[wmedia]

There is a silver lining here. If you stand in the right place, and squint your eyes, or crop your photos, you can almost pretend that we have Platform Screen Doors!

(Cropped from original pic by Reese Martin.)

 

[T3G]

All the complex safety features in modern LRT are not designed for speed.

Simply untrue. European cities operate modern LRVs without issues with speed. Hell, we operate modern subway cars, and it's not like those have a shortage of safety features either.

 

[christiesplits]

This map should be on every subway train and station.

Agreed. I've been waiting for this day my entire life.

 

[Northern Light]

Here's your Speed-It-Up motion walked on at today's TTC meeting;

https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2025/ttc/bgrd/backgroundfile-260982.pdf

From the above:

 

[Bordercollie]

Here's your Speed-It-Up motion walked on at today's TTC meeting;

https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2025/ttc/bgrd/backgroundfile-260982.pdf

From the above:

View attachment 701905

At least they are trying. Give them credit for that.

 

[KhalilHeron]

Humber College station should be covered over completely, having to clear snow from a below ground platform is just dumb.

That should have been the biggest issue with this line.

Platforms should be heated and snow shouldn't accumulate, but cover while its snowing or raining would be nice. Has snow been accumulating on the platform?

 

[yurt2022]

Here's your Speed-It-Up motion walked on at today's TTC meeting;

https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2025/ttc/bgrd/backgroundfile-260982.pdf

From the above:

View attachment 701905

Too much "reviewing" and not enough doing.

 

[Milaisacat]

To me, the biggest elephant in the room is that giving the train absolute signal priority so it experiences no delays at intersections is not even on the table. That's a silent admission of the fact that speed, frequency, and reliability of a rail line will always be constrained by its points of interaction with people and vehicles at intersections and level crossings. An urban transit line that doesn't have a dedicated and secured right of way from end to end cannot be considered rapid transit. Full stop.

I hope this growing public debacle, and the quickly rising anxiety of politicians on the eve of an election year, both soon to be amplified by the opening of Line 5, puts paid to the fantasy that rapid transit performance can be provided without a dedicated and secured right of way. The tens of billions of dollars going into LRT projects and years of construction will not yield rapid transit. The lines have every potential to provide significantly better transit service than the mixed traffic buses they replace, but they will fail to live up to the promises that have been made all these years and people are right to be asking some very acute questions.

Lastly, on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the inauguration of Vancouver's SkyTrain, and the early success of Montreal's REM, in the long-running debate about the merits of LRT vs automated grade separated light metro, I think the latter has been demonstrated to objectively be the better choice to deliver actual rapid transit for less-than-subway money.

 

[IRT_BMT_IND]

To me, the biggest elephant in the room is that giving the train absolute signal priority so it experiences no delays at intersections is not even on the table. That's a silent admission of the fact that speed, frequency, and reliability of a rail line will always be constrained by its points of interaction with people and vehicles at intersections and level crossings. An urban transit line that doesn't have a dedicated and secured right of way from end to end cannot be considered rapid transit. Full stop.

I hope this growing public debacle, and the quickly rising anxiety of politicians on the eve of an election year, both soon to be amplified by the opening of Line 5, puts paid to the fantasy that rapid transit performance can be provided without a dedicated and secured right of way. The tens of billions of dollars going into LRT projects and years of construction will not yield rapid transit. The lines have every potential to provide significantly better transit service than the mixed traffic buses they replace, but they will fail to live up to the promises that have been made all these years and people are right to be asking some very acute questions.

For Finch even without signal priority just having trains run at the speed limit of the road and not cross intersections at 25 km/h would be a big improvement, and even more so if the signals can be set up to give trains green waves.

 

[robmausser]

This map should be on every subway train and station.

I agree but it should just show the Toronto city area and any GO train line past that should just show an arrow going outside the boundary, as well as show the streetcars.

Basically a combination of this map and this one

 

[hw621]

On a completely separate note, guys, how easy is it to find parking at Finch West this afternoon (around 2:45 pm)? I need to go downtown once in a million years, and sure enough there is a service disruption between York Mills and Eglinton.

 

[Bordercollie]

On a completely separate note, guys, how easy is it to find parking at Finch West this afternoon (around 2:45 pm)? I need to go downtown once in a million years, and sure enough there is a service disruption between York Mills and Eglinton.

It would have made more sense if the line connected to Yonge Street.

The busway can be used as the right away. Just need grade separation at the Barrie line

 

[McGillicuddy]

The thing with enclosed platforms is that you trigger a bunch of additional requirements under the building code for things like fire suppression systems, emergency egress, ventilation, emergency lighting, etc. (Yes, even with massive portals at the end of the platform.) This makes open-air platforms simpler and cheaper to build.

Ottawa's compromise is to leave the platform open, but heat the surface so snow doesn't accumulate. Many of the Transitway stations (and some of the original Trillium Line stations) also provide an enclosed heated waiting area, but that's less critical with higher frequency.

 

[Bordercollie]

The thing with enclosed platforms is that you trigger a bunch of additional requirements under the building code for things like fire suppression systems, emergency egress, ventilation, emergency lighting, etc. (Yes, even with massive portals at the end of the platform.) This makes open-air platforms simpler and cheaper to build.

Ottawa's compromise is to leave the platform open, but heat the surface so snow doesn't accumulate. Many of the Transitway stations (and some of the original Trillium Line stations) also provide an enclosed heated waiting area, but that's less critical with higher frequency.

If you look around in Ottawa there is a lot of rust because they don't upkeep or paint the metal beams.

I can imagine having to replace them in ten years or so.

And they don't sweep the salt after winter is over leading to further corrosion.

Small things can mak a difference.

 

[APTA-2048]

I personally found Humber College Station to be alright in terms of shelter when I was there. Maybe they could add some heaters under the shelters.