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I've seen fare enforcement officers in subway stations before, where a temporary barrier is set up and everyone has to have their Prestos scanned as they pass through. That's why I was concerned that there might be free and non-free areas of the stations, and if the washrooms will be in the non-free areas, since I might be there for a while.

So, you're saying POOs might be controlling washroom access? Oh dear! 🤣
The verdict: At Kennedy station I was able to move between paying and non-paying areas with no problem. I could use the washrooms if I wanted to, no sign of the POO police.
 
Okay, sat down
Inaugural 5 trip, WB. Lapped when train first moves leaving stn (except last which is first stop)


StationT diffTime
Ionville4:164:16
Birchmount1:456:01
Golden Mile3:529:53
Hakimi Lebovic2:2612:20
Pharmacy1:0813:28
O'Connor3:1016:38
Sloane1:4518:23
Wynford2:5821:21
Aga Khan1:2922:50
Don Valley1:3324:23
Sunnybrook Park2:2726:50
Laird2:3729:26
Leaside2:2731:53
Mt Pleasant2:4334:36
Eglinton2:2036:56
Avenue1:5438:50
Chaplin1:5240:42
Forest Hill1:5142:33
Cedarvale2:0944:42
Oakwood1:5216:33
Fairbank1:2748:00
Caledonia2:5650:56
Keelesdale1:5952:55
Mount Dennis2:2055:15
 
Rode from Mt. Dennis to Eglinton and back. There were large crowds before it opened, and it took about 20 minutes in line to get on a train. After that, smooth sailing, and the crowds were much less by 9:30. blog post.
Initial foamers are gone but the sunday crowd is in force... trains all near cap. I suspect 10 minute on weekends will not be enough!
 
A major wayfinding issue seems to have surfaced. Unlike the TTC bus terminals, the bus terminal at Mt. Dennis (and presumably elsewhere) don't have clear and obvious route numbers visible anywhere. All you get are the bus bay numbers without the bus numbers.View attachment 713615
The only indication for which busses are served by which bays are to either use the electronic screen to find the bus bay number by the stairs (which is a multi step process), or to look at the tiny sign next to the doors which aren't that visible from any medium distance
View attachment 713616
It's honestly incredible how consistently Metrolinx' wayfinding standard finds ways to be worse than the TTC's. Maybe we should stop trying to reinvent the wheel.
Yeah, the MOUNT DENNIS transfer to the UPX heading towards Union was also harder to find than I expected -- I actually missed the first UPX that arrived because they are so much SHORTER than the GO TRAINs that use the same PLATFORM 4 for Union trips.

1770567002763.png
 
- Odd to see stop request buttons fitted and working when the route will stop at all stations?
Even odder, the displays on board showing the next station, have a stop/arret symbol, like when someone has requested a stop. I don't know if this means someone pushed the button, or if it just comes on by itself.
 
Too bad the display screens on the light rail trains are already obsolete. Couldn't they have waited till the last year before the opening to install the newest displays?
1770567697767.png
 
Another odd thing is the non-cab ends of the LRV's have windshield wipers, and it looked like they have wiped recently
 
I got called into work this morning and took TTC home. I entered the secondary entrance at Leaside (NW corner at Bayview). It's a lot of steps down to the mezzanine. The train came with a minute, and the ride one stop to Laird was smooth. The train was pretty full with some standees (around 11:15).

The exit at Laird was similarly deep, but simple with the escalators.

One comment on the seating. I think it may be better to use sideways-facing seating along the windows in the middle segment (without doors) to improve walking flow.

N=1: successful first ride
 
One comment on the seating. I think it may be better to use sideways-facing seating along the windows in the middle segment (without doors) to improve walking flow.

N=1: successful first ride
The issue is that this is a fairly strict limitation of Low Floor LRVs - you have to put the bogeys and the wheel wells somewhere. The transverse seating exists not because the manufacturer wanted more seats, but because the space is completely unsuitable for standing room in the first place.

Edit: Just to be clear I'm not saying that you can't find a more space efficient design that squeezes a bit more floor space, just that you're not that far from the theoretical limit and there's only so much you can get out of it - especially if certain alternatives such as using 70% low floor model with steps in the train are a non-starter.
 
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