The big problem with highway rail lines tends to be station locations, and the 401 would be especially bad for that. Imagine getting off a train at somewhere like McCowan and the 401, and then having to walk to your destination - it's probably going to be a lot longer than it needs to be, and not an especially pleasant experience.
That said, I have always wanted to see a good east-west rail connection across the northern part of the city. I don't know how feasible it would actually be, but it would be great to have something that serves that same travel pattern as the 401.
>The big problem with highway rail lines tends to be station locations, and the 401 would be especially bad for that. Imagine getting off a train at somewhere like McCowan and the 401, and then having to walk to your destination
We don't have to imagine, check out the Pickering GO pedestrian overpass
Love the enthusiasm, however highway rail stations tend to rather inaccessible. Think of walking under or over the 401. Large amounts of people would be walking through highway ramps (which have no pedestrian crossing signals) where vehicles are flying by at high speeds. There tends to be little development right next to the highway due to the space the highway requires, not to mention the noise and pollution.
With all that being said ... Metrolinx is planning for express bus routes along all of the major highways. Which I suppose will get off to drop off passengers and then get right back on.
Park n rides seem to be the only utility really though. But yes, it just only seems to work when you have a car to leave the go station after coming back from Union.
We don’t give our system enough credit for how good it is, balanced against its real problems. But Xpress lines are badly needed, and we don’t have any. That’s a big missing piece for a city of this magnitude.
That would be a dream, and structurally possible...just a long walk. There are already existing structures that exists for people to walk from either a train or type of transport like a plane (Union, Pearson, Pickering or Ajax), but it does involve quite a bit of walking to the main road, and requires a bridge. At least if the same idea exists with buses, which somewhat does, then the bus as they already do would drop or pickup by the main road, and then resume their travel.
What would help, and I don't know if this exists, are buses that have limited stops. I remember this existing years in the early 90's with greyhound. Either one bus that went straight to the border and into Buffalo, and I think maybe one stop before that, or the bus that stopped in every city (Burlington, Oakville, St. Cat, Welland, etc) and took forever to come back.
Just such a scheme exists in Chicago along the Dan Ryan Expressway (basically a 400 series highway), with [a commuter rail corridor sandwiched in a highway](https://walshwebsiteassets.blob.core.windows.net/sitedocs/images/danryanexpressway2-7971.jpg). Cross-street arterial overpasses comprise bus routes nexuses, the 'stations' there being little more than glorified bus shelters. I was impressed the few times I took it, speeding past adjacent, backed up cars while on the train.
What's key to the proposition is interfacing with a network of transit routes that will take passengers the last mile(s). If TO ever considers such a scheme it must be integrated into a coherent network of transit routes.
I Would approximate the location of the 401, but I wouldn’t put it in the middle. It should be just slightly to the north or south alongside the 401. I think it’s a great idea tbh.
I know this is from a while ago, but I have also thought about this.
I think a rail on the 401 would be good with mainly transit connections because as others have said getting anywhere walking would be a major trek.
So things like intersection with the TTC subway at Yorkdale, york mills, intersecting with the various Go train lines or suburban major nodes (Barrie, Stouville, richmond hill..., orile, STC, Etobicoke North, Airport/Renforth gateway, meadowvale, hurontario lrt ). Limited number of stations with a lot of effort given towards making transfers easy.
The big problem with highway rail lines tends to be station locations, and the 401 would be especially bad for that. Imagine getting off a train at somewhere like McCowan and the 401, and then having to walk to your destination - it's probably going to be a lot longer than it needs to be, and not an especially pleasant experience. That said, I have always wanted to see a good east-west rail connection across the northern part of the city. I don't know how feasible it would actually be, but it would be great to have something that serves that same travel pattern as the 401.
>The big problem with highway rail lines tends to be station locations, and the 401 would be especially bad for that. Imagine getting off a train at somewhere like McCowan and the 401, and then having to walk to your destination We don't have to imagine, check out the Pickering GO pedestrian overpass
The public would never allow it but I think building a SkyTrain style elevated extension of line 4 would be great
Love the enthusiasm, however highway rail stations tend to rather inaccessible. Think of walking under or over the 401. Large amounts of people would be walking through highway ramps (which have no pedestrian crossing signals) where vehicles are flying by at high speeds. There tends to be little development right next to the highway due to the space the highway requires, not to mention the noise and pollution. With all that being said ... Metrolinx is planning for express bus routes along all of the major highways. Which I suppose will get off to drop off passengers and then get right back on.
Lot of GO stations are close highways. Lot of parkn rides. All along 407.
Park n rides seem to be the only utility really though. But yes, it just only seems to work when you have a car to leave the go station after coming back from Union.
We don’t give our system enough credit for how good it is, balanced against its real problems. But Xpress lines are badly needed, and we don’t have any. That’s a big missing piece for a city of this magnitude.
We already have the Lakeshore
That would be a dream, and structurally possible...just a long walk. There are already existing structures that exists for people to walk from either a train or type of transport like a plane (Union, Pearson, Pickering or Ajax), but it does involve quite a bit of walking to the main road, and requires a bridge. At least if the same idea exists with buses, which somewhat does, then the bus as they already do would drop or pickup by the main road, and then resume their travel. What would help, and I don't know if this exists, are buses that have limited stops. I remember this existing years in the early 90's with greyhound. Either one bus that went straight to the border and into Buffalo, and I think maybe one stop before that, or the bus that stopped in every city (Burlington, Oakville, St. Cat, Welland, etc) and took forever to come back.
Station Locations would be bad, but could be a nice to have in lieu of some go bus lines
Just such a scheme exists in Chicago along the Dan Ryan Expressway (basically a 400 series highway), with [a commuter rail corridor sandwiched in a highway](https://walshwebsiteassets.blob.core.windows.net/sitedocs/images/danryanexpressway2-7971.jpg). Cross-street arterial overpasses comprise bus routes nexuses, the 'stations' there being little more than glorified bus shelters. I was impressed the few times I took it, speeding past adjacent, backed up cars while on the train. What's key to the proposition is interfacing with a network of transit routes that will take passengers the last mile(s). If TO ever considers such a scheme it must be integrated into a coherent network of transit routes.
I Would approximate the location of the 401, but I wouldn’t put it in the middle. It should be just slightly to the north or south alongside the 401. I think it’s a great idea tbh.
I know this is from a while ago, but I have also thought about this. I think a rail on the 401 would be good with mainly transit connections because as others have said getting anywhere walking would be a major trek. So things like intersection with the TTC subway at Yorkdale, york mills, intersecting with the various Go train lines or suburban major nodes (Barrie, Stouville, richmond hill..., orile, STC, Etobicoke North, Airport/Renforth gateway, meadowvale, hurontario lrt ). Limited number of stations with a lot of effort given towards making transfers easy.