Transit Fantasy Maps

[tsm1072]

In the true spirit of fantasy, I've been thinking about how useful the midtown line could be for creating strong transfer points and quick travel between them. In this fantasy, CP builds a new yard somewhere and the midtown line is freed up for frequent commuter service.

Midtown Express Line Stations: Long Branch, Kipling (Using the Canpa sub), Stockyards, Dufferin/Dupont, Spadina/Dupont, Summerhill, Leaside, Ellesmere/Warden. North Scarborough (On the southwest border of the CP yard)

Most of these stations would have strong connections and should be rebuilt as efficient hubs:

• Long Branch
  • Lakeshore West GO
    • Platforms should be set up such that LW trains can route to union or midtown
  • Lakeshore West Streetcar
  • TTC and MiWay buses
• Kipling
  • Milton GO
  • TTC Line 2
  • 427 BRT
    • Dedicated BRT running from Kipling to the Airport transit hub. Used by TTC, Miway, and GO
• Stockyards
  • Milton GO
  • The terminus for St.Clair Streetcars
• Dufferin/Dupont
  • Just a filler station with Bus connections
• Spadina/Dupont
  • TTC Line 1
• Summerhill
  • TTC Line 1
• Leaside
  • This becomes a major station
  • Ontario Line
    • 4 Platforms (2 for through running, 2 for short turns and yard entry)
  • Richmond Hill Go
    • Re-route the line through this station and use the Leaside spur to re-connect to the line
  • Line 5 Central
    • Terminate and turn crosstown here to run metro like service on the underground portion between here and Mount Dennis
  • Line 5 East
    • Terminate and turn the above street running portion of crosstown here
  • VIA HFR
    • Run the via HFR trains down the RH Go line. For incoming trains, this station provides transfers to those not wanting to end up downtown
• Ellesmere/Warden
  • Just a filler station with Bus connections
• North Scarborough
  • Use the land from CP to create a new station, TTC subway yard for lines 2 and 4, GO midtown yard, and VIA HFR yard
  • TTC Line 2 terminus (extend from Kennedy via STC)
  • TTC Line 4 terminus (extend from Fairview along sheppard)
  • VIA HFR
  • GO Mid-East line
    • Super fantasy line running on the CP tracks from Central Oshawa to Scarborough

The key to success is GO RER providing the ability to run metro-style service with the ability to adjust train lengths for demand.

 

[tsm1072]

Because maps are fun, I decided to map the midtown RER concept. I added some additional lines and extensions to complete the map. The main goal was to assume RER lines would run 5-15 minutes frequencies based on demand, so transferring would always be convenient. I also assumed fare integration would happen for this to work. This line layout should reduce the number of people transferring via downtown when trying to get from travel across the city. I feel this would be achievable by 2060 (Assuming a deal with CP made by 2030 that allows for acquiring their tracks and yard).

Hi-Res:

https://imgur.com/m26UiRb

 

[sacred]

Th

In the true spirit of fantasy, I've been thinking about how useful the midtown line could be for creating strong transfer points and quick travel between them. In this fantasy, CP builds a new yard somewhere and the midtown line is freed up for frequent commuter service.

Midtown Express Line Stations: Long Branch, Kipling (Using the Canpa sub), Stockyards, Dufferin/Dupont, Spadina/Dupont, Summerhill, Leaside, Ellesmere/Warden. North Scarborough (On the southwest border of the CP yard)

Most of these stations would have strong connections and should be rebuilt as efficient hubs:

• Long Branch
  • Lakeshore West GO
    • Platforms should be set up such that LW trains can route to union or midtown
  • Lakeshore West Streetcar
  • TTC and MiWay buses
• Kipling
  • Milton GO
  • TTC Line 2
  • 427 BRT
    • Dedicated BRT running from Kipling to the Airport transit hub. Used by TTC, Miway, and GO
• Stockyards
  • Milton GO
  • The terminus for St.Clair Streetcars
• Dufferin/Dupont
  • Just a filler station with Bus connections
• Spadina/Dupont
  • TTC Line 1
• Summerhill
  • TTC Line 1
• Leaside
  • This becomes a major station
  • Ontario Line
    • 4 Platforms (2 for through running, 2 for short turns and yard entry)
  • Richmond Hill Go
    • Re-route the line through this station and use the Leaside spur to re-connect to the line
  • Line 5 Central
    • Terminate and turn crosstown here to run metro like service on the underground portion between here and Mount Dennis
  • Line 5 East
    • Terminate and turn the above street running portion of crosstown here
  • VIA HFR
    • Run the via HFR trains down the RH Go line. For incoming trains, this station provides transfers to those not wanting to end up downtown
• Ellesmere/Warden
  • Just a filler station with Bus connections
• North Scarborough
  • Use the land from CP to create a new station, TTC subway yard for lines 2 and 4, GO midtown yard, and VIA HFR yard
  • TTC Line 2 terminus (extend from Kennedy via STC)
  • TTC Line 4 terminus (extend from Fairview along sheppard)
  • VIA HFR
  • GO Mid-East line
    • Super fantasy line running on the CP tracks from Central Oshawa to Scarborough

The key to success is GO RER providing the ability to run metro-style service with the ability to adjust train lengths for demand.

That's awesome!
I was thinking about something similar the other day. I was thinking yesterday about what it would take to get a GO midtown line going. Phase 1 is VIA making whatever improvement they need to make on the Don Branch and the Belleville Sub, with the future in mind. Phase 2 is the province going ahead and quad tracking the Milton Line. Both of those projects have been somewhat seriously discussed/planned. If those are in place, it would be a no-brainer to invest in quad tracking the midtown corridor.
Talk about fantasy though.

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

In the true spirit of fantasy, I've been thinking about how useful the midtown line could be for creating strong transfer points and quick travel between them. In this fantasy, CP builds a new yard somewhere and the midtown line is freed up for frequent commuter service.

Midtown Express Line Stations: Long Branch, Kipling (Using the Canpa sub), Stockyards, Dufferin/Dupont, Spadina/Dupont, Summerhill, Leaside, Ellesmere/Warden. North Scarborough (On the southwest border of the CP yard)

Most of these stations would have strong connections and should be rebuilt as efficient hubs:

• Long Branch
  • Lakeshore West GO
    • Platforms should be set up such that LW trains can route to union or midtown
  • Lakeshore West Streetcar
  • TTC and MiWay buses
• Kipling
  • Milton GO
  • TTC Line 2
  • 427 BRT
    • Dedicated BRT running from Kipling to the Airport transit hub. Used by TTC, Miway, and GO
• Stockyards
  • Milton GO
  • The terminus for St.Clair Streetcars
• Dufferin/Dupont
  • Just a filler station with Bus connections
• Spadina/Dupont
  • TTC Line 1
• Summerhill
  • TTC Line 1
• Leaside
  • This becomes a major station
  • Ontario Line
    • 4 Platforms (2 for through running, 2 for short turns and yard entry)
  • Richmond Hill Go
    • Re-route the line through this station and use the Leaside spur to re-connect to the line
  • Line 5 Central
    • Terminate and turn crosstown here to run metro like service on the underground portion between here and Mount Dennis
  • Line 5 East
    • Terminate and turn the above street running portion of crosstown here
  • VIA HFR
    • Run the via HFR trains down the RH Go line. For incoming trains, this station provides transfers to those not wanting to end up downtown
• Ellesmere/Warden
  • Just a filler station with Bus connections
• North Scarborough
  • Use the land from CP to create a new station, TTC subway yard for lines 2 and 4, GO midtown yard, and VIA HFR yard
  • TTC Line 2 terminus (extend from Kennedy via STC)
  • TTC Line 4 terminus (extend from Fairview along sheppard)
  • VIA HFR
  • GO Mid-East line
    • Super fantasy line running on the CP tracks from Central Oshawa to Scarborough

The key to success is GO RER providing the ability to run metro-style service with the ability to adjust train lengths for demand.

I'm not sure I see the benefit to having the midtown line head south to Long Branch, there are benefits to having Milton trains alternate to Union and North Toronto stations (or have the RER service terminate at Kipling with commuter rail coming in from Milton), especially considering that Lakeshore will continue to be the busiest line in the system and adding Long Branch as a terminus for a midtown line could cause delays on the Lakeshore line. Clearly Kipling is, should be, and will be the major intermodal transit hub of the region, but I can't see someone at Long Branch or coming in on the Lakeshore W line wanting to use/transfer to the midtown line. To take the Bloor subway? To get to destinations along the midtown line? No arguably those destinations along the midtown corridor are close enough to Lakeshore line that they are a quick transfer to local transit away (and if there isn't this kind of local transit connection, there should be), as the midtown line is about 4km from the lakeshore line at most in the West.

 

[tsm1072]

I'm not sure I see the benefit to having the midtown line head south to Long Branch, there are benefits to having Milton trains alternate to Union and North Toronto stations (or have the RER service terminate at Kipling with commuter rail coming in from Milton), especially considering that Lakeshore will continue to be the busiest line in the system and adding Long Branch as a terminus for a midtown line could cause delays on the Lakeshore line. Clearly Kipling is, should be, and will be the major intermodal transit hub of the region, but I can't see someone at Long Branch or coming in on the Lakeshore W line wanting to use/transfer to the midtown line. To take the Bloor subway? To get to destinations along the midtown line? No arguably those destinations along the midtown corridor are close enough to Lakeshore line that they are a quick transfer to local transit away (and if there isn't this kind of local transit connection, there should be), as the midtown line is about 4km from the lakeshore line at most in the West.

My thought is southwest Etobicoke and southeast Mississauga need a good North-South link. The rail-corridor is a convenient way to provide that, but a BRT up Brown's Line-427 or Kipling could also provide that. I'm not sure if you would get many connections from the LW line, but it should capture anyone heading to destinations NW of Spadina Station. Providing alternate routes that don't require transferring via downtown is good for system capacity in the long run. If you terminated the midtown line there, you would build extra tracks and platforms to not interfere with LW frequency. The other connection you get at Long Branch is the planned lakeshore BRT running from Long Branch to Port Credit.

If you have modern signalling and infrastructure, Metrolinx could definitely run some alternate routes to reduce transfers (eg. Milton to North Toronto, Scarborough to Oakville). It would be a bit like Thameslink through London.

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

My thought is southwest Etobicoke and southeast Mississauga need a good North-South link. The rail-corridor is a convenient way to provide that, but a BRT up Brown's Line-427 or Kipling could also provide that. I'm not sure if you would get many connections from the LW line, but it should capture anyone heading to destinations NW of Spadina Station. Providing alternate routes that don't require transferring via downtown is good for system capacity in the long run. If you terminated the midtown line there, you would build extra tracks and platforms to not interfere with LW frequency. The other connection you get at Long Branch is the planned lakeshore BRT running from Long Branch to Port Credit.

If you have modern signalling and infrastructure, Metrolinx could definitely run some alternate routes to reduce transfers (eg. Milton to North Toronto, Scarborough to Oakville). It would be a bit like Thameslink through London.

That link would hardly be a N-S link when it only serves the southern half (third?) of the region... A Kipling or Islington BRT or LRT would do this though, but that's probably 30+ years down the road.

Wrt to destinations NW of Spadina, I think connecting to the subway at Union would be just as quick as connecting to the midtown line and has the benefit of being a counter peak flow thus using free capacity on the subway. And Keele, Roncy, Dufferin, and Bathurst can also provide those connections to points North (provided Go builds infil stations in places such as Parkdale, and Cityplace).

 

[afransen]

Kipling is kind of narrow for BRT (assuming people would insist on two general purpose lanes per direction).

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

Kipling is kind of narrow for BRT (assuming people would insist on two general purpose lanes per direction).

Yeah, I think Islington has the width for it but doesn't have the direct connection to the Kipling hub that Kipling Ave does.

 

[KhalilHeron]

Whipped this up pretty quickly so there's prob mistakes and its def messy buttt... Here's my concept of a branching, interlined Eglinton East LRT.

The majority of the line follows it's currently planned alignment, but at Neilson, one out of every three trains turns north to Malvern, but with decent frequencies, this shouldn't be much of a problem. The other trains continue along with Sheppard in their own ROW until they split in two again at Progress. The trains that head south travel along progress in dedicated lanes with a stop at Centennial college's Progress campus. They continue along Progress for a short bit until turning onto the ROW reserved for the SRT extension that never came, shortly before making its way onto the eastern leg of the SRT's corridor itself, terminating in the retrofitted McCowan RT Station at the new Scarborough Centre Station. The trains that continued along Sheppard head to Sheppard-McCowan Station to meet with lines 2 and 4

This would probably operate best as a separate service from the crosstown but for aesthetic's sake, I just made it an extension. I took the liberty of naming some stations on the EELRT and Sheppard East Subway Extension myself... which proved difficult with three different Markham Stations. There are two more branches I wanted to include but 5 branches on one line are a bit obscured and the frequencies at the ends of those branches would just be too abysmal. I wanted a branch running along Kingston and in the middle of highway 2a to port union road, and another headed for the zoo along Sheppard or the hydro corridor, and Meadowvale. My mind is currently trying to figure out how these could work and the best I've got is an lrt along Lawrence and Kingston from Lawrence East that branches up to Meadowvale from old Kingston (it'd have to be in mixed traffic), to Sheppard from highway 2a, and rouge hill go along Lawrence. There is definitely not the demand for this at all unlike the EELRT but one day. It could also use the EELRT since the interchange at Morningside. I also think it's pretty sick that this would give every centennial college campus or learning site a rail connection, most of which all being connected to line 5

 

[Rainforest]

Whipped this up pretty quickly so there's prob mistakes and its def messy buttt... Here's my concept of a branching, interlined Eglinton East LRT.
View attachment 304468
The majority of the line follows it's currently planned alignment, but at Neilson, one out of every three trains turns north to Malvern, but with decent frequencies, this shouldn't be much of a problem. The other trains continue along with Sheppard in their own ROW until they split in two again at Progress. The trains that head south travel along progress in dedicated lanes with a stop at Centennial college's Progress campus. They continue along Progress for a short bit until turning onto the ROW reserved for the SRT extension that never came, shortly before making its way onto the eastern leg of the SRT's corridor itself, terminating in the retrofitted McCowan RT Station at the new Scarborough Centre Station. The trains that continued along Sheppard head to Sheppard-McCowan Station to meet with lines 2 and 4

View attachment 304467
This would probably operate best as a separate service from the crosstown but for aesthetic's sake, I just made it an extension. I took the liberty of naming some stations on the EELRT and Sheppard East Subway Extension myself... which proved difficult with three different Markham Stations. There are two more branches I wanted to include but 5 branches on one line are a bit obscured and the frequencies at the ends of those branches would just be too abysmal. I wanted a branch running along Kingston and in the middle of highway 2a to port union road, and another headed for the zoo along Sheppard or the hydro corridor, and Meadowvale. My mind is currently trying to figure out how these could work and the best I've got is an lrt along Lawrence and Kingston from Lawrence East that branches up to Meadowvale from old Kingston (it'd have to be in mixed traffic), to Sheppard from highway 2a, and rouge hill go along Lawrence. There is definitely not the demand for this at all unlike the EELRT but one day. It could also use the EELRT since the interchange at Morningside. I also think it's pretty sick that this would give every centennial college campus or learning site a rail connection, most of which all being connected to line 5

Very cool map! Two notes:

1) Why not add a direct LRT connection between Malvern Centre and the McCowan&Sheppard subway terminus? All the tracks already exist in your map. And that direct connection will be the most popular LRT route in the north-east.

The "5C" route on your map may be useful for some riders who travel within Scarborough, but noone will ride it end to end. A short trip to McCowan&Sheppard and then a subway ride will be a lot faster, if you are heading to Kennedy Stn or past Kennedy.

2) If you want to serve Centennial College Progress campus with LRT, that's great but I would consider a more direct route that stays south of the 401. The "5B" and "5C" routes remain as is, running via Sheppard. But instead of "5A", there would be a separate route that starts at STC, serves Centennial, then continues on the south edge of the 401 corridor to Morningside, and then joins the Morningside tracks to reach UTSC.

That would create a direct and fast LRT connection from STC to Centennial and to UTSC. And the Centennial station could be placed right in the middle of the campus, although a short underground section may be required for that. (A station at Progress would be at the edge of the campus, requiring longer walks.)

In the future, it might be possible to extend the STC - Centennial - UTSC route along Kingston / Hwy 2, effectively upgrading the Durham Pulse BRT to LRT.

 

[KhalilHeron]

Very cool map! Two notes:

1) Why not add a direct LRT connection between Malvern Centre and the McCowan&Sheppard subway terminus? All the tracks already exist in your map. And that direct connection will be the most popular LRT route in the north-east.

The "5C" route on your map may be useful for some riders who travel within Scarborough, but noone will ride it end to end. A short trip to McCowan&Sheppard and then a subway ride will be a lot faster, if you are heading to Kennedy Stn or past Kennedy.

2) If you want to serve Centennial College Progress campus with LRT, that's great but I would consider a more direct route that stays south of the 401. The "5B" and "5C" routes remain as is, running via Sheppard. But instead of "5A", there would be a separate route that starts at STC, serves Centennial, then continues on the south edge of the 401 corridor to Morningside, and then joins the Morningside tracks to reach UTSC.

That would create a direct and fast LRT connection from STC to Centennial and to UTSC. And the Centennial station could be placed right in the middle of the campus, although a short underground section may be required for that. (A station at Progress would be at the edge of the campus, requiring longer walks.)

In the future, it might be possible to extend the STC - Centennial - UTSC route along Kingston / Hwy 2, effectively upgrading the Durham Pulse BRT to LRT.

Hmm definitely agree about malvern idk how my brain didnt think of that. A seperate survice on the same tracks might make things a little congested though to keep up high frequencies so maybe another alignment would be best. For the 5A though i thought of keeping it south-of the 401 but all the transit only bridges and maybe tunnels that would require inflates the cost quite a bit. If the highland creek werent right there, sure, but for realistic cost saving measures i think the slightly less direct root the 5A takes between UTSC and centennial would be adequate

 

[KhalilHeron]

Made a second version! This one addresses some of the issues with getting between Malvern, and lines 2 and 4, as well as adding service too the zoo, and moving the station at centennial to a more central location. It is basically a combination of the Eglinton East LRT, the Sheppard East LRT, and the SRT extension.

Honestly, the hardest part of this was just deciding on colours. This is the I could come up with, though I realize it looks like the lesbian flag. I've tested it and it should be legible to most colourblind people, but if not the numbers and the letters should help with that.

The new alignment for the STC-Malvern and STC-Kennedy sections now runs parallel to the 401, and along Neilson and Military Trail to better serve Centennial and Centenary (though the stop for centenary is 700m from the hospital itself cus I couldn't find a better alignment that would also let it hit UTSC). The new alignment also prevents the section of Sheppard from Neilson to Morningside from getting too busy. I made the whole thing run as a separate service honestly just for the branding cohesiveness (Eglinton line that runs from Sheppard and McCowan makes 0 sense) but it makes sense to have it separate as it is more impacted by traffic (most of it being median running and all) so we wouldn't want it to slow down the rest of line 5. That being said I think trains from each line could easily interline and continue past Kennedy in either direction (like how lakeshore east and west interline) just not every train.

 

[Rainforest]

Made a second version! This one addresses some of the issues with getting between Malvern, and lines 2 and 4, as well as adding service too the zoo, and moving the station at centennial to a more central location. It is basically a combination of the Eglinton East LRT, the Sheppard East LRT, and the SRT extension.
View attachment 304880
Honestly, the hardest part of this was just deciding on colours. This is the I could come up with, though I realize it looks like the lesbian flag. I've tested it and it should be legible to most colourblind people, but if not the numbers and the letters should help with that.
View attachment 304879
The new alignment for the STC-Malvern and STC-Kennedy sections now runs parallel to the 401, and along Neilson and Military Trail to better serve Centennial and Centenary (though the stop for centenary is 700m from the hospital itself cus I couldn't find a better alignment that would also let it hit UTSC). The new alignment also prevents the section of Sheppard from Neilson to Morningside from getting too busy. I made the whole thing run as a separate service honestly just for the branding cohesiveness (Eglinton line that runs from Sheppard and McCowan makes 0 sense) but it makes sense to have it separate as it is more impacted by traffic (most of it being median running and all) so we wouldn't want it to slow down the rest of line 5. That being said I think trains from each line could easily interline and continue past Kennedy in either direction (like how lakeshore east and west interline) just not every train.

Actually, the colors look great!

And I like your route from Neilson to UTSC. Originally I thought of it being placed right next to the 401, on its south edge. But now I see that Neilson + Military Trail makes more sense.

 

[KhalilHeron]

Actually, the colors look great!

And I like your route from Neilson to UTSC. Originally I thought of it being placed right next to the 401, on its south edge. But now I see that Neilson + Military Trail makes more sense.

Yea thanks i think it offers some better service than along the 401 and gets passengers a little closer to centenary even if not to its front door

 

[ARG1]

Made a second version! This one addresses some of the issues with getting between Malvern, and lines 2 and 4, as well as adding service too the zoo, and moving the station at centennial to a more central location. It is basically a combination of the Eglinton East LRT, the Sheppard East LRT, and the SRT extension.
View attachment 304880
Honestly, the hardest part of this was just deciding on colours. This is the I could come up with, though I realize it looks like the lesbian flag. I've tested it and it should be legible to most colourblind people, but if not the numbers and the letters should help with that.
View attachment 304879
The new alignment for the STC-Malvern and STC-Kennedy sections now runs parallel to the 401, and along Neilson and Military Trail to better serve Centennial and Centenary (though the stop for centenary is 700m from the hospital itself cus I couldn't find a better alignment that would also let it hit UTSC). The new alignment also prevents the section of Sheppard from Neilson to Morningside from getting too busy. I made the whole thing run as a separate service honestly just for the branding cohesiveness (Eglinton line that runs from Sheppard and McCowan makes 0 sense) but it makes sense to have it separate as it is more impacted by traffic (most of it being median running and all) so we wouldn't want it to slow down the rest of line 5. That being said I think trains from each line could easily interline and continue past Kennedy in either direction (like how lakeshore east and west interline) just not every train.

Extend 7E/7A to follow Ellesmere on the Scarborough RT corridor?