[TransitBart]

Construction on the surface begins December 2017. Construction on the surface concludes November 2019. Revenue service begins September 2021

Does anyone know how long it takes to commission something this size? I know you don't just plug it in and flip the switch. In essence, through the next four years, the tunnels and presumably the track in them are (mostly) complete. When exactly does the first LRT vehicle nose out of Mount Dennis and run down the tunnel to the first crossover?

What makes me ask is that from Tiger's post, the surface construction is supposed to be complete 22 months prior to revenue service. The station construction Gantt charts show that even Cedarvale and Eglinton are finished more-or-less at the conclusion of 2020. Does a train roll down the line even a second before that?

 

[TheTigerMaster]

Does anyone know how long it takes to commission something this size? I know you don't just plug it in and flip the switch. In essence, through the next four years, the tunnels and presumably the track in them are (mostly) complete. When exactly does the first LRT vehicle nose out of Mount Dennis and run down the tunnel to the first crossover?

What makes me ask is that from Tiger's post, the surface construction is supposed to be complete 22 months prior to revenue service. The station construction Gantt charts show that even Cedarvale and Eglinton are finished more-or-less at the conclusion of 2020. Does a train roll down the line even a second before that?

I might be wrong about this, but I recall that the western stations are scheduled to be completed before the eastern, precisely to allow testing of the LRVs on the western section, while the eastern section is still under construction. This is because the LRVs are all required to put on certain milage before they can enter revenue service. So, for example, we'll probably see trains running empty between Mt Dennis and Keele or Eglinton West about 16 months before the line opens, and while the eastern underground portion is still being completed.

 

[PMT]

 

[TheTigerMaster]

Someone put a subway on Mount Pleasant? What a time to be alive.

 

[cplchanb]

I might be wrong about this, but I recall that the western stations are scheduled to be completed before the eastern, precisely to allow testing of the LRVs on the western section, while the eastern section is still under construction. This is because the LRVs are all required to put on certain milage before they can enter revenue service. So, for example, we'll probably see trains running empty between Mt Dennis and Keele or Eglinton West about 16 months before the line opens, and while the eastern underground portion is still being completed.

Is there any feasibility that they may still change their minds and split the opening dates so that the Western portion can open first? It seems like a wasted opportunity if they just endlessly test to the point where it becomes almost
irrelevant if that portion of the line is mechanically able to function already. They shouldve done what Viva is doing (relatively speaking) and phasing their openings as soon as the sections are completed. Real world testing is always better than running empty trains and making calculated estimates. Not to mention they can start recuperating their spent dollars earlier.

 

[Voltz]

Is there any feasibility that they may still change their minds and split the opening dates so that the Western portion can open first? It seems like a wasted opportunity if they just endlessly test to the point where it becomes almost
irrelevant if that portion of the line is mechanically able to function already. They shouldve done what Viva is doing (relatively speaking) and phasing their openings as soon as the sections are completed. Real world testing is always better than running empty trains and making calculated estimates. Not to mention they can start recuperating their spent dollars earlier.

The original plan with the Crosstown was to have it opening in phases starting this year, but then the province pushed out the funding to have it all open at once at the end.

 

[cplchanb]

The original plan with the Crosstown was to have it opening in phases starting this year, but then the province pushed out the funding to have it all open at once at the end.

Thats a shame....I think it wouldve generated more revenue and also be a platform for lessons learned

 

[TheTigerMaster]

The original plan with the Crosstown was to have it opening in phases starting this year, but then the province pushed out the funding to have it all open at once at the end.

Are you talking about the original plan from 2007? I wasn't following transit back then, so that's news to me

 

[Voltz]

Are you talking about the original plan from 2007? I wasn't following transit back then, so that's news to me

Those plans were from a bit later than that, the best report I could find is here.

http://www.ttc.ca/About_the_TTC/Com...ember_16_2009/Reports/Transit_City_Update.pdf

The Eglinton Crosstown LRT will open in sections that can be operated as LRT as follows: • the westerly section from Eglinton West Station on the University Subway to Commerce Drive in 2016; • the easterly section from Eglinton West Station to Kennedy Station in 2018; and • Commerce Road to Pearson Airport in 2020.

 

[Johnny Au]

Even if the stations and track work were to be complete by 2021, it may still be delayed due to Bombardier manufacturing LRVs at a glacial pace.

 

[TransitBart]

The two most complex stations are Cedarvale and Eglinton. Even if they wanted to open the line sooner, those two stations will be completed last. The action stops at Cedarvale until it is complete if you want to open in phases. When you consider the (huge) re-alignment of the bus network that accompanies opening a whole new (gasp) subway line, a phased implementation becomes a bit of a nightmare without the key stations like Cedarvale and Eglinton.

Say for argument's sake there is a crossover to the west of Oakwood (so at least you can reverse the LRT) and you're going to open the line to from Mount Dennis to Oakwood. What the hell do thousands of eastbound passengers do at Oakwood to keep going east? This is an idea that probably sounds good to transit wonks and like a nightmare to people who actually run a transit system.

 

[gweed123]

The two most complex stations are Cedarvale and Eglinton. Even if they wanted to open the line sooner, those two stations will be completed last. The action stops at Cedarvale until it is complete if you want to open in phases. When you consider the (huge) re-alignment of the bus network that accompanies opening a whole new (gasp) subway line, a phased implementation becomes a bit of a nightmare without the key stations like Cedarvale and Eglinton.

Say for argument's sake there is a crossover to the west of Oakwood (so at least you can reverse the LRT) and you're going to open the line to from Mount Dennis to Oakwood. What the hell do thousands of eastbound passengers do at Oakwood to keep going east? This is an idea that probably sounds good to transit wonks and like a nightmare to people who actually run a transit system.

Agreed. A minimum initial operating segment would need to be at least Mt. Dennis to Cedarvale. The Eglinton East buses would likely just be extended to Cedarvale to make the connection, instead of terminating at Yonge. It would basically be the old Eglinton West Subway proposal.

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

There would be a few tail-tracks or sidings along the underground portion on Line 5 Crosstown LRT. That is a third set of tracks, like between Ossington & Christie and Broadview & Chester on Line 2.

Did they back up the ATM's to tunnel the third tracks on the Crosstown? Where would the final locations be for tail-tracks be located, since some changes would have been made deviating from the initial EA recommendations?

 

[someMidTowner]

I can hardly contain my excitement over here

 

[crs1026]

I wonder if someone could be persuaded to mount a webcam over the Eglinton-Yonge excavation. It's going to be an interesting dig, and we'll need some visual soothing now that the tracker is no longer going to tell us how it's going. Can't wait for all the above-ground photographs similar to the K-W thread, when construction gets going on the at-grade portions.

- Paul