What’s next for TTC?

Written by John Thompson, Canadian Contributing Editor
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Scarborough Rapid Transit. Photo courtesy The Toronto Star.

As of late March 2018, only one further heavy rail subway has been approved in Toronto, following the opening of the Toronto Transit Commission Line 1 Vaughan Extension.

This would be the Scarborough Subway Extension, extending northeastward from the existing TTC Kennedy station (eastern terminus of the Bloor-Danforth Subway, Line 2), to a new station at the Scarborough City Centre, about four miles distant. Due to budgetary restrictions, the line is planned to have just the single station (green dotted line on the map, below). It would most likely be entirely underground.

The current estimated cost is C$3.35 billion, but this is expected to rise significantly as further design work is finished. The Toronto City Council has declined to issue a revised cost figure until January 2019.

The subway would replace the existing Scarborough Rapid Transit, 4.35 miles in length, a driverless system that utilizes the rarely used Intermediate Capacity Transit System (ICTS) technology developed in the 1980s. It features 40-foot cars with linear induction motors; a similar system is in place in Detroit, Vancouver and several other cities.

The RT is past its economical lifespan, having been opened in the mid-1980s, and the TTC is expending considerable effort to keep it operating reliably until the subway opens; this is not expected until about 2031.

The Scarborough Subway could in theory be built on the surface of the existing RT route, which enters Kennedy Station on the surface at right angles to the existing subway tunnel. However, this would be extremely complicated; the subway tunnel would have to be built in a huge arc, avoiding several major buildings, coming to the surface south of Lawrence East Station.

All of the stations, a short tunnel, and about half a mile of elevated structure would need to be rebuilt to accommodate heavier and longer subway trains. This proposal was considered at various times but never progressed further.

Replacing the RT with a conventional LRT operation was actually considered and approved, but was subsequently cancelled by the pro-subway regime of the late Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, with the approval of various local and provincial politicians.

It now appears, despite continuing LRT vs. subway controversy, that the Scarborough Subway will be built, unless the cost expands beyond the ability of the city to pay.

DOWNTOWN RELIEF SUBWAY

This is another project that has been under discussion for some time, but which now seems to be receiving priority.

As the name implies, the Downtown Relief Line (red line, on map below) is partly intended to take a significant portion of the ridership from Line 1 – Yonge Street, which at present is seriously overcrowded, and will only become more so in the near future. Commercial and residential development in downtown Toronto, and along the Yonge Street corridor, has been growing rapidly, and with it subway ridership. This will be aggravated when the Eglinton Crosstown LRT opens in about four years, feeding in even more patrons at Eglinton Station, the location of intense condominium development.

The “pinch points” are the Bloor-Yonge and St. George stations, especially at the former; both are interchanges with Line 2. The subway is facing significant capacity constraints, even with ATC on the horizon, particularly between St. Clair and College stations. The population in downtown Toronto is predicted to increase by 28% by 2031, which is seen as the “crunch” year.

The Downtown Relief Line will provide an alternate for downtown-headed passengers, permitting them to bypass the most crowded section of Line 1, including Bloor-Yonge Station.

The actual final route is still being studied by city staff. As of early 2017, the line was proposed to begin at Pape Station on Line 2; proceed south beneath Pape Avenue to Riverdale Avenue and Gerrard Streets; south under Carlaw Avenue to Eastern Avenue, then northwest to Queen Street, and west to University Station on Line 1.

As a matter of good fortune, a subway station was actually built on Queen at Yonge, beneath Line 1, in the early 1950s for a proposed streetcar subway. At University Avenue, Osgoode Station was constructed in the early 1960s with additional reinforcing piling for a future east-west station beneath it. Apart from these, the Downtown Relief Line would offer at least six stations.

Future extensions might take the line north to Eglinton Avenue (Crosstown LRT interface; a station is being “roughed in” here) and to Sheppard Avenue, and perhaps westerly to Dundas West Station on Line 2.

The Relief Line, in its initial form, would be approximately four miles in length, and entirely underground. The preliminary estimated cost is C$6.2-$8.3 billion.

There has also been some discussion in recent years regarding the possibility of extending Line 1 Yonge Street northward from Finch terminus to the town of Richmond Hill, approximately eight miles. However, given its potential urgent need, the Downtown Relief Line, funding shortfalls notwithstanding, appears likely to be built first.

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