Toronto Union Pearson Express | ?m | ?s | Metrolinx | MMM Group Limited

speedkar9 said:
I take the train everyday, to me it seems just two trains can fit side by side in that tunnel.
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The mainline would need to be shifted north and the clearances are very tight(depends on the required safty margin) but 3 tracks could fit in that tunnel. But thats irrelevant now as the plan has changed, as you've noted metrolinx has acknowledged the need for an additional tunnel under the 401 to accomedate 4 total tracks through the corridor. That wasn't originally mentioned in the old plans.

All the new bridges will be built to accommodate a total of 4 tracks in the corridor - widen bridges or new & old bridges combined, regardless of how many tracks will be in use/service on opening day.
 
speedkar9 said:
Page 21 of the presentation suggests it will be 3.
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The bridges and tunnels being built or widened between the airport and the West Toronto Diamond will be built to be able to handle four tracks but only 3 will be laid. They plan to build a new tunnel under the 401 to carry the fourth track if required. Between West Toronto Diamond and the point the Barrie corridor splits off the new and widened structures will be built to handle 6 tracks but only 5 will be laid. Between the point the Barrie corridor splits off and Bathurst the new and widened structures will support 8 tracks but only 7 will be laid note that because the Dufferin bridge construction completed before this project got underway it, like the 401 underpass, will remain at its current size which supports the number of initially laid tracks (7 tracks) until an 8th is required.
 
*bump*

I've been trying to find more information on this project, in particular routing and station locations, but both the metrolinx website and wikipedia have come up fruitless. Can anyone point me to a copy of a report or something?

[EDIT] Nevermind. Found it, sort of. I'm looking for the report that shows the detailed route and elevation of the air-rail spur.
 
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From DCN:
Bidding closes for Toronto airport rail link construction

Infrastructure Ontario announced the request for proposals stage has closed for the Air Rail Link in Toronto, which is part of a plan by Metrolinx to provide rail service every 15 minutes between downtown Toronto and Pearson International Airport.

In March, Infrastructure Ontario released the RFP to four teams who were short-listed to bid. The major firms belonging to short-listed candidates included EllisDon Corp., SNC Lavalin Group Inc., Aecon Construction and Materials Ltd. and Flatiron Constructors Canada Ltd.

The Air Rail link will be a three-kilometre spur connecting an existing track to Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, plus a station at the airport. Currently GO Transit owns and offers rail service during rush hour along that track, which it bought from Canadian National Railway Company in 2009. Although the Malton GO station is near the northeast corner of the airport property, there is no rail service to any of the airport terminals.

Once the Air Rail Link is ready, passengers can take a train from Toronto Union station to the airport. Metrolinx will operate the service, and intends to have it ready in time for the Toronto 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games.

Infrastructure Ontario said Friday it expects to announce the successful bidder in early 2012. The cost of the winning bid will be announced “following financial close” and construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2012.

The short-listed teams announced in March were:
• AirLink Group (SNC Lavalin);
• AirLINX Transit, (Aecon Construction and Materials Ltd. and Dufferin Construction Company);
• Pearson Express ( Flatiron Constructors Canada and Laing O’Rourke); and
• Toronto Railway Airport Consortium (EllisDon Corp., ACS Infrastructure Canada and Fengate).

The Air Rail Link will be built using alternative financing and procurement (AFP).
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Really nerdily-inside-baseball thought: interesting how the project seems to have drawn in some big international engineering/construction firms like Flatiron, Laing O'Rourke and ACS who haven't been part of the usual gang that do big public works projects in the GTA. I wonder if it's a case of them only being interested in competing for big-ticket all-in-one contracts like this Air Rail Link spur one rather than the comparatively smaller piecework construction contracts that GO and the TTC typically put out.
 
The only remaining work on the East Corridor Bridge Widening project is the Queen Street West Bridge that is scheduled to be completed in early December. As with the previous bridge widenings, there will be short-term road closure of Queen Street West near Dufferin Street to install the new bridge spans. This work will require two weekend road closures: the first is scheduled to take place the evening of November 24 to the morning of November 27, and the second will occur from the evening of December 2 to the morning of December 5. There will also be lane restrictions on Queen Street West in effect from November 28 to December 9. This work is being co-ordinated with the TTC work in the area to minimize disruption to streetcar service.
For more information on the Queen Street West Bridge, please contact Erik at 416-581-1300.
 
interesting (in a smiley, amusing, unimportant way) that they (the province) are issuing press releases today referring to "GO Georgetown Corridor" when, also today, they (the province) renamed the corridor GO Kitchener.

Other than that, good news...lets get on with it!
 
Yes, but more interesting, SNC-Lavalin is out of the picture and the province is doing it all - design, build and operate.
 
http://www.thestar.com/news/mississ...ssauga-sees-no-benefit-from-airport-link?bn=1

This project suffers from numerous flaws:
- The platforms on the airport rail link spur are too short to accommodate full-length 12 car GO trains, so there is no room for expansion to accommodate more passengers
- Fares will be outrageously high, discouraging usage
- Brampton gets little benefit. I think that they were promised a train every hour (compared to every 15 minutes on the airport spur).
- Communities in Toronto like Weston along the line get little benefit due to the high fares.

Mississauga has every right to complain, because it ought to be possible to take the train from downtown to the airport for a reasonable fare, transfer to a bus and access a number of employment areas near the airport in Mississauga. #7 bus already connects the airport to Square One, Airport Corporate Centre business park and Malton, and more bus routes could be added if demand warrants. I don't think that Square One is all that relevant here because it is more directly served by the Milton line, but there's tons of employment much closer to the airport than that.
 
andrewpmk said:
http://www.thestar.com/news/mississ...ssauga-sees-no-benefit-from-airport-link?bn=1

This project suffers from numerous flaws:
- The platforms on the airport rail link spur are too short to accommodate full-length 12 car GO trains, so there is no room for expansion to accommodate more passengers
- Fares will be outrageously high, discouraging usage
- Brampton gets little benefit. I think that they were promised a train every hour (compared to every 15 minutes on the airport spur).
- Communities in Toronto like Weston along the line get little benefit due to the high fares.

Mississauga has every right to complain, because it ought to be possible to take the train from downtown to the airport for a reasonable fare, transfer to a bus and access a number of employment areas near the airport in Mississauga. #7 bus already connects the airport to Square One, Airport Corporate Centre business park and Malton, and more bus routes could be added if demand warrants. I don't think that Square One is all that relevant here because it is more directly served by the Milton line, but there's tons of employment much closer to the airport than that.
Click to expand...

Also the spur has steep gradients (almost 4%) and an extremely tight curve near Goreway Drive. Can regular GO rolling stock even accommodate these curves and gradients?
 
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