Toronto LRT Information Blog

So the Downsview subway station has been renamed Sheppard West. We don’t want people to become hopelessly lost an unsure of where they are by having two consecutive stations on the same line with similar names, now do we?

Only people in “world class” cities can handle that, though we keep saying we are “world class”. The good folks in London UK have to contend with not two, but THREE consecutive stations on the Central Line: West Acton, North Acton, and East Acton (the Central Line is the red line in the image to the right). I won’t mention that there are another three stations on other lines with “Acton” in the name that are nearby the Central Line three, nor will I mention that people on a westbound Central Line train at North Acton might be going next to West Acton or they might be going next to Hanger Lane. This is just one of many examples of this in London.

That said, the idea of renaming Downsview to Sheppard West is not new. This was decided several years ago. At the time, I was in favour of the idea, but thought it should be done then so that people could be used to the change well before the new Downsview Park station opens.

The TTC avoids reusing bus route numbers for this very reason.

So, under the premise of not wanting to confuse people, what has the TTC gone and done? They are renaming an existing subway station a mere six to eight months ahead of opening an extension that has a Downsview Park station. Many average users of the TTC (read: not transit enthusiasts) will still be flustered over the “Sheppard West, formerly Downsview” change right when Downsview Park starts appearing around them.

For what ever reason, the TTC could not make the change at a time when it would be a distant memory in today’s minds. Instead, they wait until the new extension will come right when people are still trying to get used to the change intended to save them confusion.

Over this weekend, the west-end TBMs for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT line were lifted out of their extraction shaft on the west side of the Spadina Subway Line at Eglinton West Station, and moved a short distance above ground to a launch shaft east of the subway line.

Early Saturday morning, the first of the two TBMs heading east, named Dennis, made this journey. On Saturday, the second TBM, named Lea, was hoisted out of the extraction shaft and began its move to the east side of the subway line.

Here are three photos of Dennis taken around 2 am Saturday morning where it is in place east of the subway line being prepared for lowering:

Here are four photos of Lea taken around 2 am Sunday morning where it is in place east of the subway line and being lowered:

Calgary’s West extension to their C-train system opens for revenue service. Initial opening with free rides occurred over the weekend.

In the near future, the Calgary Page will be updated with photos and information on this new part of the system.

For now, here is a video of the trip:

The Cities of Brampton and Mississauga want to build a light rail transit (LRT) line, as a key part of the future vision for the busy Hurontario / Main Street corridor.

Metrolinx has identified a rapid transit line between Port Credit and downtown Brampton as one of its priority projects for the first 15 years of “The Big Move”, its regional transportation plan.

City staff want you to participate in planning the line and helping to shape decisions, as the project develops.

The Cities are hosting two open houses, where you can meet the design team for the project. They’re experts with international experience, who will develop concepts and alternatives for the project.

During the events, you can talk to project and City staff, see information from the project’s master plan and view early proposals for LRT service. You’ll also learn how you can continue to participate in the process, as the project proceeds.

The events take place:

• Wednesday, April 25
  From 3 until 8 p.m.,
  Mississauga Civic Centre, The Great Hall,
  300 City Centre Drive
• Thursday, April 26
  From 3 until 8 p.m.,
  Brampton City Hall, Atrium,
  2 Wellington Street West

More information can be found here.

It required over another half day of debate, but at about 2:40 pm, the main motion on going with the LRT plan for Sheppard East came to a vote and was passed 24-19. Here is a photo of the results of the vote (click on it to see a larger version):

The day started with some comments about the attempts to filibuster on Wednesday before continuing with the questions on Councillor Thompson’s motion to defer everything. There was a motion to amend his motion by adding a deadline to the deferral that required a report back to council for the May 8 and 9 meeting. At 11 am, the deferral and its amendment went to a vote. The amendment passed, but the main motion itself failed and discussion returned to the main motion.

There were a few “no strings” motions put forward to essentially create a committee or mechanism that would be on-going to study ways to create on-going funding for transit development and even look into studying the priority of future projects. These are “no strings” because they were not tied to whether Sheppard East would be LRT or subway. Personally, I believe this is a good idea as it could create a way of doing things that keeps looking to the future for transit needs instead of just coming up with a new line on a map when it either makes a good election promise or another level of government is waiving some cash at the city.

I suspect that the lack of any 3P way to fund Ford’s plan whatsoever may because the city has lacked this sort of initiative until now. After all, if you had a load of cash to invest and the city came to you looking for it and you asked what sort of planning structure they had in place, what should your reaction be when they respond with, “Uh, our plan was to just ask you”?

These motions were intentionally left open-ended to allow what ever body exists to explore all possible sources of funding. Anything goes - be that going to the province or feds to beg, make use of existing or asking for new revenue tools, going to the private sector, or even holding a bake sale. Still, Councillor Ford had to ask if it would include looking at 3P sources. When told ‘yes’, he continued to ask, until he became frustrated and made a comment about “working with a bunch of monkeys.” He had to apologize for this comment, but his lack of understanding what the word ‘yes’ means shows that Councillor Cho was correct on Wednesday when he asked Doug Ford if he understood the language.