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I went on the Toronto Rocket very recently and these are what I can say.

Regarding the very front and very back windows, if you put your face very close (but not necessarily touching the windows), you can see in front or behind the train (they are still railfan windows, except that they are not as obvious).

The lift-up seats automatically lift up, unless there is some weight on it. My bag, which contains my laptop, is enough to keep the lift-up seat down.

I do find the light colours on the subway map confusing (more so counter-intuitive), in which stations that have been passed are green and the approaching stations are red.

I find these "half-seats" sticking out of the interior walls useful for leaning.

Regarding local attractions at the next station, they can be shown on the video screens (but the operators of these attractions have to pay the TTC (since it is a form of advertising)), rather than it polluting the announcement that should be reserved for stating the next station and emergencies (and the occasional "299 [station], 299 [station], please call control" announcement)). The bottom of the video screens state the name of the next station as well.
 
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junctionist said:
Yes, the new design is mostly clean but bland like a New York train.
Click to expand...

I said the same before when they had one parked at Davisville, on display. Nice and roomy on the inside. Bland on the outside. More thought and creativity could have gone into the exterior.
 
tkip said:
I said the same before when they had one parked at Davisville, on display. Nice and roomy on the inside. Bland on the outside. More thought and creativity could have gone into the exterior.
Click to expand...

Why? So we could pay more for them both up front and in the long run?

Dan
Toronto, Ont.
 
Saw TR 5411-5416 going north from Union on July 30 so I caught the following train at was supposed to be a minute behind and ended up being 3 minutes. At College the emergency bar was pushed and had to wait for the enforcers to show up to
take a drunk off. With these delays I did not expect to catch the TR at Finch as plan and decided to catch it at Sheppard since North York was very tight.

About 5 minutes wait, the TR pull in.

The doors are still taking 3 seconds to open after the door chime starts. Door chimes very loud. The PA was very loud in in an echo chamber. Some stations names mispronounced.

Here some videos of the run from Finch to Downsview. Train went out of service at Downsview. TR 5401-5406 was 3 trains in front of us.

Should have pan out to get the train coming into the station at Sheppard and partly out of focused.
[video=youtube;dUqGF4H2yLo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUqGF4H2yLo[/video]

View out of the cab and cannot see in the tunnel.
[video=youtube;6RUBlCtBcko]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RUBlCtBcko[/video]

See how the train looks as it bends at St George
[video=youtube;Wg_NvKhOmS8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg_NvKhOmS8[/video]

Wilson Yard
[video=youtube;R3MoBc58xLA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3MoBc58xLA[/video]

TR Depart Downsview
[video=youtube;JhgAewY_rFk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhgAewY_rFk[/video]
 
The train that I was on last Friday was 5411-5416 (I call it 541X, since there are no cars numbered 5410 or 5417-5419). Yes, the walls look too white (that smudge marks are clearly visible when the trains are no longer new). So, are there two TRs currently in revenue service? If so, when will the third TR (542X) be out?
 
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I was lucky enough to ride the new train on Friday. It's a nice design, and generally I was impressed. There is one big design flaw though; there aren't nearly enough poles down the middle. During rush hour this made for a very uncomfortable ride. There weren't nearly enough overhanging drop-down handles and those that were available were a little high for quite a few of the riders (i.e. they can hold on to them, but have to stretch a little).

I'd say some vertical poles down the middle are a must.
 
syn said:
I was lucky enough to ride the new train on Friday. It's a nice design, and generally I was impressed. There is one big design flaw though; there aren't nearly enough poles down the middle. During rush hour this made for a very uncomfortable ride. There weren't nearly enough overhanging drop-down handles and those that were available were a little high for quite a few of the riders (i.e. they can hold on to them, but have to stretch a little).

I'd say some vertical poles down the middle are a must.
Click to expand...

Do you have the same issue on the T1's? They have no centre poles either. :p
 
Johnny Au said:
The train that I was on last Friday was 5411-5416 (I call it 541X, since there are no cars numbered 5410 or 5417-5419). Yes, the walls look too white (that smudge marks are clearly visible when the trains are no longer new). So, are there two TRs currently in revenue service? If so, when will the third TR (542X) be out?
Click to expand...

There is only one trainset in service, trainset 4 (5411-5416). There is no word as yet when the next trainset will be in service, nor which one it might be.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.
 
I rode home in the new subway yesterday from King after work. The lighting and tinted windows are nice and the ride is quite smooth, but there is an unfortunate lack of hand rails. I noticed a lot of people were struggling finding places to hold onto when the train reached capacity by Queen or Dundas. Many average height passengers had to rely on taller people to pull down the middle rail grab handles for them. Some old ladies letting go of those handles at a station to tend to something or shift for other riders would have to wait for someone to pull a handle down for them again. Increasing the challenge are the vertical bars near the doors that now taper away from the middle of the car a lot more than in T1 cars so fewer people could reach them in a crowded train. That problem was compounded by a guy leaning on the entire bar next to me because of the new bump at the door itself designed to encourage people not to block the doors, forcing the guy further into the car, although he still shouldn't have been leaning on it. Centre poles aren't necessarily the answer, but it would help if there were more rails to grab, especially for shorter passengers. It's definitely easier to find a place to hold in the T1 trains.
 
mk-j said:
I rode home in the new subway yesterday from King after work. The lighting and tinted windows are nice and the ride is quite smooth, but there is an unfortunate lack of hand rails. I noticed a lot of people were struggling finding places to hold onto when the train reached capacity by Queen or Dundas. Many average height passengers had to rely on taller people to pull down the middle rail grab handles for them. Some old ladies letting go of those handles at a station to tend to something or shift for other riders would have to wait for someone to pull a handle down for them again. Increasing the challenge are the vertical bars near the doors that now taper away from the middle of the car a lot more than in T1 cars so fewer people could reach them in a crowded train. That problem was compounded by a guy leaning on the entire bar next to me because of the new bump at the door itself designed to encourage people not to block the doors, forcing the guy further into the car, although he still shouldn't have been leaning on it. Centre poles aren't necessarily the answer, but it would help if there were more rails to grab, especially for shorter passengers. It's definitely easier to find a place to hold in the T1 trains.
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I completely agree with this assessment.

Fortunately introducing some more vertical bars shouldn't be too much of a challenge.
 
Since the first day (when I took a brief ride), I have not seen (let alone ridden) one of the new Rockets despite riding the subway 5 days week. Where is that thing lurking?

I agree that, since there is now more standing space, there should be more poles or places for people to hang on to. A vertical pole in the middle won't do, as the open concept allows people to walk end to end and the vertical pole in the middle of the train blocks movement. I wonder if they considered a 'double' pole. For example, instead of a single pole suspended from the ceiling in the middle of the train, why not have 2 poles a foot apart? Or where there is a vertical pole attached to the seats, why not have it divide into 2 vertical poles 6 inches apart?
 
Impressive, but couldn't the money be saved and used to extend the network. NYC cars are at least 25+ years old, but one of the most comprehensive.

I think most commuters would rather ride in the old carts and have a more extensive coverage.
 
js97 said:
NYC cars are at least 25+ years old, but one of the most comprehensive.

I think most commuters would rather ride in the old carts and have a more extensive coverage.
Click to expand...
Definitely not true - NYC has some older but also many new, modern cars.
 
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