[GenerationLee]

Yeah, its very very hard for this city to make concessions like this in our road infrastructure. Just look at the road ways around Eglinton and Black Creek, just on the other side of this project. Let alone the airport area.

I'm shocked we're getting these changed made, considering how strong the car lobby is.

 

[yurt2022]

Trust me for Toronto, this is a monumental shift in tides. And i'm not being sarcastic in saying it.

The city has resisted this change for decades until the public outcry became too hard to bury.

And it's still nowhere near enough.

 

[Transportfan]

Two shots I took last Thursday:

 

[innsertnamehere]

so much wasted space (and $$) in those tunnels..

 

[cplchanb]

so much wasted space (and $$) in those tunnels..

Explain?

 

[innsertnamehere]

Explain?

area excavated in tunnels expands quicker by diameter width than you initially may think. Going from a 5m to 6m tunnel results in 44% more volume excavated for example.

The Crosstown used about 6.3m tunnels from what I recall - if they had used even the 6m width standard for a typical Toronto subway, total volume excavated would be reduced by 10%.

A big reason Musk's little car-tunnel game (Boring Company) can do tunnels for $15m/km is because their tunnels excavate literally 1/3 as much volume as the tunnels for the Crosstown. Moving dirt is expensive.

 

[Bojaxs]

area excavated in tunnels expands quicker by diameter width than you initially may think. Going from a 5m to 6m tunnel results in 44% more volume excavated for example.

The Crosstown used about 6.3m tunnels from what I recall - if they had used even the 6m width standard for a typical Toronto subway, total volume excavated would be reduced by 10%.

A big reason Musk's little car-tunnel game (Boring Company) can do tunnels for $15m/km is because their tunnels excavate literally 1/3 as much volume as the tunnels for the Crosstown. Moving dirt is expensive.

We should utilize all that extra space and run a subway through those tunnels.

 

[cplchanb]

area excavated in tunnels expands quicker by diameter width than you initially may think. Going from a 5m to 6m tunnel results in 44% more volume excavated for example.

The Crosstown used about 6.3m tunnels from what I recall - if they had used even the 6m width standard for a typical Toronto subway, total volume excavated would be reduced by 10%.

A big reason Musk's little car-tunnel game (Boring Company) can do tunnels for $15m/km is because their tunnels excavate literally 1/3 as much volume as the tunnels for the Crosstown. Moving dirt is expensive.

yea but do the boring tunnels run track? overhead catenary? endless conduits? sure you can do smaller diameter tunnels when you only have cars running through, but these tunnels are for trains.
the subway tunnels are smaller because trains are running on third rails which doesnt need the extra height required for overhead catenaries. I highly doubt the engineers went excess more than what the minimums are save for some safety room

 

[Bordercollie]

I spoke with a TTC supervisor about that on sunday and they said they are working on adding the third car. Apparently, there was a software problem that was causing them to not work well in a three car tarin set, but they are hoping to have it solved by the summer

Ten years and they didn't have time to figure it out?

 

[UntitledCyclist]

I'm increasingly under the impression that this line, while fast, efficient, and to the point, really feels undersized for the job it's taking on as a midtown connector route. And will be in the future as I suspected.
The train wait times remain underwhelming, which, will be fixed soon, but overall, the station designs - the narrowness of stairways, escalators (so many, I cant imagine maintenance schedules in a few months and year, let alone now), and the somewhat odd (read, narrow/one sided) approach to how the Crosstiwn connects to the subway at Yonge and Eg West (well, I cant speak to the latter actually...) gives me concern for the future.

I understand some of these things are inherent sacrifices made in inserting a transit line underneath existing subways and nearby infrastructure, but some of these workarounds really seem overengineered in some cases.

And some design issues are just pathetic. Take this for example. Are we trying to engineer the future of waste disposal with less material used to house house disposal units?
View attachment 716567

Those bins are pathetic. Tiny and exposed, and the minute they have anything in them they start to flop over onto the floor. How Metrolinx thought this was better than the TTC super simple, circular bins, with larger rims that actually keep the bags out of the way is beyond me. I get there is a "trend" towards tinier and tinier openings in garbage receptacles, seemingly to discourage people from putting large items in. But realistically this ends up creating more mess and more work for cleaners and a worse experience for all users. Why do we keep making stupid decisions like this?

 

[UntitledCyclist]

The transparent waste receptacles is a security measure to thwart bombings, etc. They could have a bit of a cage to keep the bags from spilling messily though.

spoiler alert: those bins will not thwart a damn thing. Good design does not preclude safety measures, even though if you look into the history of it, no bins were ever used for a subway bombing. They got removed or made transparent after the Tokyo Sarin gas attack or the London tube bombings, neither of which used garbage cans. This is a whole rabbit hole you can go down, but it really boils down to security theatre and a degraded functionality.

 

[lastcommodore]

yea but do the boring tunnels run track? overhead catenary? endless conduits? sure you can do smaller diameter tunnels when you only have cars running through, but these tunnels are for trains.

yeah?

Boring Company currently does 12 ft diameter (3.6m), Glasgow subway operates in 11 ft and some London underground at 11 ft 8

Obviously on the extreme end though. Probably not possible here due to far more stringent escape requirements

 

[A 6264]

yeah?

Boring Company currently does 12 ft diameter (3.6m), Glasgow subway operates in 11 ft and some London underground at 11 ft 8

Obviously on the extreme end though. Probably not possible here due to far more stringent escape requirements

Perhaps in England, they follow this construction standard:
"This is an announcement from Genetic Control
It is my sad duty to inform you of a four-foot restriction on humanoid height...
It's said now that people will be shorter in height
They can fit twice as many in the same building site"
- Genesis

 

[urbancog]

The London Underground "tube trains" and the Glasgow Subway trains both have to have escape doors at the ends of the train allowing passengers to climb down a step ladder onto the track to escape the train in an emergency. Eglinton has a side walkway throughout the tunnel allowing the side doors to be opened and passengers to level exit, and walk to either a station of one of the emergency exit structures. I know which one I'd prefer in an emergency.

 

[UntitledCyclist]

February 27, 2026:

Caledonia Station:

View attachment 718163View attachment 718165View attachment 718167View attachment 718169View attachment 718172View attachment 718173View attachment 718174View attachment 718175View attachment 718176View attachment 718177View attachment 718178View attachment 718179

I even managed to snap the full posters!

Is this a permanent art installation? I gotta say this seems on trend with a few other works in the transit system that make a lot of use of text. Not my personal favourite style of art. It's more like poetry, though it has a visual impact, it makes you stop and read but doesn't provide the kind of wonder or space-transformation the way visual work can. Still, nice to see something as opposed to nothing. I guess I just hope for more and better.