It's been explained a few times why Toronto is not going with Mark II's, so you can spend time searching for the answer. It just seems a waste to explain it again.
It is not that difficult of an explanation. It seems David Miller and the left of Council made the decision to go with LRT, and the provincial Liberal government also invested political capital in this decision. They are very reluctant to change their minds. But it seems that minds have changed in the past little while. . . . . .
It does seem rather strange:
1) Putting aside Sheppard, in 2010 Mayor Ford wanted to extend the Bloor-Danforth subway to STC.
2)Presumably it was Metrolinx or the province that told Ford that the vehicles had already been ordered and this subway extension option was off the table. (I doubt Ford really knows or cares what is the difference between HRT, LRT or Skytrain, as long as they don’t interfere with traffic). The Ford-Province agreement from early 2011 then became; LRT must be used, and it would be the SRT connected with the ECLRT – all underground on Eglinton.
3)Then in 2012, City council voted to reinstate the old Transit City plan of having SRT and ECLRT as separate and having the Scarborough portion of ECLRT in the median.
4)Now in 2013, it seems that we are going back to Ford’s original plan to extend the Bloor-Danforth subway to STC.
So my questions are:
a)Why did Metrolinx/Province not agree to the subway extension plan back in 2010 when the Mayor first wanted to change the plan?
b)Why did the TTC Commission and Chair not push for the subway plan in 2011?
c)Why did City Council not push for the subway extension plan in 2012?
d)Will Metrolinx, since it is beyond the scope of what a City Councillor or Mayor should know, propose an elevated transit line through Scarborough to satisfy the desire for a grade-separated transit line to STC, but still retain much of the approved EA route?
e)Will Metrolinx, since it is beyond the scope of what a City Councillor or Mayor should know, propose switching the rolling stock to SkyTrain (Mark II, ALRT) so that the SRT closure will be an acceptable duration?
f)At the end of the day, who will be blamed for the delay in transit construction in Toronto; the Mayor, the TTC Chair, City Council, Metrolinx or the Provincial Liberals?