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

Personally, I was planning to drag the kids, but the airport didn't interest them. However taking the subway and then the Scarborough Skytrain to the mall was a huge hit - especially for the 3-year old who'd never taken it before! They thought the blue train with all the stations listed on the top was cool!

Finally someone who likes riding the Scarborough RT (sorry, Skytrain) :).
 
Finally someone who likes riding the Scarborough RT (sorry, Skytrain) :).
I love the RT. Feels like you're riding in a roller coaster, it's truly a unique experience. I use it as an alternative to going to Wonderland to experience the roller coaster feeling
 
It did, and they were working pretty hard to snake it around it and leave gaps for people needing to get thru.

Overall, I liked the ride, although the slow crawl out of Pearson leaves a poor first impression. The scenery throughout the whole route is pretty bleak, one wishes the train would at least give the impression that things move along in this City. Only nitpicks I would have are
a) the cars' interior destination signs, which read 'Union Station' while at the platform and then switched to the next station as we went along. The better approach is for the sign to scroll thru all upcoming stations, which gives confirmation to the unfamiliar traveller that the train is for their stop.
b) the overhead luggage compartments have doors. On such a short trip, that's an invitation for things to get left behind.
c) they sure aren't in a hurry to finish Bloor station.

It was cool to hear the subway/GO chimes when the doors closed. I wonder if Toronto ought to use that in its brand somehow - just as the SNCF jingle is pretty distinctive.

Some 3-car trains were in service after all.

- Paul

Having enclosed overhead luggage compartments is a TC requirement. If you ever rode one of the older Talents on the Trillium Line O-Train in Ottawa, this is why the open luggage compartments were just covered up with wooden barriers.

The interior destination signs in the UP Express seem to work just like those on the new O-Trains. Theoretically, if you're already on the train, what the sign says is less of a concern.
 
Having enclosed overhead luggage compartments is a TC requirement. If you ever rode one of the older Talents on the Trillium Line O-Train in Ottawa, this is why the open luggage compartments were just covered up with wooden barriers.
...

Too bad the subway and streetcars don't have overhead compartments, so that people's backpacks and groceries have someplace to go. Wonder how many luggage ends up at lost-n-found?
 
Metrolinx should have advertised that the lines up at Weston and Bloor are non-existent so perhaps passengers could start their journey there with no line-ups. Of course parents coming with strollers and the elevators out of service at Bloor would not have helped. How can elevators be out of service if the line just opened in June and how many people are actually using the elevators at Bloor that it already needs service?

The trouble there is that to be lineup-free, you could only really go from Bloor to Weston and/or back. If you went all the way to Union or Pearson, you had no choice but to line up if you wanted to double back--that is, unless you did my Metropass-assisted sleight of hand of taking the subway from Union *back* to Dundas West, and hopping aboard the northbound train from Bloor, and avoiding the Pearson-end lineup by taking the Airport Rocket back from Pearson.

Thus, in about as much time as I would've spent waiting in line at Union, I'd already gone to Pearson and returned home.
 
I guess keeping to schedule is really important.....our GO train was delayed about 5 minutes waiting for a WB train (UP) to pass today...not surprisingly, the EB UP train that left Bloor at the exact same time as us was not similarly delayed. :)
 
Too bad the subway and streetcars don't have overhead compartments, so that people's backpacks and groceries have someplace to go. Wonder how many luggage ends up at lost-n-found?
I would think there will be more L+F if people have overhead storage and then forget when getting off. Plus the racks will be overstacked and fall on the people underneath because Toronto.
 
When I was waiting for the UPX train at Weston this weekend, noticed the (timed) heating bar overhead. Heat rises, not falls. Why didn't they put heating coils in the floor of the shelter? With a timer, it would heat our feet better, and at less cost since the heat rises up.
 
That's one damn impressive fantasy map! I like this one. The phased transition to high platforms, sounds reasonable as well. The rightmost fantasy map is the one with the 407 Missing Link?

Thanks! Yes, that's correct, the last map shows the 407 freight bypass, which allows S-Train services to be extended to Mount Pleasant.
 
When I was waiting for the UPX train at Weston this weekend, noticed the (timed) heating bar overhead. Heat rises, not falls. Why didn't they put heating coils in the floor of the shelter? With a timer, it would heat our feet better, and at less cost since the heat rises up.

GO uses that type in most of their heated shelters. I imagine anything lower might be a fire hazard.
 

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