I had a chance to spend quite some time touring the six stations today. Here are my observations and questions:
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Southbound trains are marked "FINCH". Its easy to confuse FINCH with FINCH WEST. I had to think twice if my southbound train from Pioneer Village was going to short turn at FINCH WEST...
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407 is the most grande and beautiful of all the stations. However I think its a waste of money to have such a large station there. It would be nice to have this for Union station!
The station is huge, it takes a long time to walk from the parking lot to the station, and then more to get to the trains below or buses above. Passengers heading for the street (i.e. the cemetery across the street haha) - good luck trying to navigate out of there while walking. Its meant for cars only.
- The entrance to
407 and Pioneer Village station parking is a stone throw away under the bridge. I guess if you can't find parking at 407, your sure to find it at Pioneer Village. However there was no signage for the driveway entrance to Pioneer Village at Jane south of the train tracks. How's someone supposed to know there's parking there?
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Downsview Park is also quite grande and wasteful. Sure its great to connect to the GO station, but there isn't much around it. The east entrance is a joke...you get out and go where exactly? Sit on the grass? A lot of other people were wondering the same thing, only to turn around and go back inside.
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Station Spacing: VMC, 407, Pioneer, York and Finch West are all reasonably spaced for a suburban subway. Its not too far apart (ala Sheppard Subway). I feel like I can almost see Pioneer Village from the York U platform. What's the stop to stop spacing on this extension?
- Having the YRT stop at the north end of Vaughan Metropolitian Center and the Viva stop in the middle of Hwy 7 is far from each other. What if someone wanted to
transfer between Viva and YRT? That's a lot of walking in the cold...and there's no underground path to the Smart Center.
- "Vaughan Metropolitian Center" is a mouthful. But I noticed the trains just write "Vaughan" station.
- Same can be said about transferring from
YRT way at the north end of Pioneer Village to a TTC bus at the south end. Its a long walk across the street or go down to platform level to cross over.
- The curves on the subway line are very long and gentle. I stood up the entire ride without the need to hold onto a railing or grab handle in the train. Can't say that about the downtown stretch!
- Any news on new
development at the NE corner of Sheppard and Allen, and NE corner of Keele & Finch now that the subway tunnels are complete? Its great to see Keele and Finch back to its original state after a decade. Do you think they're going to touch NE Keele and Finch before the LRT is put in?
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I found this quite amusing as well, the two most expensive stations on the extension are the two most
overbuilt, grande, and will be the least used. There even seemed to be less tourists in the 407 and Downsview Park stations than there were touring the other 4 stops.
Overall I'm in agreement with the
size and design of VMC, Pioneer, York, and Finch West because they are sized appropriately for their projected use, given the area.
Dropped someone off at the 407 station......signage needs a lot of work.....no entry signs at such awkward angles they actually encourage you to drive into the areas that you are not supposed to be in.
I agree! I got
lost looking for the parking lot at 407. The roundabouts and intersections are very confusing. I can imagine if the station were to get busy that it would narrow all the traffic toward the west (back) of the parking lot as they exit. They also need to plow and salt that parking lot, there's a lot of slippery ice/snow.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but are all the new TTC bus platforms outside of the fare-paid area? Interesting change, makes sense with the move to Presto.
I had trouble understanding this at Finch West Station. The Four Winds drive extension does not have any signage for inbound pedestrians or those coming from the PPUDO/parking lot warning not to enter the bus terminal.
As a matter of fact,
how are you supposed to get from the parking to Finch West Station? I thought there'd be an underground link (as with other PPUDO in the system) or at least a covered canopy or marked pathway...? There isn't even a bus shelter for you to stand while waiting for your ride.
Emergency exits: I noticed there's an exit between Pioneer Village and 407 underground. But I can't find where it is on the maps above ground. Any pointers?
Sheppard West (old Downsview) still looks quite modern for its age, I actually like the platform level more than the utilitarian concrete look of the extension's other platform levels.
Today was quite a cold day. All the stations in general were
very cold inside, 407 the most so. Are the stations supposed to be heated, or just the trains?