News   GLOBAL  |  Apr 02, 2020
 8.4K     0 
News   GLOBAL  |  Apr 01, 2020
 39K     0 
News   GLOBAL  |  Apr 01, 2020
 4.7K     0 

^I don’t support building the layover yard there, but this does seem to be a case of overplaying one’s hand with questionable arguments.
In no universe will the Don Valley ever be a pristine nature preserve.
The Don needs to be developed carefully and with restraint, to minimise the impacts of necessary transportation infrastructure and to optimise its value as parkland against other uses..
In my eyes the layover yard is inappropriate, but the railway line has potential value as a future rail corridor, and needs to be retained as such.

- Paul
I don't think a layover is necessary. Instead of parking trains all day for the short period of rush hour use the trains throughout the day to expand non-rush hour use.

 
I don't think a layover is necessary. Instead of parking trains all day for the short period of rush hour use the trains throughout the day to expand non-rush hour use.

First, that video should not be used a citation for anything.

Second, we are expanding non rush-hour service as much as we can, however there is a limit to how much is reasonable. Most lines that can have off peak service will see trains almost every 15 minutes, however as always more demand will run during rush hours where we're going to need more trains.
 
I don't think a layover is necessary. Instead of parking trains all day for the short period of rush hour use the trains throughout the day to expand non-rush hour use.


It's not just parking the trains. If you look at the description for the Don Valley Layover it also talks about other things they'll do to the trains like cleaning.
 
The two bidders who submitted:

EnTransit
  • Applicant Lead: SNC-Lavalin Capital, Siemens Project Ventures, Keolis
  • Construction Team: SNC-Lavalin, Siemens
  • Design Team: SNC-Lavalin, Siemens, Balfour Beatty Rail
  • Operations & Maintenance Team: Keolis SNCF, SNC-Lavalin, Siemens
  • Financial Advisor: National Bank
ONxpress Transportation Partners
  • Applicant Lead: Aecon Concessions, John Holland, Meridiam Infrastructure, Alstom Transport Canada
  • Construction Team: Aecon IM, John Holland, Alstom
  • Design Team: WSP, Hatch, Alstom
  • Operations & Maintenance Team: Deutsche Bahn, John Holland, Aecon O&M
  • Financial Advisor: RBC Dominion Securities
So it's basically SNCF/Siemens Vs. Deutsche Bahn/Alstom. Constructors are SNC Lavalin and Aecon.
 
Shame that there's no other contractors other than aecon and snc. They take a long long time on their infrastructure projects.

In terms of potential rolling stock, what can Siemens and Alstom provide for locomotive and emu?
 
I too would bet on Onxpress - Aecon already does a ton of work for Metrolinx and Metrolinx is also very familiar with Alstom equipment.

And who wouldn’t want to get the operator of the U-bahn to operate Toronto’s version of it?
S-Bahn you mean. And I agree with the above. I'm hoping for Onxpress to be the winner. Exciting stuff.
 
I don't think a layover is necessary. Instead of parking trains all day for the short period of rush hour use the trains throughout the day to expand non-rush hour use.

That can only happen if rush hours and non-rush hour have the same frequencies, that is every train that comes in, goes all the way back to its origin. Why would Metrolinx run empty trains at 5 or 10 min frequency in non-rush hours. The difference between rush hour and non-rush hour service is what they need to park at this sites instead of hauling trains all the way back empty.
 
Why would Metrolinx run empty trains at 5 or 10 min frequency in non-rush hours.
Chicken or egg. Why would those non-rush hour trains be empty? The DVP, GEW and 400-series highways are packed with people going places throughout the day, clearly we’re on the move, but no one thinks a train will get them anywhere.
 
Chicken or egg. Why would those non-rush hour trains be empty? The DVP, GEW and 400-series highways are packed with people going places throughout the day, clearly we’re on the move, but no one thinks a train will get them anywhere.
Because service frequency is only one part of the demand equation. There are also underlying demand patterns. If you run a constant frequency all day, as you are suggesting, you will still have variation in use over the course of the day - namely a big spike at rush hour. In which case you will want to run longer trains during that part of the day. And once we have EMU's, it will be more practical to split trains during the day, to reduce operating costs during periods when dual-unit (e.g. 2 x 6-car EMU) trains are not necesary.

And where do you store the half of the train which is not in use? Yeah, that's right, a layover facility.

Here in the Netherlands, service frequencies barely change during rush hour, but there are still huge yards around major stations. Because those lengthened trains need to come from somewhere.

If you want to delete all of GO's yards, fine, but don't start whining when the services lose tons of money because they are so unnecessarily expensive to operate.
 
Chicken or egg. Why would those non-rush hour trains be empty? The DVP, GEW and 400-series highways are packed with people going places throughout the day, clearly we’re on the move, but no one thinks a train will get them anywhere.
also many of the stations are in the middle of nowhere and require a car to get there anyways. whats the point of driving to a station to take a train when one can just drive to their destination much more quickly?? the bloomington mausoleum is a prime example. who would go to that station in the middle of the day??
 

Back
Top