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

Jonny5 said:
Thank you! PEOPLE AREN'T GOING TO UNION!

I work at King and York for a foreign bank and the very idea of sending our people somewhere other than our front door is farcical. NO BUSINESS TRAVELERS WANT TO GO ANYWHERE OTHER THAN THEIR HOTEL OR OFFICE.
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Are these people that would never use public transit and anything but a Maybach is roughing it? We have vendors coming from out of town all the time and one use of the UP Express and they are hooked. Being able to wheel through the PATH is a winner for them minus the PATH navigation challenges. I'm hoping that the York path is extended to King to make navigation easier.
 
EnviroTO said:
UP doesn't have its own tracks except for the spur and in practise the track immediately in front of its Union platform. It has its own station platforms used only by UP which are high platform and 3 cars long. It would be a some effort to extend the platforms at Bloor and Weston, significant effort at Union, and almost impossible at Pearson as long as the people mover is in use.
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ssiguy2 said:
I have to confess I am not exactly sure the UPX gets to Pearson.

I know where the stations are and the route but the rest is kind of murky. I would appreciate if someone could enlighten me as I have gone to Google Earth but it still shows it under construction. So.............

Does the UPX has it's own two railway track {I know it has exclusive rights on the spur} which conversely means are the 4 tracks from Union to the spur with 2 reserved for UPX?

Do they have different stations than GO or use the same ones or are they an extension? Are the platforms the same as GO and could they use GO commuter rail cars? How large are the UPX stations and can the platforms be lengthened if needed?
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UPX shares track 1 at Union that is used for Platform 3 for VIA Rail. It share all GO/Metrolinx tracks in the main corridor.

It was its own tracks from the Weston Sub to Pearson that is 100% elevated.

Neither Union or Pearson Station can be expanded for longer trains. What good expanding the other station when the main ones Can't?? To expand Bloor and Weston, you have to close a whole platform and force riders to used the other to get to the GO section.

Easy to do for the centre platform, but becomes an operational problem when rebuilding it. You will only be able to use a single track at both stations for UPX for the other platform while the centre one being rebuilt. This will require longer headway than the current 15 minutes. Does effect GO since they will be slow order passing the construction for the platforms. There is only enough room at the 2 station for one more car and possible at Pearson. Not so for Union.

Yes you will get some riders who will walk that last mile from Union, but they are the exception, not the norm.

If you need more room for riders, you use double deck cars in place of the current fleet as 3 car sets.

I have photos and videos of the Pearson Spur as noted in my handle. Tag: UPX, Union Pearson Express and they will show you what it looks like.
 
drum118 said:
UPX shares track 1 at Union that is used for Platform 3 for VIA Rail. It share all GO/Metrolinx tracks in the main corridor.

It was its own tracks from the Weston Sub to Pearson that is 100% elevated.

Neither Union or Pearson Station can be expanded for longer trains. What good expanding the other station when the main ones Can't?? To expand Bloor and Weston, you have to close a whole platform and force riders to used the other to get to the GO section.

Easy to do for the centre platform, but becomes an operational problem when rebuilding it. You will only be able to use a single track at both stations for UPX for the other platform while the centre one being rebuilt. This will require longer headway than the current 15 minutes. Does effect GO since they will be slow order passing the construction for the platforms. There is only enough room at the 2 station for one more car and possible at Pearson. Not so for Union.

Yes you will get some riders who will walk that last mile from Union, but they are the exception, not the norm.

If you need more room for riders, you use double deck cars in place of the current fleet as 3 car sets.

I have photos and videos of the Pearson Spur as noted in my handle. Tag: UPX, Union Pearson Express and they will show you what it looks like.
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you would think when they plan these lines, they plan with the possibility of adapting the line so some changes could be made while minimizing costs
 
IMO, they should try one thing at a time. So, start with the fares, get that right, and then consider more stops or integration with commuter rail.

Take the non-Presto fare down to $10 each way. This is comparable to the $6 GoBus from Yorkdale to Pearson. At $20 return, I imagine the UPE would be used more.
 
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yyztvguy said:
With a capacity of only 173 people - Aren't we really fantasizing about using it for commuter service?
What is that... 3 or 4 buses? A couple of streetcars? A handful of subway cars.

The cost would still need to be high enough to not swamp the system (supply/demand).

And at that price point - people would still be complaining about the cost-per-ride.

Especially if you can't:
a) increase capacity
b) increase frequency

or am i missing something?
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I think it was early January when a GO train on the Kitchener Line was cancelled in morning, so they told all of us at Weston to hop onto UP for no extra cost (the train coming in was 'over-capacity'). The number of people waiting for a 7:30am train in Weston basically filled the 2-car UP. We've got 30 GO minute service in the morning right now, so I imagine if we could use UP for the same fare, people would spread out their departure times a little.
 
the problem does become you can't increase frequencies and the trains only hold 173 people and platforms can't be extended or lowered or whatever.
 
I recall that doubling the frequency to 7.5 minutes is possible, though it requires more trains. That's pretty much the lower bound, given the single platform at Union.
 
would metrolinx ever privatize the line? They say business knows how to make money and perhaps would figure out a way to make it profitable. I am against this though
 
I have a good idea why don't we make the three levels of government take the UPX to and from work ! They can also pay $50 one-way to make up the difference in the operating costs of this totally forseeble boondogle. A******S
 
Haha we actually have banners in my Ontario government office promoting the UP Express. Kind of useless though since getting to Pearson from Bay/Wellesley on the UP Express only saves 5 minutes over taking the TTC.
 
Palma said:
smart business people. Metrolinx should have taken a clue
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Metrolinx should have taken a clue that the original Blue-22 proposal called for a 22-minute trip (3 minutes less) for $20 ($7.50 less than non-Presto). Instead, they gave Weston opposition a token station and are trying to gouge non-GTA travellers.

The Union Pearson Express has the potential of being a good service, but the intermediate stations and price levels doomed it to the crap ridership it is experiencing now. Whoever advised them that people would be willing to pay $19-27.50 for a 25-minute ride may have designed the economic formulas properly, but cocked up the assumption of how people value their money and time.
 
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