Does anyone have any information as to what's going on with the GTS project west of the Pearson spur? Looks like it's future-proofed for 4 tracks, but I don't see the need for more than 3 up until Halwest.
 
DonValleyRainbow said:
Does anyone have any information as to what's going on with the GTS project west of the Pearson spur? Looks like it's future-proofed for 4 tracks, but I don't see the need for more than 3 up until Halwest.
Click to expand...

The interlockings (Airway, west of the Pearson Spur and Nickle and Humberview, to the east) were all built to the same template having four main tracks. The junction with the spur at Wice was also built with a 4-track configuration roughed in. As yet, we don't have a four track main line in between the interlockings, but it was wise to rought that all in so 4 tracks can happen some day. Likewise with the Humber, Weston, and Black Creek bridges and the underpasses.

In terms of what's actually going on, the grade separation at Torbram is the only further change that I am aware of that is actually in progress.

- Paul
 
Glad to see Metrolinx is turfing their marketing agency.

Coining it a "premium livery service" gave the impression UP was a Bay Street shuttle for the rich. The hyperbolic promotional videos that claimed, among other cheese, that "UP is a badge that elevates Toronto to full status among the world's financial capitals" were rightly lambasted by critics. Add in the saccharine press releases for "strategic partnerships" with the likes of CBC - look, we will have an ATM at the station, how innovative! - right down to the poor signage and wayfinding, it was a poorly executed marketing campaign start-to-finish.
 
mjl08 said:
Glad to see Metrolinx is turfing their marketing agency.

Coining it a "premium livery service" gave the impression UP was a Bay Street shuttle for the rich. The hyperbolic promotional videos that claimed, among other cheese, that "UP is a badge that elevates Toronto to full status among the world's financial capitals" were rightly lambasted by critics. Add in the saccharine press releases for "strategic partnerships" with the likes of CBC - look, we will have an ATM at the station, how innovative! - right down to the poor signage and wayfinding, it was a poorly executed marketing campaign start-to-finish.
Click to expand...
I disagree. This was how Metrolinx wanted to position it. Porter on rails, so they hired Porter's marketers. Don't let Bruce McCuaig and his bosses skate on this.
 
dowlingm said:
I disagree. This was how Metrolinx wanted to position it. Porter on rails, so they hired Porter's marketers. Don't let Bruce McCuaig and his bosses skate on this.
Click to expand...
agreed.... they could have given the marketing team a different direction but they got exactly what they wanted the first time. I guess you can't fire yourself so fire someone else.
 
Ya but the people who do that are business people who aren't paying for their trip anyway. It's easy to take the more expensive option when you're not paying for it.

Also when there are even 2 people travelling the cab is the same price and a hell of a lot nicer as it's door-to-door service. This $20 Presto fare they state assumes that you are going right to Union station. If you are going even 2 blocks from there that mean carrying your luggage and if you're hotel or residence is more than 3 blocks away that means either a cab or a TTC ticket on top of the UPX fare you just paid and when there are 2 of you you're difference between UPX and a taxi has basically evaporated.

This is so easily solved it's embarrassing. Like I said earlier they can drop the price by 2/3rds of even more and if ridership triples, which it invariably would as the fare approaches a more reasonable price for everyday travel then it begins to be an option for the thousands who work at Pearson would begin taking it as would the passengers from Weston, and it still ends up with the same revenue then problem solved. All of a sudden Torontonians have a realistic option to the airport and Metrolinx can get back some of it's credibility which has been devastated by UPX.

It can be done on a trial basis with Metrolinx clearly stating "use it or lose it".
 
my wife takes a cab every time... door to door service and the company does not care. all they care about is if the person traveling is comfortable so they can be focused for their meetings.
 
sixrings said:
my wife takes a cab every time... door to door service and the company does not care. all they care about is if the person traveling is comfortable so they can be focused for their meetings.
Click to expand...
I travel regularly for business....we are encouraged to use our best judgement on using the most efficient (in terms of time and money) mode of getting from Airport to city centre (or anywhere but that is what we are talking about here)......so, in Toronto, that now means UP to/from Pearson and the Porter shuttle to from YTZ.....in most canadian cities it means cab....in Montreal it means 747 to the Lionel-Groulx station then the metro.

this notion that all business travel is about is submitting expense claims without a care in the world is not reality....and hasn't been at any time during my 30 year career spanning multiple companies.
 
Perhaps my wife is fortunate but my father once lived in Ottawa and flew to Montreal, Toronto, New York, each once a week for over a year never had these types of restrictions on his travels either.
 
sixrings said:
Perhaps my wife is fortunate but my father once lived in Ottawa and flew to Montreal, Toronto, New York, each once a week for over a year never had these types of restrictions on his travels either.
Click to expand...
We don't have restrictions....we are encouraged to think about the best travel option....sometimes that even means a limo (eg. you get to the airport in city X and the cab lineup is very long and may take 15 minutes to catch a cab so that eats valuable time and may put a meeting at risk...limo has no lineup so take the limo.....this was often the case in Montreal before the 747 service was introduced...often times the most cost/time efficient method was an airport limo).

the time factor will really show up here if/when winter arrives. It will be far more time efficient to travel between Pearson and DT via UP and since it is already more cost efficient then the overall efficiency kicks in.

Even now (without snow on the ground) there has not been a day this week when the time to travel (in rush hour) from the Lakeshore/Gardiner split to Yonge was under 30 minutes no matter which option you pick. So a cab/limo would take "X" to get there from the airport and 30+minutes from there. But the UP would take 25 minutes airport to Union.
 
sixrings said:
Perhaps my wife is fortunate but my father once lived in Ottawa and flew to Montreal, Toronto, New York, each once a week for over a year never had these types of restrictions on his travels either.
Click to expand...
What restrictions other than use best judgement. If one uses reasonable judgement (UPX or Taxi) to get to airport, then one might not see any restrictions.

I bet if either had rented a Limo for the day in Montreal travelling on business for $500 a day, there'd have been questions!
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top