In my April 23rd post in this thread I showed how it would be possible to get CP on a 1% gradient making it easier to sell to them and to reduce energy consumption on the line (which in the case of diesel means revving up the engine to climb slopes and increasing exhaust).

STEP 4 – WESTON Construct the line north of the Humber river as planned. The Georgetown line would pass over Weston Rd at 138m, this would depress Weston Rd by 1.5m. The CP line would pass under Oak St at 128m (after having passed under an elevated Wilson bridge and under the 401 lower than currently done) and follow a 0.3% grade down to meet the Georgetown line at Church St Weston. The corridor would pass under Church St Weston at 125m which is a 1.4% gradient from Weston Rd which allows the Church St Weston bridge to pass over at ground level. Pass under King St Weston at 123m (a 0.7% gradient from Church St Weston) to allow the King St Weston bridge to pass over at ground level. Pass under John St Weston at 122m (a 0.5% grade from King St Weston) allowing John St Weston to remain open and pass over on a bridge at ground level. Pass under Lawrence at 121m (a 0.5% grade from John St Weston) allowing the Lawrence bridge to pass overhead at ground level eliminating the dingy Lawrence underpass. Pass under Dennison Rd at 117m (0.5% grade from Lawrence) allowing the homes on Denison to be saved, no dingy underpass to be built, and a bridge to cross at ground level. Pass under the existing Jane St bridge at 118m (a 0.2% upward grade from Dennison). Pass under Ray at 118m allowing the Ray bridge to pass over at less than 1m above ground level eliminating the dark Ray St underpass. Finally pass over Eglinton at 123m (a 1% grade upwards) on the existing Eglinton underpass due to the proximity of Black Creek. Construct the Eglinton West GO Station to connect with the Eglinton LRT. Install electrification on this whole segment from Pearson to Black Creek but leave it inactive.
Click to expand...

This plan eliminates all grades over 1%, eliminates most of the underpasses, and keeps all the streets open.
 
EnviroTO said:
In my April 23rd post in this thread I showed how it would be possible to get CP on a 1% gradient making it easier to sell to them and to reduce energy consumption on the line (which in the case of diesel means revving up the engine to climb slopes and increasing exhaust).



This plan eliminates all grades over 1%, eliminates most of the underpasses, and keeps all the streets open.
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CP want less than 1% and more like .03%. They are not in favour of this trench at this time.

The problem with the CP in the trench is going north from Lawernce Ave to get back to grade to cross Wilson Ave without a steep grade. There will have to be a small overpass for Oak St to get CP under it

I agree that there should be a trench from Weston Rd to Eglinton Ave as it will get rid of all grade crossing as well underpasses. It allows for reclaiming under use of lands in these areas. You gain more doing this as it allow you to now develope over this trench in small ways.

If some fore sight was used, we could have a another trench running from Black Creek to north of Bloor as case 1 or to Bathurst St as to case 2 to open up the barrier to better crossing that don`t exist today as well reclaim lands at underpass areas.

One has to keep in mind, enclosing will bring ventulation and those areas could see higher levels than an open cut.

It`s only money.
 
Hot off the presses from the Metrolinx email list:

Metrolinx will be designing the line to accommodate electric train catenary. The separate study will decide under what conditions it is warranted. As such, the argument that we will have to "rebuild the line later" is no longer valid in my opinion.

Metrolinx says that a station at King or Queen cannot be constructed without serious property acquisitions. This now affects where the western leg of the downtown core/relief line goes since it doesn't look like the heavy rail trains will be able to serve as a surface subway.

The environmental impacts as they pertain to noise and emission were studied in a way that assumes a worst case scenario. They believe that the actual impacts will be less than what the Environmental Project Report predicts.
 
drum118 said:
The problem with the CP in the trench is going north from Lawernce Ave to get back to grade to cross Wilson Ave without a steep grade. There will have to be a small overpass for Oak St to get CP under it
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Yes... that is why the above says:
The CP line would pass under Oak St at 128m (after having passed under an elevated Wilson bridge and under the 401 lower than currently done) and follow a 0.3% grade down to meet the Georgetown line at Church St Weston.
Click to expand...

The downward gradient would have to start north of Wilson in order to remain less than 1% so Wilson would need to become an overpass, the rail bed under the 401 would be lowered, and the CP tracks would need to pass under Oak St.
 
Health board wants GO trains to go electric
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/651687

Jun 16, 2009 05:38 PM
Comments on this story (1)
DONOVAN VINCENT
CITY HALL BUREAU

Citing concerns about diesel train fumes, Toronto's board of health is urging that GO's Georgetown service expansion and the Union Station to Pearson Airport rail link be switched to electric power even before it begins operations.

GO has already announced it will begin a study of electrifying its entire rail network this summer, but the latest plans don't foresee a full conversion for another 15 years.

The expanded line and air-rail link led by Metrolinx is expected to be ready in 2013, and would mean 250 to 450 diesel trains passing daily on the corridor, up from today's 50.

Diesel emissions have been linked to cancer, particularly of the lung, a fact that drew many people who live along the line to this week's board of health meeting.

"Why should kids be subjected to 10 years of this kind of pollution? No, it's not acceptable," resident Keith Brooks told the board.

Councillor Gord Perks called the expansion plans "the clearest case of the wrong way (to do) public transit I have ever seen.''

"It's quite disturbing this line would run right through – as a commuter line – right through the city, past all the schools, past all the people to drop (passengers) off in the 905. What the heck is going on here?'' said Councillor Paula Fletcher, another health board member.

She added it would be "unacceptable'' to have a line cutting through the city with that many diesel trains on it.

The health board's recommendations — which were endorsed this morning unanimously by the parks and environment committee – will be forwarded to the province and Ottawa.





report
 
With the price of diesel (and gasoline) going to skyrocket within the next few years, it makes good sense to use nuclear powered trains (via hydro lines to Darlington or Pickering). Economists are predicting crude oil will be increasing from the current $70 a barrel to over $200 a barrel by 2012, better to switch to electricity now.
 
Train plans zapped
Pearson airport link must be electric, Toronto health board tells province

The Union-Pearson rail link has to be electric from the start, Toronto Public Health says.

The city's health board urged the province and its regional transit authority, Metrolinx, yesterday to electrify the long-awaited link to reduce the effect on residents of diesel trains along the Georgetown rail corridor.

When up and running, the $1-billion-plus rail link alone will see 140 trains on the tracks daily, and GO Transit will increase its service from 39 trains a day to 308 by 2031.

Now only 49 trains pass through the Georgetown corridor, which runs from Weston in the north parallel to Weston Rd. to the Junction, then crosses through Brockton and Liberty Village to the Lakeshore line.)

If all those additional trains are diesel, the health of the people who live along the rail corridor will suffer, said Dr. David McKeown, the city's medical officer of health.

"There's no question that the increased diesel emissions from this proposal will affect air quality in those neighbourhoods and will lead to some increase in ill health. The question is exactly how much," he said, noting he wants Metrolinx to undertake a detailed health impact study of the increased rail traffic.

ASTHMA AND CANCER

Diesel exhaust causes increased incidents of asthma and other respiratory illnesses, cancer, adverse birth outcomes, and contributes to the air pollution of the city which causes 600 premature deaths a year, McKeown said.

"Clearly it's a good to shift people out of cars and onto public transit," he said. "However, that public transit should be as clean as possible and electrification ... won't affect the local neighbourhoods right next to the rail line in the same way."

Local residents, about a dozen of whom pleaded for a strong message to be sent to the province urging an electrified line, were "very happy" with the board's actions yesterday.

"It gives us another bullet," said Mike Sullivan with the Weston Community Coalition, noting he recognizes the decision to electrify the lines rests with the province. "The city is now formally opposed to the project, in terms of the health implications.

"We've been lobbying the province all along, but we're trying to build as many allies as we can along the way."

Keith Brooks, who lives near the corridor, said the province should make sure the Union-Pearson rail link and expanded GO service is, "befitting of the times we live in and is suitable for one of the most densely populated parts of our country."

The Union-Pearson rail link and some of the additional GO trains are expected to hit the tracks by 2014.

BRYN.WEESE@SUNMEDIA.CA

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2009/06/16/go-trains.html
 
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How do you draw conclusions, and then note that the Human Health Risk Assessment hasn't been completed yet? Isn't that kind of like the jury coming to a verdict, before they hear the defence present their case?
 
I have a bad feeling this will mean millions will be spent stringing up the wires, only to have them switched off for years because bureaucratic red tape prevents the acquisition of the electric trains.
 
Maybe.. just maybe, we are starting to see the strands of enlightenment being strung above the alignment to a more world-class, modern, proper future of mass transportation. Fear not, for there is hope here. I know it is hard, from all that we have seen over these years and years of wheel-spinning, announcements, and endless studies. However, it may not be impractical for us to believe, even if it is a conservative, careful hope, or be it a dream and no more, we should recognize that change happens from time to time.. And as so much relates back to nature as a whole; when there hasn't been an earthquake for a long time, the next one could be big.
 
nfitz said:
How do you draw conclusions, and then note that the Human Health Risk Assessment hasn't been completed yet? Isn't that kind of like the jury coming to a verdict, before they hear the defence present their case?
Click to expand...

is it really necessary to wait for a study to tell you that increased diesel emissions from 400+ trains a day through densely populated areas is probably not good?

put it this way, it's like conducting a study on every new gun a gun manufacturer makes to see if it is potentially harmful and to determine if its sale should be restricted like the rest.

we know diesel emissions are bad in populated areas, there is a practical/doable alternative, lets use it. i know there will be diesel trucks on the highway, etc. but there is no practical alternative for that just yet. diesel trucks are also no excuse to keep piling on pollution. it's like legitimizing 400+/day coal powered trains through that corridor just because there are coal fired power plants.



there will also be benefits of faster trains. what's the problem?
 
Prometheus The Supremo said:
is it really necessary to wait for a study to tell you that increased diesel emissions from 400+ trains a day through densely populated areas is probably not good?

put it this way, it's like conducting a study on every new gun a gun manufacturer makes to see if it is potentially harmful and to determine if its sale should be restricted like the rest.

we know diesel emissions are bad in populated areas, there is a practical/doable alternative, lets use it. i know there will be diesel trucks on the highway, etc. but there is no practical alternative for that just yet. diesel trucks are also no excuse to keep piling on pollution. it's like legitimizing 400+/day coal powered trains through that corridor just because there are coal fired power plants.



there will also be benefits of faster trains. what's the problem?
Click to expand...

I think the point that is being made, though, is why bother with the report (and the time/expense that goes with it) if the conclusion has already been reached.
 
TOareaFan said:
I think the point that is being made, though, is why bother with the report (and the time/expense that goes with it) if the conclusion has already been reached.
Click to expand...

why have a trial for saddam if he's gonna hang anyway? why use sterile needles and swab with alcohol the injection site of someone who is about to receive a lethal injection?

i know, it makes no sense.
 
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