TheTigerMaster
Superstar
100% agree. There should be a report comparing the cost of both construction methods for the DRL. The savings could allow us to push the line to Spadina or Bathurst instead of just University.
It's not just a matter of contruction inconvenience too, but digging to such depths negatively impacts transfer times. On Line 2, passengers can get back to platform level very quickly because that Line is so shallow. In Moscow, their stations are so deep that it takes multiple minutes to get to platform levels - so long that it is often faster to take a bus, than travel underground to get on a train.
Obviously the Relief Line and SSE won't be in as dire a situation as the Moscow Metro, but these depth of the proposed stations are deep enough that it's expected to have a notable impact on travel times. IIRC, the chief planner said they were evaluating how long it would take for people to reach the subway platform from the surface, to detrermine how it would impact the attractiveness of the service.
I haven't been able to find out exactly how deep STC station is proposed to be, but I believe it will be the deepest in the system. York Mills is presently the deepest, and it does take quite a bit of time to reach the platform from the surface. It's even a long walk from the underground bus depot to the train platform.
Cut/cover thing thing, and this would not be a problem.