Thursday’s headlines

11 comments

1. At this point I no longer care what happens with the rail link as long as something gets built that travels on steel wheels. I’m tired of being embarrassed every time I visit Pearson because of its 2nd-world transit connections. Anything will do at this point to at keep up with Cleveland et. al.

2. I am sure the people of Weston who have done a hell of a job at keeping this consortium from plowing a rail right through their neighbourhood have the same thought, Why will a billion dollars be spent to push diesel trains through the city when we could have a top notch LRT connection following the same route with a tonne of stations serving the whole west end with cross connections at Queen, Dundas, Bloor, St Clair, Eglinton, St. Lawrence with a possible tie in with the Eglinton Line. I have taken airport transit in other cities. Is it needed, damn right, but every service I have taken has more than just one or two stops before the downtown stop. Even the regular Heaththrow train makes a few stops before paddington. The express from Paddington from what I recall may save a few minutes but cost about 20 pounds. Why wait to 2015 to electrify…why not spend the billion that is going into it now and build a line the whole city can use. Do it right and you might be able to run express trains that bypass some stations…but for god sakes use a technology that is efficient and works with the rest of the proposed transit city network and make Metrolinx run it..let them do what they are suppose to do.
   that is all

3. Hallelujah amen.

4. Ryan, amen. That’s what should be done.

   But for God’s sake, in this city without a fraction of that amount of vision, at least just make it part of the GO system, and not a redundant ‘Blue Line’!

5. This just in:

   Home Depot quits Queen St. W. project [ Toronto Star ]

6. I too agree wholeheartedly with everyone here(*cause i’m also almost losing my patience with this city’s lack of vision)

   What’s the point in A:a deisel train. B: Such few stops between Pearson and downtown. C: A $20 ticket (one way?!) price???

   ANd why don’t we make better use of these tracks we have across the city and install electric trains everywhere. It would cut half the cost of infrastructure right?(compared to new subway tunnels)

   Sigh..

7. i don’t travel and i sure don’t fly, so i’ve never taken any express trains to or from airports (chicago and new york both link to airports with their subways, from what i remember), but i wonder how many cities that have express trains from rail hubs also have more viable passenger-rail systems than canada’s/ontario’s. i get that union is probably the most logical starting point for a heavy-rail link, but is it the most logical starting point for an airport shuttle? honest question.

8. By the time this thing is built, $20 one-way might not seem that bad. Hell, the way YRT keeps raising fares, it might even be cheaper than a ride on the Viva.

9. A cab to downtown is only slightly more. There’s no way a $20 ticket would fly. Compare waiting for a train and sharing space with tired strangers (who possibly haven’t showered for some time), and everyone with luggage versus getting my own climate controlled box that goes exactly where I want to be.

   Which would you choose after spending hours in a cramped, busy crowd of humanity?

10. to Torbuffchester..

    I think ridership info regarding a link to Union is available on Steve Munro’s site. From what I recall there is a demand to go from the airport to the downtown but I think the data supports a more integrated connection with other services. That is why i mentioned using the weston corridor but with transit city proposed technology and tie that line into the proposed eglinton line at very least have it connect/share station stops with Georgetown/Brampton future Guelph GO, TTC Subway as well as the proposed Transit lines. Then Union although an important hub doesn’t take the bulk of the increased passenger load. Instead the load is distributed over the other connections and allows incoming visitors/tourists the option of going different places with more ease. I honestly see this, if completed, as a big white elephant. The only benefit of the existing proposal is that westbound GO would get service upgrades which I failed to indicate on my original rant.
    quite the comment from someone who really only has to worry about the 501 route and the morning carpool commute on the parkway.
    cheers
    http://stevemunro.ca/?p=1747

11. Any service that costs many times (ie about $20 one way) more than surrounding services (ie GO or TTC) is not an integrated service. This will only benefit a very small percentage of potential riders. Put two potential riders going together between Union and the airport and it isn’t even a bargain for those two riders. I agree that in its current state, this proposal is a white elephant. Why are we spending public monies and benefits (sorry I don’t buy mcsquinty’s “private financing” claims) on line to benefit private interests? Yes, by all means build it — but build it and structure the service in the way that will do the most benefit.