arcadis

There is probably not enough cars to do that.

Because it's completely not necessary.

I don't understand pretending to be an expert and being so ignorant.

I don’t like talking badly about other people, especially someone like RM – who has taken a lot of undeserved insults and harsh criticism for previous work he did – but some of the hot takes I’m seeing these days drive me bonkers.
 
As someone who very much has concerns about the long-term capacity of the line; and some of its design/operating plan deficiencies for the eastern above-ground segment........

I have never had concerns it would be over-capacity on day one.

I'm not sure how anyone could reasonably draw that conclusion.

We can certainly discuss the very high density proposals at Don Mills, Bermondey/Sloane and VP and points east and say IF/When those come to fruition....whether there will be capacity issues.

All the expert analysis I've seen suggests there will be.

But that's at least 12-15 years away, and maybe 20+
 
In 2018, the City received a document Eglinton Crosstown LRT Interchange Stations - Final Design, which "presents the final Metrolinx/Crosslinx Transit Solutions designs of the 3 interchange stations". This included the plan or the Cedarvale Station LRT platform showing built-space for 3 connected LRVs, with service rooms at each end. No dimensions are provided.
If that's to scale, that's a 90-metre platform. Maybe 92.5. Less than the 100 metres that Smallspy says - perhaps not to scale.

All the expert analysis I've seen suggests there will be.
Which expert analysis is this? I've seen nothing in the public realm.

Except during the brief period that they were going to extend Line 5 to Scarborough Centre, up the old Line 3 alignment - which they feared would keep people on Line 5 from Scarborough Centre to at least Don Valley.
 
For starters, if you add another module on an existing LRV, then entire train would have to be retested and rectified. All the operating characteristics would change. This includes the amount of power needed per motor, how the vehicles handle curves, power distribution, software control and etc. It’s not as simple as dragging a trailer around on a pickup truck.

They are better off buying a different length next time so they don’t need to redesign and retest everything.
 
Each car only has one cab as it is. They will be operated back-to-back to allow for operators cabs at the outside ends.

I stand corrected......I think I knew this, once.... but it has sure been a long time since those trams arrived !

I would still be thinking about cabless midtrain units with a little higher capacity. Numbers and curvature permitting, maybe the end segments could eke out an extra couple of feet in length.

- Paul
 
With the streetcar network, the TTC often shuts down stretches of road for months at a time to perform track and road maintenance, and streetcars are replaced by buses. With the crosstown having at-grade sections, do you guys anticipate the same having to be done for line 5, with buses substituting the surface section for weeks or months?
 
With the streetcar network, the TTC often shuts down stretches of road for months at a time to perform track and road maintenance, and streetcars are replaced by buses. With the crosstown having at-grade sections, do you guys anticipate the same having to be done for line 5, with buses substituting the surface section for weeks or months?
They don't shut stretches of road for months to do maintenance, they do it for full-scale track replacement. The Crosstown will not require that for 20 years or more, and when it does, it will be on both the at-grade and underground sections, and I suspect it will be done piecemeal like on the subway, due to the political ramifications of shutting down a "rapid transit" line for weeks or months.
 
With the streetcar network, the TTC often shuts down stretches of road for months at a time to perform track and road maintenance, and streetcars are replaced by buses. With the crosstown having at-grade sections, do you guys anticipate the same having to be done for line 5, with buses substituting the surface section for weeks or months?

Can't say it will never happen, but one would hope that such full-scale replacement of end of life components is a long way off. One would hope that with an unpaved dedicated row that isn't shared with auto traffic, much more can be done incrementally without shutting down the entire line for long periods....similar to how the subway is maintained.
Those who endured the lengthy 501 outages on the Queensway rebuild may beg to differ, but let's hope.

- Paul
 
Can't say it will never happen, but one would hope that such full-scale replacement of end of life components is a long way off. One would hope that with an unpaved dedicated row that isn't shared with auto traffic, much more can be done incrementally without shutting down the entire line for long periods....similar to how the subway is maintained.
Those who endured the lengthy 501 outages on the Queensway rebuild may beg to differ, but let's hope.

- Paul

The one place where slightly more frequent maintenance might be required is at intersections, but even then railroad crossing repairs can usually be done fairly quickly.

What makes the streetcars complicated is that many major intersections also are junctions between streetcar lines, requiring the entire intersection to shut down while they replace switches. That's not the case here
 
The one place where slightly more frequent maintenance might be required is at intersections, but even then railroad crossing repairs can usually be done fairly quickly.

What makes the streetcars complicated is that many major intersections also are junctions between streetcar lines, requiring the entire intersection to shut down while they replace switches. That's not the case here

Yeah. There are a few switches for emergency turnbacks, but it’s all in open track. Simplifies things considerably.
 
They don't shut stretches of road for months to do maintenance, they do it for full-scale track replacement.
Both the dedicated ROWs on Spadina and St. Clair were recently closed for months, and they weren't doing full-scale track replacement (or much in the way of track replacement at all, as far as I could see walking alongside).

Sooner or later this will start happening once it's all not brand-new. Though is the surface section and roadway brand-new any more?
 
Probably designed to "save money" by ignoring future expansion possibilities. Unless the Sheppard Subway is extended east AND west.
A bit harsh! This config allows for a 50% increase in capacity without any construction work at the stations. Simply add a 3rd car to the otherwise 2-car train.

Agree that the Sheppard Line should be extended east (at least to McCowan with interchange to Line 2) and west (to Woodbine GO for Line 6 and KI GO) to add E-W capacity.
 
Both the dedicated ROWs on Spadina and St. Clair were recently closed for months, and they weren't doing full-scale track replacement (or much in the way of track replacement at all, as far as I could see walking alongside).

Sooner or later this will start happening once it's all not brand-new. Though is the surface section and roadway brand-new any more?
Spadina was closed because of work at the station right? But not necessarily because the track was bad
 

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