jcam said:
As a Weston resident, I think its quite reasonable that they close the Weston UPX when both RER is running at 15 mins and they want to add an UPX stop at Mount Dennis. Will suck for getting to the airport, but I and most others predominantly head downtown...so we shouldn't care if its branded RER or UPX.
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Presumably you would be able to connect to UPX at mt dennis station?
 
jcam said:
As a Weston resident, I think its quite reasonable that they close the Weston UPX when both RER is running at 15 mins and they want to add an UPX stop at Mount Dennis. Will suck for getting to the airport, but I and most others predominantly head downtown...so we shouldn't care if its branded RER or UPX.
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I am assuming that they can repurpose the high-platform UPX station for RER EMU trains, although ML seems to be flying by the seat of their pants re: electrification and rolling-stock at the moment, so I doubt even they themselves know exactly what RER will end up looking like. Hopefully this is all timed so that Weston UPX does stay open until RER service commences and doesn't close simply because Mt. Dennis UPX is opened.

It beggars belief that ML would be willing to shutter/repurpose a relatively expensive UPX station in the name of better transit connectivity, but has not made progress relocating Oriole, which is nothing more than a 3rd-world grade slab of pavement, to Leslie.
 
jcam said:
Absolutely, just means going 5 mins one way, to go back 5 mins the way you came, plus transfer time. Minor complaint to be sure.
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What technical requirements would be needed to allow for limited/local-stop services on UPX, so that some UPX trains still stop at Weston, preventing backtracking?
 
felix123 said:
It beggars belief that ML would be willing to shutter/repurpose a relatively expensive UPX station in the name of better transit connectivity, but has not made progress relocating Oriole, which is nothing more than a 3rd-world grade slab of pavement, to Leslie.
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The fact that it cost a lot to build does not mean that it serves any useful purpose. I don't know what the ridership numbers between Weston and Pearson are, but I bet they aren't great. It may not cover operating costs. A valid question for the longer term would be whether to swap a Weston stop for one at Liberty Village. I bet the potential ridership there is much greater.

And yeah, they oughta do something at Oriole.

felix123 said:
What technical requirements would be needed to allow for limited/local-stop services on UPX, so that some UPX trains still stop at Weston, preventing backtracking?
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At 15 minute headways, it's simple to only stop every second train. But would a 30-minute service appeal to anyone? Unless you are within walking distance of the station, it might be faster and more reliable to grab a cab, or the Dixon bus.

- Paul
 
felix123 said:
It beggars belief that ML would be willing to shutter/repurpose a relatively expensive UPX station in the name of better transit connectivity, but has not made progress relocating Oriole, which is nothing more than a 3rd-world grade slab of pavement, to Leslie.
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crs1026 said:
And yeah, they oughta do something at Oriole.
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One thing to note about Oriole is that the track at Leslie Station is curved, which isn't a big deal, but may have been the deal breaker. Also, it was a giant missed opportunity to only build the platform extension to Esther Shiner Blvd because of the 401 off-ramp realignment. They had an opportunity to move the whole station, or at least build the platform extension over the road and add a pedestrian walkway to the Leslie Station parking lot.
 
Leo_Chan said:
One thing to note about Oriole is that the track at Leslie Station is curved, which isn't a big deal, but may have been the deal breaker.
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Way back in the beginning, CN insisted that all the original GO platforms be on tangent track. As the system expanded, this became an internal habit because of CN's initial position. So, for a long time, GO preferred platforms without curvature "just because". There are now exceptions to this - eg West Harbour has a curve at the east end. Hopefully there is no longer a formal requirement, but I don't know if ML's specs say yay or nay.

- Paul
 
crs1026 said:
The fact that it cost a lot to build does not mean that it serves any useful purpose. I don't know what the ridership numbers between Weston and Pearson are, but I bet they aren't great. It may not cover operating costs. A valid question for the longer term would be whether to swap a Weston stop for one at Liberty Village. I bet the potential ridership there is much greater.
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Ridership numbers aside, your point about swapping a station at Weston for one at Liberty Village circles back to the original point -- will Metrolinx be willing to break their promise to Weston residents in removing UPX service, and potentially add salt to the wound by doing so before RER is implemented there?

crs1026 said:
At 15 minute headways, it's simple to only stop every second train. But would a 30-minute service appeal to anyone? Unless you are within walking distance of the station, it might be faster and more reliable to grab a cab, or the Dixon bus.
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I think a 30 minute service would be more appealing than:
a) a 5 minute RER to Mt Dennis + up to a 15 minute connection + backtracking past Weston again. That adds up to 25 minutes to the trip to Pearson that could be spent on anything else;
b) The bus, which is less appealing because, well, it's a bus.
c) An expensive cab/uber/lyft. If the whole point of this exercise was to get people to go back to using cabs/"rideshare", we shouldn't have bothered building UPX in the first place.
 
Weston continuing to have a UPX stop until RER is instituted is almost a given, if not a complete given, for reasons posters make clear. But the problem isn't Weston demand per-se at all, it's the ability of the present rolling stock to accelerate and decelerate suffice to maintain the present schedule. And that can and will be done with what was committed to have happened already: Electrification. Once modern EMUs are extant, there should be absolutely no problem stopping at Weston and Mt Dennis. 'Insertion loss' should be less than two minutes with the added stop, and more than made up over the present schedule by faster acceleration and run speeds over the entire line.
 
felix123 said:
Ridership numbers aside, your point about swapping a station at Weston for one at Liberty Village circles back to the original point -- will Metrolinx be willing to break their promise to Weston residents in removing UPX service, and potentially add salt to the wound by doing so before RER is implemented there?
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Before RER? That would be political suicide, yes. But concurrent with 15 minute 2WAD on the Brampton line? I doubt many would notice.

I think a 30 minute service would be more appealing than:
a) a 5 minute RER to Mt Dennis + up to a 15 minute connection + backtracking past Weston again. That adds up to 25 minutes to the trip to Pearson that could be spent on anything else;
b) The bus, which is less appealing because, well, it's a bus.
c) An expensive cab/uber/lyft. If the whole point of this exercise was to get people to go back to using cabs/"rideshare", we shouldn't have bothered building UPX in the first place.
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I wondered about that too, but for now we have to assume that the ridership starts/ends more than walking distance from Weston station - so is already in that bus/taxi/uber/lyft. What’s the incremental time and expense in carrying on to Pearson versus bailing at Lawrence/Weston and heading for UPX? At this time the ridership within walking distance of Weston Station (and that’s walking with luggage) isn’t that high. Sure, there is development planned, but that is some time away.

I do think that even if Weston were retained and Mount Dennis and Liberty are added, the service is marketable as an all-stop run, even with the Sharyos. It’s way faster more reliable and less stressful than a limo from downtown, and the dwell time at stops is minimal. The original premise of an ‘express’ hasn’t been eroded. There is a limit, of course, and that’s why I would swap for Liberty rather than keep them all. At the end of the day, the question is - how much ridership will there be at Weston?

- Paul
 
I am trying to understand what is so bad about a 5 stop express train from Union to Pearson.

From what I am understanding, each of the 5 stops are connected to some sort off higher order transit.
 
micheal_can said:
I am trying to understand what is so bad about a 5 stop express train from Union to Pearson.

From what I am understanding, each of the 5 stops are connected to some sort off higher order transit.
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Ideally IMO, the 8-10 stop RER through the airport should be the mode not dedicated to going to the airport, but to Bramalea/Brampton. The UPX should go by it's name, an express train that makes stops only at Union Station and Pearson International Airport.
 
Leo_Chan said:
Ideally IMO, the 8-10 stop RER through the airport should be the mode not dedicated to going to the airport, but to Bramalea/Brampton. The UPX should go by it's name, an express train that makes stops only at Union Station and Pearson International Airport.
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I didn't think the RER was going to be going to Pearson.
 
micheal_can said:
I am trying to understand what is so bad about a 5 stop express train from Union to Pearson.

From what I am understanding, each of the 5 stops are connected to some sort off higher order transit.
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I'm not sure which five you're referring to, but Bloor and Mt Dennis will have higher order transit connections. Liberty Village and St Clair will have awkward connections to streetcar lines, if that counts. Weston and Etobicoke North connect to buses (barely).
 
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