"
What is RER?"
Many can guess RER is a high frequency electric commuter train service. But beyond that?
So... let's try to understand how
The Mother Of All RERs operates (aka Paris RER) -- Where everbody's RER acronym is borrowed from -- including "GO RER".
Here goes...
I wish Metrolinx would accept that they need to do more with RER for Toronto. 4 tph does nothing for the 416. And Smart Track needs more track space.
More tracks (than already planned) is not necessarily needed. Paris RER pulls off SmartTrack+RER with only the equivalent of 5-tracks to Scarborough and 2-tracks to Stoufville.
Just merge Bramalea-Stoufville GO+RER+UPX+SmartTrack into one unified electric service, ala Paris's RER B.
For the above Paris route:
Some stations are served 3 minutes (core section, during peak)
Some stations are served 6 minutes
Some stations are served 12 minutes
Some stations are served 15 minutes
Some stations are served 30 minutes
(From
RER B timetable)
Our theoretical equivalent:
So basically, a
merged GO+RER+UPX+SmartTrack into one single service, using one single trainset, you would come with this schedule:
- 5-minutes Weston-Unionville (or Scarborough/Markham)
- 10-minutes Bramalea-Unionville
- 10-minutes Airport-Unionville
- 30-minutes Airport-Stoufville
- 30-minutes Bramalea-Stoufville
Or similar. Or could vary throughout the day (like Paris), etc.
Short-turning (e.g. at Unionville) and spurring (e.g. at Pearson spur versus continuing to Bramalea) would create a Paris RER style schedule similar to the above. All trains would allstop on the Stoufville line, with most trains short-turning at Unionville, and some continuing to Stoufville. Allstops and expresses (like RER B) could become possible west of Union. Allstops only on Stoufville (no passing) if Stoufville remains 2 tracks, to keep trains in their slots, and using short turns at Unionville for the high frequency south of Unionville / lower frequency north of Unionville.
Paris RER B, a
unified service with 3-minute headways at peak, is a big-time hybrid:
Conceptually, imagine a rotating stopping plan example:
- T+0min train with stopping plan fully SmartTrack style (allstop)
- T+3min train with stopping plan fully GO style (express)
- T+6min train that's half SmartTrack-like and half GO style (allstop for a bit, then express)
- T+9min train that's very SmartTrack-like in the east, but GO style in the west
- T+15min train that behaves like UPX
During peak. And repeatedly cycles. Then switches to a different group of stopping cycles during different parts of offpeak.
Doing this on the electric Metrolinx heavy rail network, merging everything, will still be simpler operationally than Paris RER B. (See how
fantastically complex the RER B timetable is)
Yes, it sounds complex for commuters, but it actually can be simplified by an electronic sign engineering challenge. You'd simply glance at the boards to determine which was the correct train:
This is how Paris RER B solves the confusion:
(Credit: Wikipedia for Paris RER)
Train approaches.
Is your destination station lit up?
If yes, board that train.
Confusion solved.
(In all likelihood, a modern videoboard equivalent would be used).
You'd merge all the electric Bramalea-Stoufville services into one single route ala Paris RER B. That's a
GO+RER+SmartTrack+UPX merger into one electric service. If done, 5-minute SmartTrack is much more easily doable. That way, you only need to keep Stoufville 2-tracks as no passing is needed for Unionville versus Stoufville destination (you'd short-turn most trains at Unionville, for example).
Obviously, you'd need to resignal the whole route out of the wazoo for short blocks and all, and solve the Union Station bottleneck. But you would need no more than 5 tracks Union-Scarborough, and 2 tracks Scarborough-Stoufville. (there's ROW for 5 tracks Union-Scarborough, grades already separated, so somewhat simpler than the Georgetown Corridor project). This avoids residential expropriation, but noisewalls would need to go up.
At the end of the day, the entire electric GO network is simply two routes (LSW-LSE, and Bramalea-Stoufville) with a few spurs ala Paris RER B.
Even today's LSW evening peak is quite multilayered -- spurring and short-turning --
Aldershot short-turn/Hamilton spur/WestHarbour spur, with expresses/allstops, very much resemble an early canary verison of the Paris RER complexity. So we are beginning to have our own homegrown version of RER-style behavior beginning now.
Obviously, if we are going to go more complex than this, we will need clear videoboards on all platforms at Union, as well as on the trains themselves (digital station display announcements), so people don't get confused and miss their train / miss their station, despite importing the multilayered complexity of Paris RER into GO RER...
If Metrolinx wants to operate RER like Paris, they'll need to begin merging routes. Kitchener-Stoufville merger is one step, but it has to go far beyond. In this case, SmartTrack and RER becomes one and same service.
Now, the
merged GO+RER+UPX+SmartTrack single service would be another level of logistics altogether, but still not even nearly as complex as Paris RER B!
You'd pull off 5-minute SmartTrack, assuming you solve the Union bottleneck (e.g. union corridor, short dwells, soft timetabling (allowing 5-minute trains to depart early to prevent cascading delays of later trains, etc), and a bunch of other common tweaks done in Europe.
I've made a few longer posts,
here,
here, and
here.
Whether Metrolinx does it is another story altogether, but if
5-minute SmartTrack was a hard requirement, this is one way to logistically achieve this without needing residential expropriation.
I'm just saying it's p0ssible with the corridorwidths already available, assuming the resignalling and Union bottleneck is solved. We'd have to give up the notion of a bunch of services (GO+RER+SmartTrack+UPX) as being separate, and consider it as a single merged electric service (with a multilayered timetable) like Paris RER B is.
The whole GO network becomes treated as 2 routes: Imagine the whole electric GO network being reimagined as a mere 2 services. (LSE+LSW through service, including both Hamilton DT/WH spurs) + (Kitchener-Stoufville+UPX merged service, including UPX spur). Both services, separately, would be 5 minutes headway each. But you're now only worried about just two services achieving 5-minute headways per direction, rather than a complex mix of separate/monolithic services. Corridor width problem suddenly gets solved.
Union bottlenecks not unsolvable: Yes, Union is a bottleneck but not impossible to solve (
USRC corridor is about to be resignalled for higher train throughput). Instantaneous platform capacity is the problem, not hourly platform capacity. Important distinction. (e.g. level boarding, fast-boarding single-level EMUs, short subway-style dwelling, remove timetables, eliminate surges that create sudden Union stairway crowding. Display only a destination list like Paris RER). Post-revitalization Union has lots more capacity. Instantaneous surge bottlenecks can be smoothed out by removing timetables from ultrahighfrequency services, to regulate flow onto possibly safer slightly wider Union platforms that are flush against safer snagless subway-style trains to empty platforms more frequently, keeping per-platform overcrowding to today's levels, etc.... Maybe not soon, maybe not even 10 years, but someday. All cheaper than a Union tunnel....
5-minute headways ARE possible: And did you know....Weston sub is already capable of 5-minute headways! A train driver, vegata_skyline confirms that, with 0.6 mile block signalling that was installed on this section of railroad (Georgetown Corridor megaproject up to the UPX spur). If we can apply that resignalling headways improvements to the rest of the corridors (USRC resignalling, Stoufville resignalling, etc), along with other instantaneous-vs-hourly Union platform capacity optimizations -- then we can achieve 5-minute "RER+SmartTrack+UPX" merged service without needing a Union tunnel. LSE-LSW could still use the bilevels, but everything Bramalea-Stoufville would use the unified electric level-boarding trainset. All the bilevels freed up (with electric locomotives) can be used to increase LSE-LSW service, and exclusively use level-boarding EMUs on the Bramalea-Stoufville unified service (with Kitchener diesels going express). All the new stations can just be built to high platforms only, saving money. At this point, 5-minute SmartTrack becomes possible without expropriation or tunnels.
That's my answer to "
What is RER?", the topic title of this thread.
To understand, one needs to Understand the
Mother Of All RERs (Paris!)