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RogerB said:
This is a myth.
The reason the SRT has to be closed is due to Bombardier's manufactured obsolescence. When it invented the Mark2, it discontinued the Mark1 vehicles. Since then, Toronto and other cities, have never been able to order Mark1 from Bombardier at an affordable price. Bombardier prefers to sell Mark2', and as a linear induction system builder, lobbied Toronto and others to have it rebuild the tracks for Mark2, at great cost. Thankfully saner heads finally prevailed.
Like LRT, the linear induction vehicles had the capacity to handle demand long into the future, particularly considering that the optimistic job projections for Scarborough Centre never arrived. Beware proprietary systems.
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Vancouver never replaced one foot of track to accommodate the MK11 nor the new MK111s and run all three types currently.

As for this "close the line for years to redo the track" crap, well it's precisely that, crap. Vancouver has slowly been replacing it's old track in the last decade on weekends section by section. They haven't had to close down the line but rather close just one track for a km or so and use longer trains.

Also, seeing the TTC managed to get Bombardier to build streetcars that are unique to Toronto due to Toronto's odd streetcar track dimensions, has anybody even bothered asking Bombardier if the can build MK11 or Mk111 trains to handle the slightly sharper curves on the SRT or would that require common sense on the TTC's part?

Also, Bombardier hasn't produced the MK1 cars for 20 years as the larger systems {Vancouver/Kuala Lumpur} wanted longer, more spacious, wider, brighter, quieter trains than the rather small MK1s. It was those cities that requested the larger trains and NOT Bombardier shoving it down someone's throat. That's like saying Bombardier forced Toronto to take the new T1 subway cars.
 
ssiguy2 said:
Vancouver never replaced one foot of track to accommodate the MK11 nor the new MK111s and run all three types currently.
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Vancouver's track was built to handle MKIIs from day one. Vancouver hasn't moved a platform from above ground to underground. If it wasn't for the curve between Ellesmere and Midland, and the desire to move the platform at Kennedy underground, then Toronto could do it the same way.

ssiguy2 said:
Also, seeing the TTC managed to get Bombardier to build streetcars that are unique to Toronto due to Toronto's odd streetcar track dimensions, has anybody even bothered asking Bombardier if the can build MK11 or Mk111 trains to handle the slightly sharper curves on the SRT or would that require common sense on the TTC's part?
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That's a good question. I fail to see why TTC didn't just years ago issue a tender for new vehicles that would run on the existing line.
 
ssiguy2 said:
Vancouver never replaced one foot of track to accommodate the MK11 nor the new MK111s and run all three types currently.
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They may not have replaced "one foot of track", but they certainly made a lot of modifications to every platform that was then on the system.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.
 
So they're staffing up and starting the Danforth Scarborough extension project eh? Hopefully something gets built eventually before the SRT falls apart.
 
ehlow said:
So they're staffing up and starting the Danforth Scarborough extension project eh? Hopefully something gets built eventually before the SRT falls apart.
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My bet is that the SRT is just going to crap out one day and the TTC is going to be left with a huge mess. Like an old clunker of a car, sometimes it just says 'enough is enough', no matter how much maintenance time/money you pump into it. Hopefully that day never comes, but given the long delay for whatever SRT replacement solution ends up being built, it's seeming more and more likely that that may become the case.
 
gweed123 said:
My bet is that the SRT is just going to crap out one day and the TTC is going to be left with a huge mess. Like an old clunker of a car, sometimes it just says 'enough is enough', no matter how much maintenance time/money you pump into it. Hopefully that day never comes, but given the long delay for whatever SRT replacement solution ends up being built, it's seeming more and more likely that that may become the case.
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There were millions set aside in the subway scheme to extend life on the SRT until 2023 or so when the subway open.
 
nfitz said:
There were millions set aside in the subway scheme to extend life on the SRT until 2023 or so when the subway open.
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they should ask Detroit what they would take for the 12 Mark I cars on the People Mover, which seems to be of limited utility, as a reserve against any of the existing 28 having a catastrophic failure.
 
dowlingm said:
they should ask Detroit what they would take for the 12 Mark I cars on the People Mover, which seems to be of limited utility, as a reserve against any of the existing 28 having a catastrophic failure.
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It would boost their number of train sets from 7 to 10, allowing them to increase frequency.

Probably a better bet is trying to buy some of the 150 Mark I cars that Vancouver has. And if I recall past discussions, TTC has approached TransLink in the past, but essentially TransLink has wanted the full cost of purchasing replacement vehicles. So is TTC prepared to pay new prices, to get 20 or 30-year old equipment?

Given that they way things are going, we're going to have to live with the SRT for another decade or so, it seems time to bite the bullet, pay TransLink a ransom for a dozen cars, and do some rehabilitation of the existing fleet, and add a couple more storage spots in Bellamy yard.
 
nfitz said:
It would boost their number of train sets from 7 to 10, allowing them to increase frequency.

Probably a better bet is trying to buy some of the 150 Mark I cars that Vancouver has. And if I recall past discussions, TTC has approached TransLink in the past, but essentially TransLink has wanted the full cost of purchasing replacement vehicles. So is TTC prepared to pay new prices, to get 20 or 30-year old equipment?

Given that they way things are going, we're going to have to live with the SRT for another decade or so, it seems time to bite the bullet, pay TransLink a ransom for a dozen cars, and do some rehabilitation of the existing fleet, and add a couple more storage spots in Bellamy yard.
Click to expand...

TransLink is in the process of renovating its MKIs:

All 114 of the 1984-1986 ICTS Mark I SkyTrain cars will be refurbished by December 2016 at the old Bombardier Burnaby plant that was originally built for fabricating the Mark II cars in time for the 2002 opening of the Millennium Line.

$28.5-million of the $37.9-million refurbishment project is coming from the federal government’s Gas Tax Fund.
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http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2013/11/translink-rolls-out-refurbished-skytrain-vehicles/

BZnNvdpCAAAYkFB-800x600.jpg

http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2013/11/translink-rolls-out-refurbished-skytrain-vehicles/

MIPS said:
Someone left one of the doors open in the Bombardier building and I got to sneak a peek at a train and a half being refurb'd from the parking lot.

CGS_0898.jpg
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TTC asked Vancouver about the Mark Is, and apparently Translink wanted something approaching replacement cost. Uh, no.
 
gweed123 said:
Well, if Vancouver's refurbs are successful, maybe Toronto can do the same.
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That doesn't solve the capacity problems. At best they can restore the capacity back to 2012 or so - but it was a problem before then.

Might as well pay Translink replacement cost.
 
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