Toronto Ontario Line 3 | ?m | ?s | Metrolinx

Ok back to line.

My questions
1) Will there be a western extension
2) will this western extention go up Dundas West/Keele to Mt Dennis.
3) If there isn't, why not?
Why? If GO/UPX has 15 minute headways or better, and more stations (IE. Mt. Dennis Station, St.Clair/Old Weston Road, Liberty Village, Calendonia, etc.), in addition to the existing stations at Weston and at Bloor (Dundas West Subway), there might not be a need for it. Metrolinx is in the process of improving service on its train lines already.
 
Why? If GO/UPX has 15 minute headways or better, and more stations (IE. Mt. Dennis Station, St.Clair/Old Weston Road, Liberty Village, Calendonia, etc.), in addition to the existing stations at Weston and at Bloor (Dundas West Subway), there might not be a need for it. Metrolinx is in the process of improving service on its train lines already.
That's a lot of ifs.
 
To answer all your questions in one shot: nobody knows.

All we know is that there is a provision for a western extension, when/to where is anyone's guess. I'd hedge my money on a northern extension happening first, because you know politics. We dont do things that make the most sense first, those things are at the bottom of the priority list.
I would prefer both be done. Extend to Seneca and bring the Finch LRT to Don Mills.
 
Would love to see a Western extension up Keele, through Stockyards and connecting with St. Clair streetcar, before connecting to Keelesdale Station on Crosstown.

Queen West & Lansdowne
Roncesvalles & High Park
Keele Station
Keele & Dupont
Keele & St. Clair
Keele & Rogers
Keelesdale Station
;)

You've pretty much described the Kitchener GO line. Keele and surrounding areas will eventually be very well serviced by expansion within the GO corridor. There is no need to provide duplicate service via Ontario line.

If there is an Ontario line west extension, I bet it will go up Dufferin. But i doubt i'll ever see an ontario line west extension in my lifetime.
 
You've pretty much described the Kitchener GO line. Keele and surrounding areas will eventually be very well serviced by expansion within the GO corridor. There is no need to provide duplicate service via Ontario line.

If there is an Ontario line west extension, I bet it will go up Dufferin. But i doubt i'll ever see an ontario line west extension in my lifetime.
Well serviced by a GO line with only a handful of stations between Union and Weston?

Dufferin would work too but the further north it goes the more it duplicates the University Line.
 
You've pretty much described the Kitchener GO line. Keele and surrounding areas will eventually be very well serviced by expansion within the GO corridor. There is no need to provide duplicate service via Ontario line.

If there is an Ontario line west extension, I bet it will go up Dufferin. But i doubt i'll ever see an ontario line west extension in my lifetime.
True, but with few stations. They could basically double the stations along that stretch, then send OL off somewhere new past Weston or replace the UP express. Though I guess the new st Clair station and mt Dennis stations offset that. Could still see one at Dupont, Rogers and Jane though.

Could also see OL go out west to King ranch, but again Go goes out that way too. Don't think a duplication of service is a huge issue, as they serve different markets.
 
True, but with few stations. They could basically double the stations along that stretch, then send OL off somewhere new past Weston or replace the UP express. Though I guess the new st Clair station and mt Dennis stations offset that. Could still see one at Dupont, Rogers and Jane though.

Could also see OL go out west to King ranch, but again Go goes out that way too. Don't think a duplication of service is a huge issue, as they serve different markets.


As GO moves towards true RER, more stations, electrified, fare integration, possibly different/smaller rolling stock, it will function much more like a subway. So in the long term, we should be careful of service duplication in areas with GO lines, especially south of the 401.
 
I remember the old (for me) Sunnyside Station at the foot of Roncesvalles Avenue. Could it return? From link.

Sunnyside station was located in the west end of Toronto on the GTR/CNR Oakville Subdivision connecting Toronto with Hamilton and points beyond. The CPR has had rights to operate trains over this line to Hamilton and Buffalo since 1896 as a Joint Section of trackage. Sunnyside was owned and staffed by Grand Trunk/Canadian National. The grade separation project saw South Parkdale (between Jameson and Close) and Swansea (Lake Shore Road and Windermere Ave. closed December 1, 1910), stations closed and replaced by Sunnyside, mid-point between the two.
GTR_sunnyside_new.jpg

sunnyside_circa_1920_postcard.jpg

CNR_sunnyside_stn.jpg

CNR_Sunnyside_streetlevel.jpg


Effective October 30, 1966 Sunnyside was eliminated as a stop for CPR and CNR passenger trains, except for the Hamilton-Toronto commuter trains, which ended with the beginning of GO Transit trains in May 1967. It was demolished shortly thereafter.
 
Ok back to line.

My questions
1) Will there be a western extension
2) will this western extention go up Dundas West/Keele to Mt Dennis.
3) If there isn't, why not?

There might be a western extension, but there exist some issues with that:

1. Metrolinx wants OL to relief Union station by transferring the GO riders to OL at East Harbor and at the Exhibition. They are going to fail at East Harbor; why would you want to transfer if the OL trains are quite full by the time they get there. Exhibition should work as long as it is the terminus.

But once the line is extended past the Exhibition, it will be the same problem as at East Harbor. Or, half of OL trains can short-turn at the Exhibition to provide capacity for the transfers from GO, but then the western extension will be limited to half the capacity.

2. The way OL is designed, running along Queen and then swinging south to the Exhibition, will make it harder to swing back north. Maybe it is doable with the agile OL trains, not sure.

If there is a western extension, it probably will not follow the Georgetown rail corridor. No point duplicating the service, and not that much space in the corridor to make that option cheaper.

I am guessing, a western extension will either follow the Lakeshore and serve the southern Etobicoke, or it will swing sharply north and run somewhere between the Georgetown GO corridor and the Spadina subway line.
 
I’d love to see an elevated OL extension along Jane Street. That route would get you from northern Etobicoke to Downtown in 30 minutes, which would be revolutionary for area residents.

I’m skeptical that the Ontario Line has the requisite capacity to run on Jane Street while also reliving the western RER lines, but it’s a concept I would still support even if it were over capacity. Alternative measures would need to be taken to reduce LSW and Union crowding.

The northwest end of the city is a transit desert, and the Ontario Line represents a massive opportunity to fix both problems. Building the Spadina Subway so close to the Yonge Line was one of the biggest mistakes we’ve made with transit in Toronto, and the OL is our opportunity to fix that error.
 
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