Well, UPX runs with DMUs. Not sure if they are FRA / Transport Canada compliant, or maybe all freights are banned from the Weston corridor and therefore the collision strength requirements are relaxed ..

Is there any benefit in considering DMUs for the Northlander? One one hand, seems like a waste to use a high-power freight loco to pull a train having just 3 or 4 cars; DMUs would be a better fit in terms of their power. On the other hand, it may be costly to service the DMUs if they are used...

Anyway: - The subway extension is the best plan overall, glad that it is progressing. - The LRT plan would be best if one wanted to avoid the subway cost, but still get an extension past STC. - The RT refurbishment would be best/cheapest if the goal is just to keep STC connected to Kennedy, but...

Well, he expressed regrets that the LRT plan was scrapped, but he never said that LRT must be chosen this time because LRT was on the books earlier.

Toronto & Scarboro Radial Railway service ended in 1936; the street traffic was very light at that time. The streetcars had their own right-of-way because it was easier to build and maintain rails not covered by asphalt. Not to protect the streetcars from then-nonexistent traffic jams.

A regional plebiscite regarding the Scarborough transit network would be a good idea. Should have been done 15 years ago, or at least around 2013-2014 when the subway plan was accepted as the front-runner. In the absence of the plebiscite, the election results and the position of those elected...

Perhaps the populist rhetoric is the cause of the subway's popularity, that doesn't negate the fact that the public favors the subway.

Then there would be equal numbers of elected politicians who are pro subway and pro LRT. Or they wouldn't even mention either subway or LRT during their election campaign. Nobody runs on a promise to build a new water main, or to replace some aging electric cables, even though those are...

Indeed, rebuilding the SRT in some form (either custom-build vehicles or upgrading the tracks / stations / tunnels for Mk-2 or Mk-3) without extending it further east from McCowan should have been cheaper than replacing with LRT. But then you retain transfers at both ends, from SRT to subway at...

Thompson is right when he tries to find a good interim solution; that's his duty to the voters. However, soon it will be discovered than no affordable solution exists, other than buying enough buses and creating bus-only lanes to facilitate their travel between Kennedy and STC. Thompson and...

It might cost too much or take too long (or both) to build custom railcars that fit into the SRT guideway, stations, tunnels (between Ellesmere and Midland), and handle the sharp curves. Nobody makes such small cars anymore.

I'm not sure the LRT's on the table would be that much better for addressing the local trips. In the corridors where LRT runs, yes. Eglinton East, the section of Kingston Rd, Sheppard East all would see improvements with LRTs. But the majority of local trips would still be either entirely on...

There is a very legitimate complain that whatever the city / province are going to build in Scarborough, takes way too much time. The subway option was on the books since 2013, with committed funding, and entirely under control of the City's transportation department till 2019. Nothing was...

Are they going to fully double-track the Barrie and Stouffville lines? Hard to imagine 8 trains per hour in each direction managing with a single track, even with many sidings. And they can't do just one direction at peak, because there is no room to store so many trains near Union.

There are multiple groups of riders in Scarborough. Each group has its own needs, and it's hardly possible to serve all of them with a single line, or even a single technology. SSE will address a large coherent group of riders: those travelling towards downtown or towards other points near...

I'm sure the Yonge & Bloor comparison was meant to be a joke. On the other hand, we need the suburban transit lines to connect to each other sensibly, in order to attract the existing residents. Adding some local density will be a bonus, but not the sole reason for transit expansion.

There will always be someone who complains, no matter what you do :) But the scale of complains will be a lot smaller than in case of Kennedy or Fairview Mall. First of all, much fewer riders would be affected. Secondly, the Sheppard East bus can continue to operate between the McCowan...

One could figuratively call that fund "Rob Ford's legacy". But in reality, the transit levy was engineered by Karen Stintz and Glenn De Baeremaeker. Rob Ford voted for the motion they presented, but did that reluctantly because he didn't want new taxes. Anyway, if the province absorbs the cost...

On the books, Phase 2 of EE LRT goes up Morningside to Sheppard, then backs west from Morningside to Neilson, and then north into Malvern. That route is dubious by itself; nobody is going to sit on the LRT for 35 min going from Malvern Centre around all of Eastern Scarborough to Kennedy, when...

I believe this actually splits into two separate questions. One: is it possible to upgrade/refurb the SRT line to something newer and more reliable, but serving the same role between Kennedy to STC. The other: is it worth building the more expensive subway rather than accepting a less expensive...