Urban Express Rail Grid One Leap to the best Public Transit

----- -------------------------------- Julian Li PEng

A A Scarborough Resident 416 299 7998 (H)

hs hsjulianli@gmail.com

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Foreword

With about 8.5 billions existing public transit fund, We can build a innovative transit system to solve all transit congestion for the city, and make Toronto to be one of best Transit City in North America.

It is not a dream, it is a professional conclusion.

Let ‘s open our mind, lay down our political views and really put the public benefit at the fist place, then we can fulfill the miracle.

Content

• Foreword.

• Part 1. Seven questions to change GTA Rapid Transit Strategy.

• Part 2. GTA Urban Rail Express Grid Plan.

• Part 3. Benefit Assessment.

• Part 4. Future possible developments.

• Conclusion.

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Part 1. Strategy Changes for GTA Urban Rapid Transit.

Major Strategy Questions for GTA Rapid Rail Transit?

1. Surface or Underground ?

2. Population and Ridership ?

3. Why urban rail corridor can not serve urban people?

4. Commuter System or Metro System ?

5. Diesel or electrification ?

6. Point Radial System or Grid System ?

7. Why not to chose the best option with the limited fund ?

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Q1. Put the rail on surface or underground ?

• There is a long time debate for the LRT on surface and Subway underground :

which one is better for GTA suburban?

Light Rail on surface in the Road:

------Relative lower investment.

------Not a rapid rail system, because it is a open ( not full grade separation )system.

It will be interfered by other road traffic flows ( road vehicles, pedestrian, bikes etc) and vice versa.

Subway :

------ Very expensive.

------ A enclosed ( full grade separation) system, a rapid rail system with big capacity.

------ GTA suburban population does not support the high ridership.

So, both of them are not good for suburban transit !

The contradiction of surface and underground is a fake proposition, a fallacy.

• Good Rapid Rail Transit should be a enclosed ( grade separated )but affordable transit system, no matter it is a surface system or underground system.

• In Toronto, now ,the fact is:

LRT in road is not enclosed dedicated rail transit, and Subway is unaffordable.

So what we need is opening our mind to find other better options beyond those two systems.

• Actually, surface system is more economic than underground system, and surface system also can be a enclosed dedicated system.

The right answer is: Put the rail in existing surface rail corridors

• Toronto has valuable rail corridors to develop urban public rail transit, which can be a dedicated rapid rail transit system on surface.

• Go Train already use some corridors, and some Go Train sections can be updated to Urban Rail Express.

• My Urban Express Rail Grid is one of the plan based on existing surface rail corridors.

Go Train already make use of some rail corridors

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GTA Urban Express Rail Grid !!!

Main components of the GTA Express Grid

• U Express Loop ( or GTA Express Loop): -----East section: From Unionville to Union Station in Go Train Stouffville corridor.

-----South part of West section: From Union Station to Lawrence West in Go Train Georgetown corridor.

----- North part of West section: From Lawrence West to the north of Steeles West in CP corridor of Mactier Subdivision.

-----North section: From Unionville to Martin Grove Rd in CN corridor of York Subdivision.

• Down Town Express ( DTE ) Loop: ------ West South Section: Along U Express from Dupont St to Don River west bank.

------ East Section: From U Express to Leaside in CP Don Branch.

------ North Section: From Leaside to Dundas St West in CP corridor of North Toronto .

• U2 Express: -----U2 East Express: From Leaside to Langstaff in Go Train Richmond Hill corridor.

----- U2 West Express : From DTE to Highway 7 in Go Train Barrie Corridor.

• All rail express are 2-ways electrified Rail Transit.

Q2. Population and Ridership ? • Like Sheppard Ave, The population of GTA of

suburban usually doesn’t support the high ridership of subway or LRT.

• The population density will not change too much in future, because many people like their life style in low residential area.

• To support the high ridership, the Rapid Transit in GTA must have bigger coverage of service area.

• Only Rapid Rail Express Grid system can satisfy the ridership demand without causing any traffic congestion.

Shortcomings of local rapid transit

• When we put a subway along one street such as Sheppard Ave, it is a local rapid transit , and the population doesn’t support high ridership.

• The only way to increase ridership beside of population increasing, is that local buses have to delivery many riders from other area to the subway.

• The above situation will come along with two facts :

1. The Rapid Transit in relative area should be very poor, people have to take long time bus to cram in the subway.

2. There will be some heavy local traffic congestion near subway station.

Those facts normally are the proofs for the failure of our Rapid Transit Plan.

The main cause of local transit congestion No enough inlets to Metro Rapid Transit

At Finch Ave West, we can find the

main cause of transit congestion:

Yonge Subway Finch Station is the

only rapid transit inlet in the area.

Therefore:

• Finch Ave residents have to take

long bus all the way to Finch

Station.

• Commuting flows from Steeles and

north of Sheppard have to merge

into Finch West.

• Some commuting flows come from

outside of the city.

You can release the transit congestion

without building a Light Rail along the road !!

If we add more Rapid Transit inlets in the area as our plan: • Local commuting flow will be separated into 6 short distance ( mostly in 2 km) flows. • No addition flow from other area. • 5-10 minutes bus to the Rail network, then 25 minutes to Union Station. • Local bus route without crowd load will be more high efficient with high turnover rate.

Why do you need a costly Light Rail built along the Finch West ?? Why do you want a unnecessary suffer of 5-10 years construction at

the road ??

Great Coverage is the assurance of the High ridership of U Express Grid

Toronto 70 % Area and 80% population within 2km of the Network

Rail Express Grid working together with local transit

• The station of Urban Rail Express is normally located at or near to major road, working as a rapid transit inlet for the local block; it collectively pick up the commuters in the block to ensure the ridership at the station.

• Local transits ( bus, car , bike and walkway etc) will deliver commuters to the station in short distance .

• Commuting trip typically would include:

Short distance local transit ----Long distance rail express --- Short distance local transit.

• With this strategy, the rail route option can be more flexible, such as existing rail corridors , hydro corridors etc.

Q3.Why urban rail corridor can not serve urban people?

• Existing urban rail corridors are generally used by Go Tran to serve

the inter-city commuter from outside of Toronto.

• People living along those rail corridors feel that it is unfair for their community has to absorb the environmental impacts of regional transit that they can’t use.

• People always ask: why the rail corridor is not utilized by TTC?

• A rail transit that cannot serve the resident along it, usually is not easy to gain the support from local communities, the Airport Rail Link is a example.

• In the history of Toronto transit , using the surface rail corridor for urban transit is not a new idea, Bloor Subway actually use surface rail corridor running in Scarborough to Kennedy station.

Rail Transit serving local people has better economic benefit

• Rail transit is supposed to provide the economic development benefit at the rail corridor, such as the value increasing of local property and Transit –Oriented Development (TOD); but the precondition is : the transit must serve local people.

• As for the property value, if there is a transit rail beside the property but the rail was not built for nearby resident , the property value will decrease by the environmental impacts of the rail; When the rail is a good transit for their resident, the property value will increase a lot by transit convenience.

• As for TOD, if the rail is just a passing by transit, it will be nothing about local development.

Unbalance between Regional Transit and Urban Transit

• A large increasing in Go Train passengers to Toronto, actually put more burden to the congested Urban Transit .

• Ontario has many Regional Rail Transit Plans, but the Urban Rail Transit in Toronto should be developed firstly ; otherwise, those regional rails would just pump more flow to a dead end.

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No serving for urban passenger

No good serving for inter-city passenger

• A Regional Rail not serving for urban passenger will limit its stop in urban area. Go Train almost take Union Station as the only destination in Down Town. But many inter-city passengers actually need travel to various locations in the city other than Union Station area. They really hope the Regional Rapid Transit can connect with a urban transit network, not just the Union Station.

• For most inter-city passengers, their whole commuting route include 2 parts: regional transit plus urban transit. In Ontario, more than 80 per cent of regional transit trips include the TTC. So Rapid Regional Transit can just solve half of the problem. Those two transits should be developed in balance.

• Right now, because of the separated transits, many inter-city passengers have to purchase 2 Passes for their commuting, one GO Pass, one TTC Pass, which is unaffordable for most of working family. They hope there should be someway to combine 2 transits together.

Urban Express Rail will serve both urban passenger and Inter-City passenger

• Urban Express Rail will serve urban passenger and Inter-City passenger in one system.

• Our Urban Rail Express Grid will contain the major section of some existing Go Train route:

---- From Union Station to Unionville in Stouffville route.

----From Down Town to Langstaff in Richmond Hill route.

---- From Down Town to Highway 7

in Barrie route.

• Those sections become parts of Rapid Urban Transit, which means those areas will become urban area.

Q 4: Commuter System or Metro System ?

• Go Train is a Commuter Rail System using surface rail corridors. In

Big Move, many Go Train routes are planed to be updated as full day, 2-way Service.

• Metro System is a kind of Urban Rail system with high frequency service for a Metropolitan Area. In Toronto, subway system is a existing Metro System. The gridlocked City need more Metro Systems. But the city’s urban transit plan didn’t take the rail corridors as a valuable route resource

• In GTA, the two systems can be merged in to one Urban Rail Express System in metro area. It means we can just use one investment to satisfy two type transit demands, which could save billions dollars for the taxpayers in Ontario.

Many rail corridors will develop full day 2-way passenger rail service in Big Move Plan

Our Urban Rail Express Grid use same rail corridors in Go Train future plan

Urban Rail Express components in Regional Transit plans of Big Move

• U Express Loop : East section: From Unionville to

Union Station . ----Stouffville Regional Rail (12) South part of West section:

From Union Station to Lawrence West.

----Brampton Express Rail (2). North part of West section:

From Lawrence West to the north of Steeles West.

---- Bolton Regional Rail (7).

Urban Rail Express components in Regional Transit plans of Big Move

• Down Town Express Loop: West Section: Along U Express from Dupont St to Union Station. ----Brampton Express Rail (2). East Section: From Union Station to Leaside. ---- Richmond Hill Regional Rail (10). North Section: From Leaside to Dundas St West. ---- Cross Town Regional Rail (8).

• U2 Express: U2 East Express: From Leaside to Langstaff. ---- Richmond Hill Regional Rail (10). U2 West Express : From DTE to Highway 7. ---- Barrie Regional Rail (9).

From Planed Regional Rail to Urban Rail Express ------ Just need more updating

• Most Urban Rail Express Grid routes have been planed in Big Move, will be full day and 2 way Regional Express or Regional Rail. So the province already plans to invest a lot of money for the rail tracks, stations, grade separation and trains.

• We just need connect the rails to a Loop, add more stations , more trains, and make the whole route to be full grade separated, then it is will be our Urban Rail Express Grid. A small step forward, we can solve both regional transit and metro transit problems in one system, we don’t need invest 20 billions for a new metro system.

Why we don’t do it ?

• If we invest billion dollar but just use the new expensive rails as a regional rail serving inter-city passenger with so called full day 2 way operation , How can the system keep a reasonable ridership in off-peak period ? Obviously, the rail have to attract urban passengers by add more stops in Urban area. So a efficient full day / 2 way Regional rail actually must serve both inter-city passenger and urban passenger, that is to say : the rail should be designed as a urban rail at the beginning, like what we are doing now.

Stations of Urban Rail Express

Station Spacing, speed and headway

• In Big Move Plan:

Regional Express:

Station Spacing: 2-5 km or more.

Average Speed ( including Stops): 50-80 km/h.

Maximum Speed: up to 130 km/h.

Minimum Headway: 5 minutes.

Regional Rail:

Station Spacing: 2-5 km.

Average Speed: 30-50 km/h.

Maximum Speed: exceeding 100 km/h.

Minimum Headway: 10 minutes.

• Our Urban Rail Express plan:

Station Spacing: 1.8-5.2 km.

Average Speed: 55-60 km/h.

Average Full Speed: about 80 km /h.

Maximum Speed: up to 130 km/h.

Minimum Headway: 3 minutes.

In this way, The whole trip time of the U Express Loop is about 1.5 h ( the maximum trip for passenger is half Loop, about 45 minutes), average trip between 2 stations is 3 minutes .

U Express West Section Station Spacing

A system combined with Regional and Metro Transits is technically achievable

• Our Urban Rail Express is a new system between Regional Express and Metro Transit, but

works for both Regional and Metro Transits.

---- More stations, higher frequency than Regional Express.

---- Fewer stations but faster than Metro Transit.

• Existing rail technologies can make Urban Rail Express applicable in GTA.

----- Electrical Multiple Unit ( EMU ) vehicle with better acceleration and braking capability.

----- Full grade separation ROW.

----- Minimize any speed limited infrastructure components like crossing, switch , junction and

turnout etc.

----- Strengthen the bridges ( in the route )for full speed pass.

( many bridges at stations don’t need it ).

-----Possible tilting train for DTE and vehicle active suspension system for passenger comfort.

---- Modern signal and control system with Automatic Train Control (ATC ).

Q 5: Diesel or electrification ? Our Urban Rail Express Grid will be a electrified Rail system.

• Electrification rail is the best option for the environment of urban area.

• Urban Rail Express need high performance electrified vehicle.

• Relative lower cost of surface rail system make the electrification to be affordable in existing fund.

• Lower operation cost.

• Relative affluent electricity power in Ontario.

• Electrification will use 2 X 25 kv overhead AC power.

• Modern OCS (Overhead catenary System) could work well in bad weather.

Q 6. Point Radial System or Grid System ?

• Toronto existing rail system is a point radial system from Union Station. Almost all rail transits converge to it, taking the Union Station as the only down town destination.

• Union Station is overloaded already, 250000 passengers crowd in it every day, 29 trains come in each peak hour.

• Even after 640 M Revitalization ( The cost can build several new rail stations elsewhere, but for Union Station, the project can only match its 2015 capacity), it will be overloaded immediately once again. And there are many plans sending more and more trains to it ( 90 trains in peak hour at 2031).

• Union Station is a big bottle neck for rail transits, and the local area is heavy road congestion area, if the situation could not be changed, it will be a dead end in our transit system.

• To off-load the Union Station effectively, we need build a Urban Rail Transit Grid, all the regional rails and inter city rails should converge to the grid, not the one congested point .

Rail transit bottle neck at Union Station

• The throat layout and signaling constraints at Union station limit trains headway and station capacity.

• USRC complex switch and interlocking system ( 260 power switches and 300 signals) severely constrain train speed, and make rail electrification to be difficult.

• Its very long dwell time is unacceptable for any rapid transit.

• Too many OCS wires will have visual problem in the station. The number of possible electrified routes is limited

Regional Rail Transits will connect with U E Grid to off-load Union Station

Proposed Regional Transit Connection

• Urban Rail Express Grid can serve both regional and urban Passengers.

• Most Go Train routes ( except for Lakeshore West) will connect with U Express Grid , and passenger can go to everywhere by the grid.

---- Georgetown Go Train and Airport Rail Link interchange to U Express Lawrence West Station ( Weston Go Station).

----Milton Go Train interchange to U Express and DTE at Bloor West Station.

----Lakeshore East Go Train interchange to U Express Scarborough Station.

---- Stouffville Go Train interchange to U Express at Unionville.

----Richmond Hill Go Train interchange to U2 Express at Langstaff.

---- Barrie Go Train interchange to U2 Express at Hwy 7 station.

• Electrified U Express and Down Town Express will connect with Union Station.

• The U Express Grid will be a new Rail Centre, Local Rails and Regional Rails can compose a new radial systems from the grid to cover GTA.

Updating of Union Station Rail corridor.

• U Express 2 tracks line and Down Town Express 2 tracks line will be 4 continuous tracks though Union Station with out any switch and interlock.

• U Express and Down Town Express will build the higher speed rails at the most north part of USRC rail works.

• The large throat works of Toronto Terminals Railway will update and shift to South.

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Union Station will assign dedicate platform and passenger access paths to U Express and Down Town Express. The dwell time will be less 1 minute.

Q7. Why not to chose the best option with the limited fund ?

• The estimated cost of whole U Express Grid is about 10 billion. The parts in Toronto cost less than 8.5 billion.

• With U Express Grid, both Eglinton Cross Town and Sheppard Subway extension are unnecessary, if we put 8.2 billion province fund of Eglinton Cross Town project and federal 300 M fund for Sheppard project together for new system, the investment could be enough for Toronto project.

• U Express Grid can be constructed with existing Ontario public transit fund.

• U Express Grid covers the whole city area, decrease 40 percent commuting time in Toronto, save 20 billion future transit fund, can make Toronto to be one of best transit city in North America.

We should stop all unnecessary transit projects, and build the U Express Grid immediately with our limited transit fund!!

Part 2. GTA Urban Rail Express Grid Plan. 1. U Express Loop.

2. Down Town Express Loop.

3. U2 Express.

4. Electrification and Vehicle.

5. Cost estimated.

U Express Loop

U Express West Section

Station Spacing

U Express West Section • Route:

South Part:

13.6 km existing Go Train 2 tracks line from Union Station to Lawrence West Station ( new Go Train Weston

Station) in Georgetown Go Train Corridor .

North Part:

12.5 km new 2 tracks line built in CP Mactier Subdivision.

At the north end, the route will cross Humber river to Martin Grove Rd, set up a Rapid Transit inlet at North

Etobicoke.

• Station: 10 stations.

3 Interchange Stations:

--- Lawrence West Station.( Go Train new Weston Station).

Interchange to Georgetown Go and Airport Rail Link.

--- Bloor West Station.

Interchange to Bloor Subway, Milton GO and Down Town Express .

--- Queen-Dufferin Station.

Interchange to Down Town Express.

7 local Stations:

---Martin Grove, Steels-Islington, Finch- Weston, Sheppard West, Wilson, Eglinton-Black Creek, St Clair-

Keele.

Go Train Georgetown south service expansion project

South part of U Express west section in Georgetown Go corridor.

• Georgetown south expansion project is a full grade separated express line, and it is already in implementation stage.

• The project will be built under the criterion of “not preclude electrification in the future”.

• U Express Grid can directly use 2 mainline tracks in the project for U Express, and other 2 tracks for Down Town Express.

• With new plan, 2 Milton GO Tracks might not be necessary in the project.

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2 GO Tracks for U Express

2 GO Tracks for U E, 2 GO Tracks for DTE

Interchange Station for 3 surface routes

2 Stations in this section is 3 surface routes interchange station.

• Lawrence West Station.

---- U Express, Georgetown Go Train, Airport Rail Link.

• Bloor West Station.

----U Express, Down Town Express, Milton Go Train. ( plus Bloor Subway).

Both local lands are appropriate.

Lawrence West

Bloor West

Interchange station for 2 routes

Queen-Dufferin Station is a 2 routes interchange station for U Express and Down Town Express, the location is spacious .

North part of west Section

----New tracks in CP Mactier Subdivision

• U Express Grid need add 12.5 km 2 new tracks in C Mactier Subdivision from Lawrence West to north of Steeles West.

• This Corridor has been studied in Metrolink Bolton Regional Rail ( one track) Study.

• 4 electrify tracks need 24.75 m space, we use 26m corridor width to measure along the rail corridor, and find that we can add 2 more tracks without considerable obstacle along this section of Mactier Subdivision.

26 m width buffer area along the rail corridor centre line

Lawrence West to Wilson Wilson to Sheppard West

26 m width buffer area along the rail corridor centre line

Sheppard West to Finch West Finch West to Steels West

Grade Separations in north part of U E west section

• 2 new grade separations at Oak St and Islington Ave, both might be underpass roads.

• 5 bridges need to be widen and strengthen.

A. 3 bridges can hold 3 tracks, need to be widen for 1 more track.

---- Finch Ave bridge.

---- Sheppard Ave bridge.

----Weston Rd bridge.

B. Wilson Ave bridge need to be widen for 2 more tracks.

C. Ormont Dr bridge is wide enough, but might be strengthen.

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Other special structures in west section north part

• A new rail bridge crossing Humber River to Etobicoke.

• Existing tunnel under Hwy 401 may need to be widen ,like the similar project in Georgetown south expansion.

• A rail to rail grade separation near Martin Grove Station.

U Express East Section

Station Spacing

U Express East Section

• 30 km 2 track U Express ROW will be created in Stouffville Go Train Corridor from Union Station to Unionville Station .

• There is 14 km spacious 3 Go tracks corridor from Union Station to Scarborough Station, at least 1 tracks can be used for U Express, need add 1 more track. The Scarborough Station will be the final stop for Lakeshore East Go Train.

• The north part of the section is 16 km 2 tracks route from Scarborough Station to Unionville Station, 1 more track need to be added. But 4.3 km existing standard 2-traks line of SRT from Eglinton to Ellesmere possibly might be used for U Express. SRT will connect with U Express at Ellesmere Station.

Station: 11 Stations.

• 5 interchanges stations:

----Unionville (Stouffville Go Train ), Ellesmere ( SRT),Eglinton East ( Bloor Subway), Scarborough (Lakeshore East Go Train), Danforth ( Bloor Subway).

• 6 local stations:

---- Milliken, Finch East, Agincourt, Lawrence East, Warden, Queen East.

Route :

Grade Separations and bridges at U Express east section

• Sheppard Grade Separation is in construction.

• 8 -9 level road crossings need to upgrade to be Grade Separation.

----Denison St

---- Kennedy Rd

----Passmore Ave.

----McNicoll Ave.

----Finch Ave

----Huntingwood Dr.

----Progress Ave.

----Danforth Rd / Midland Ave.

----Havendale Rd ( need more study).

• 401 tunnel in the corridor can accommodate 2 tracks.

• 2 small bridge crossing High Land Creek need updating.

• Queen East bridge need to be widen 53

Projects about Unionville Station

• Extending U Express north out of Hwy 407 at Unionville Station is important for U Express Grid to connect with the centre area of Markham Municipality.

• 3 under passes need to be widen at 14th Ave, CN railway and Hwy 407.

• A underground tunnel may be needed from Unionville Station to CN corridor.

U Express North Section

• 26 km 2 tracks added in CN York Subdivision and Halton Subdivision.

• 7 stations:

3 interchange Stations.

--- U2 West, U2 East, and Jane ( Spadina Subway).

4 local stations.

--- Weston, Bathurst, Yonge, Woodbine.

Station Spacing

Infrastructure update in north section

• The rail corridor is almost full grade separated.

• 7 road / rail crossing bridges need to be widen.

--- Bathurst.

--- Bayview.

--- Henderson.

--- New Westminister.

--- Dufferin.

---Islington.

--- CP rail.

• The bridge crossing Humber River need to be widen and straighten.

Grade Separation at rail crossing

• Located at U Express North Section crossing with U2 East Express.

• CN rails, U Express, U2 East Express, and U2 East Station ( 2 level platform for U Express and U2 Express).

C N

U Express

U2 East Express

U2 East Station

U Express U2 Station

Down Town Express Loop

Down Town Express Loop

25.4 km 2 tracks route will have 4 parts.

---- West South Section:

Along U Express from Dupont St to Union

Station, using 2 tracks from George Town

Expansion project.

---- East South Section:

2 tracks line in Union Station Corridor.

---- East Section:

From U Express to Leaside in CP Don

Branch. Add 1 more track.

------ North Section:

From Leaside to Dundas St West , add 2

more tracks in CP North Toronto

Subdivision.

DTE stations • Possible Station: 12 stations.

7 interchange stations:

-----Union Station.

( U Express, Lakeshore West Go , Yonge Subway).

-----Queen-Dufferin Station .

( U Express).

-----Bloor West Station .

( Bloor Subway, Milton Go).

-----Dufferin Station .

( U2 West Express).

-----Spadina Station and Yonge Station.

( Yonge Subway).

-----Leaside Station

( U2 East Express).

5 Local stations:

-----Bathurst South , Christie, Mount Pleasant, Dundas East and Parliament .

Down Town Express line near to Union Station

• U Express 2 tracks line and Down Town Express 2 tracks line will be 4 continuous tracks though Union Station with out any switch and interlock.

• Down Town Express should take up the most north line at Union Station Corridor.

• At west of Union Station, the U Express and Down Town Express might cut the connection of a Go Staging Yard with outside Go line, but the Yard can transfer to be a Yard for DTE EMUs.

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DT E east section

• 6 km 2 tracks in CP Don Branch, 1 existing track , 1 new track, supposing CP Don Branch not be used by freight train in future.

• Because the elevation difference between DTE and Bloor Subway line is more than 30 m, there will be no interchange station at Bloor East.

DT E east section

• Two bridges in CP Down Branch crossing Don River need to be widen and strengthen, including a long span bridge.

DTE North Section ---- 26 m wide buffer area

Dufferin to Yonge

DTE North Section ---- 26 m wide buffer area

Yonge to Bayview

DTE North Section ----new 4 tracks corridor

• About 10 km new 2 tracks will be added in CP North Toronto Subdivision.

• Rough measurement shows there is no considerable obstacles along the rail, except for a small bottle neck at the east of Dufferin St.

• 30 % of CP corridor already have 3 tracks, one of them might be used in the project.

DTE North Section --- Grade separation and bridge

• There are about 15 existing Grade Separations.

---- 2 bridges need to widen with 2 tracks.

Symington Ave, Mt Pleasant Rd.

---- 10 bridges need to widen with 1 tracks.

Dufferin St, Dovercourt Rd, Ossington Ave, Shaw St, Christie St, Bathurst St , Howland Ave, Spadina Rd, Davenport St, Bayview Ave.

---- 3 bridges might need to be strengthened.

Lansdowne Ave, Avenue Rd, Yonge St.

• One new Grade Separation need at Osler St.

• Level crossing at Barttett Ave could be removed.

• 2 Valley bridges ( 1 near Mt Pleasant,1 near Bayview ) need widen.

West connecting curve line

• The 2 tracks curve line connect the DTE line in west Go corridor with the DTE line in CP corridor.

• The curve line can be built at ground level, but a Grade Separation should be built at Osler St, otherwise the properties at Carboo Ave need move out.

• Or the curve line can be built as a viaduct with high cost.

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Interchange stations to U2 Express

• Leaside Station located at west of Millwood Rd connecting Leaside area to Down Town area, it is the interchange station to U2 East Express.

• A new rail to rail grade separation near to Leaside Station.

• U2 West Express will turn east connecting with DTE at Dufferin Station.

• A alternative path for U2 West Express is crossing underpass DTE north section and connecting DTE at Queen –Dufferin Station.

U2 Express

U 2 West Express • 16.3 km 2 tracks from DTE to Hwy 7 in Go Train Barrie Corridor. • 1 existing track , 1 new track. • 9 stations . •4 interchange stations. ---- Hwy 7 ( Barrie Go). ---- U2 West ( U E Loop) ---- Sheppard West ( Spadina Subway). ----Dufferin ( DTE) • 5 local stations: Finch West , Wilson, Lawrence West, Eglinton West, St Clair West.

U 2 West Express ----Arrangement for local industrial rail

• From south of Sheppard west to CN York subdivision , there are some industrial rail users , and the rail route have 2 tracks. The biggest user is at west side of north of Finch.

• 1 existing track will be kept for industrial use, so the corridor section will have 3 tracks.

• 1 rail grade separation and some new local track might be need .

U2 West Express -----Grade Separation and bridge

• 1 new Grade Separation at Castlefield Ave.

• Remove 1 level crossing at Carl Hall Rd.

• 10 existing bridges :

4 bridges need to be widen for 2 tracks.

--- Rogers Rd, Wilson, Lawrence west, Hwy 407.

3 bridges need to be widen for 3 tracks.

--- Sheppard W, Finch W, Steeles W.

3 bridges can be put 1 more track.

---St Clair West, CN York Rail and Hwy 7.

U2 East Express • 18 km 2 tracks from Leaside to Langstaff in Go Train Richmond Hill Corridor , CN corridor and CP corridor. • 10 Stations. • 4 interchange Stations: ---Langstaff ( Richmond Hill Go Train). --- U 2 East ( U Express Loop). --- Sheppard East ( Sheppard Subway). ---Leaside ( Down Town Express). • 6 local Stations: --- Bayview, Steele East, Finch East, York Mills, Lawrence East, Eglinton East.

U2 East Express ----- North Section

• 12 km 2 tracks from Langstaff to the south of York Mills in Richmond Hill Go Train Corridor.

• Existing rail: 35 % 2 tracks, 65 % 1 track.

• 1 new grade separation at Green Ln.

• 4 bridges need to be widen and strengthen.

---Finch East, Sheppard East, Cummer Ave, Esther Shiner Blvd.

U2 East Express ---- Middle Section

• 4 km new 2 tracks in the abandoned CN corridor parallel to Leslie St, from south of York Mills to North of Eglinton.

• A new road grade separation at Lawrence East.

• A new rail grade separation at the CP corridor.

U2 East Express ---- South Section

• 2.3 km new 2 tracks added along the east side of CP rails in Belleville Subdivision, from Eglinton to Leaside.

• Both Eglinton bridge and Don River bridge need to be widen and strengthen.

Electrification • Urban Rapid Rail electrification is

the best choice to protect urban environment.

• System operation requests the trains have high acceleration capability.

• Total 143 km 2track rail route in U Express Grid.

---82.2 km U Express Loop

---25.4 km Down Town Express.

---24.4 km U2 Express.

• AC Electrification System with OCS ( Overhead Catenary System ) as power supply.

Integrated power system for U Express Grid

• If using 2X25kv AC Autotransformer

–Fed System, there would be 4

Traction Power Stations ( 1 may back

up) , about 12 to 20 Switch Stations

and Autotransformer Stations in the

system.

• Hydro One indicated 2 power inlet

locations.

• The 2 tracks 2x25 kv OCS

( Overhead Catenary System) along

the line should be carefully designed

to have a good visual impact.

• Grounding everything within 250m of

the nearest rail.

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Electric Vehicle • U Express Grid use same bi-level EMU ( Electric

Multiple)and passenger cars.

For U Express: 4 EMUs + 4 cars.

For DTE and U2 Express: 3 EMUs + 3 cars

• Minimum Head way in peak time could be 3 minutes.

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The vehicles will be specially designed with more standee space suitable for urban transit.

Electric Vehicle

• U Express maximum capacity can reach 48000 per hour at rush commuting hours to accommodate urban passengers and regional passengers.

• Both Down Town Express and U2 Express can reach 36000 maximum capacity per hours.

• Those Bi-level Vehicles will carefully designed with suitable door system and inside passage to decrease dwell time.

Preliminary cost estimation

The whole system is estimated to cost 10 billon.

• Route Infrastructure estimated cost: 5 billion.

• Electrification: 0.9 billion.

• Vehicle fleet: 3.1 billion.

• Yard: 0.6 billion.

• Control and other: 0.4 billion

Preliminary cost estimation ---- Infrastructure

• New track( class 4): 174 km cost 1044 M.

• New grade separation: 15 cost 525 M.

• Bridge Widen: 48 cost 240 M.

• Station : 54 cost 1830 M.

• Special project:

New Humber River bridge, old Humber River bridge updating.

2 Don River bridge and 1 Don River Branch bridge updating.

North Crossing Separation, Unionville Station, and other projects: cost 1220 M

• USRC updating: cost 150 M

Subtotal : 5009 M

Preliminary cost estimation ---- Fleet and Electrification

• Fleet:

Bi-level EMU: 406 cost 2030 M.

Bi-Level Passenger Car: 406 cost 1015 M.

Subtotal: 3045M.

• Electrification: 144 km cost 864 M.

Part 3: Benefit Assessment

• Biggest public transit coverage, relieve all transit congestions in Toronto.

• More rapid transit, cutting off 40 % commuting time.

• Better service for both urban passenger and regional passenger.

• Profound saving in public transit investment and congestion loss.

• Contributions to urban economic development.

• Contributions to environmental improvement.

500m walking to take a Rapid Transit

2KM Coverage ----5 minutes bus or 10 minutes bike

Relieve transit congestion in whole city

• Urban Rail Express Grid together with existing subway will cover 70 % area and 80 % population in the city with in 2 km coverage.

• 80 % people can take 5 minutes bus or 10 minutes bike to a Rapid Transit.

• Remained 20 % people in relative remote area mostly can take bus express with less than half distance that they used to take , their commuting time will be cut off a lot.

• There will be no major transit congestion in the city.

Cause of Sheppard East Congestion

• Donmills Station is the only

Rapid Transit inlet in the area.

• Commuting flows from other

east-west avenues merge

into Sheppard East.

• From the most remote point

on Sheppard to Union Station,

people have to take 45 min

17 km crowded bus to

Sheppard Subway, then 15

minutes to Yonge/ Sheppard,

then 40 minutes to Union.

Total trip is 100 minutes

without congestion and delay.

Relieve Sheppard Congestion with U Express Grid -----No Need of Sheppard Subway Extension

• U Express Grid will provide many Rapid Transit inlets in the east part of city.

• Many commuters will directly take U Express to Downtown.

• There will be no need of Sheppard Subway Extension, 4 billion can be saved for the City.

• From the most remote point on Sheppard to Union Station, people can take 30 minutes 11 km bus to Agincourt Station, and 25 minutes later they will be in Union Station . Total trip is 55 minutes, almost half of previous trip time, and for sure there is no congestion and less crowd.

Cause of Eglinton East Congestion • Lawrence Ave East

and St Clair Ave East are not continuous avenues at the east to west direction.

• All commuting flows near Eglinton East have to merge into one big flow into Eglinton Station of Yonge Subway.

• Even some people in Leaside area have to travel to Eglinton.

Relieve Eglinton Congestion with U Express Grid -----No Need of Eglinton Cross Town Project.

With the U Express Grid.

• There 3 rapid transit stations at each street area of Lawrence East, Eglinton East and St Clair East.

• One big commuting flow to Eglinton Subway Station will be divided into more than 10 small short distance flows.

• The longest trip to a rapid transit station on Eglinton East is 4 km 10 minutes bus.

Why we need 8.2 billion Eglinton Cross Town Line ???

Eglinton East --- Almost paradise for passenger Why We need 8.2 billion Eglinton Cross Town Line ???

• At Eglinton East, most area will be cover by 1 km distance to a rapid transit station, which means 2-3 minutes bus or 5 minutes bike trip. It is almost a paradise for passenger.

• Why We need Eglinton Cross Town Line?

Remember:

--- The LRT station spacing is about1 km.

---- Ten years construction to block the street, business opportunity will largely decrease.

---- 8.2 billion from tax payer pocket.

Improving Down Town transit • Relieve the transit pressure to

Down Town Core from regional transit and Up Town transit.

• Provide fast and convenient rail transit for Down Town people.

• Within 15 minutes, people can skip to the opposite side of Down Town, or take a fast transit outside of Down Town.

• Relieve the transit pressure to Yonge and Bloor Subways.

• Congestion relief at Union Station and Bloor-Yonge Station.

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U Express Grid can cut off 40 %

commuting time in Toronto. Decreasing commuting time by UE Grid is base on tow factors.

• High coverage station distribution decrease the travel distance to Rapid Rail Transit.

---From Steeles to St Clair, there will be four more Rapid Rail stations on each major road, the average trip distance to the stations is 20-25 % of previous distance.

• Higher travel speed of UE Grid.

--- In U E Grid ,the average speed is 55-60 km/h, higher than 35 km/h subway.

Commuting time reduction.

--- For people lives in suburban area, it is about 50 %.

--- For people lives along U E Grid, it is about 60-75 %.

--- Even for people lives near to subway, it also could be 15- 20 % because of the relief of bus congestion at the station, and the trip will be more comfortable with less crowd.

--- People can estimate their commuting time by counting the bus trip distance, then roughly taking 1 station trip in UE as 3 minutes, they can get the whole trip time and compare it with previous trip time.

Estimated average commuting time reduction is about 40%.

Better service for both urban and regional passengers.

Regional passengers can also get huge benefit from U E Grid. • More access to Rapid Rail Transit and lower commuting time.

• Flexible route option, can travel to everywhere in the City.

• U E Grid is a integrated Rapid Transit system for both regional trip and urban trip, which will advocate integrated transit fare system in GTA. People can travel in different transit systems with one fare and save a lot of commuting expense.

--- For example, we might develop 3 type month passes:

G Pass ( Go Train Pass) :can cover local municipal bus, Go Train, U E Grid and TTC.

U Pass ( U Express Pass): can cover U E Grid , TTC and local municipal bus south than the 16 Ave.

T Pass :TTC subway and bus.

Profound saving in public transit investment.

• With 10 billion U E Grid, we can reduce 40 % people commuting time, which has profoundly higher cost efficiency than previous 50 billion plan to reduce 7 minutes commuting time.

• No need of 8.2 billion Eglinton Cross Town Line and 4 billion Sheppard Subway extension. U E Grid can be built mostly with existing public transit fund.

• Integrate Urban Transit and Regional Transit into one system, using one fund to finish two things.

• The strategy can be use for future GTA transit development to lower future investment.

Profound saving in congestion loss

• In Toronto, the annual congestion loss is 3.3 billion.

• GTA congestion annual loss is 5 billion.

• U E Grid can relieve all transit congestion, and attract large mount of commuters from driving. The traffic congestion will be profoundly reduced.

• It is estimated to save 2 billion congestion loss annually in GTA after the new system coming to use.

.

• Fast and convenient Urban Rapid Transit will attract more investors to create more employment in GTA.

• Develop several rapid transit hubs other than Union Station, which will stimulate district economy and develop urban economy in a more balance way.

• Increase urban property value.

• Trigger more Transit –Oriented Development (TOD).

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Contributions to Urban Environment

• Profoundly increase public transit ridership, removing million car trips in GTA.

• No emission from Urban Rapid Rail Transit, which substitute hundreds buses on the road.

• Improve public health.

• Beneficial to our green city, green energy and green economy.

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Part 4. Future possible development • The Urban Express strategy can be used in future transit

plan in GTA, with flexible route option and lower cost.

• Future GTA rapid transit system can be a far reach radial system from U E Grid.

• U2 East Express and U2 West Express can reach to 16 th Ave in future.

• There could be 3 local express in each east or west side of Toronto to cover the whole city with Rapid Rail Transit, connecting with municipalities in GTA more closely.

Possible local express at the west side of Toronto

• Covert Airport Link to be a local express to increase the Rapid Transit coverage in Etobicoke, add 3 stations at Kipling, Hwy 27 and Goreway Rd.

• Similarly, we can develop a local express in Milton Go corridor to Mississauga.

• The third local express can be planed in Lakeshore East Go corridor to Oakville.

With these 3 local express, all Etobicoke area can be covered by Rapid Rail Transit.

• Another regional express can be developed in CN corridor to Brampton from Martin Grove Station.

Possible local express at the east side of Toronto

• A local express can be developed in Lakeshore east Go corridor from Scarborough station to Morningside.

• The second east express can be developed in Hydro corridor , from Lawrence East station to Pickering.

• The third local express can planed in CP corridor, from Agincourt station to Morningside Heights.

With these 3 local express, all Scarborough can be covered by Rapid Rail Transit.

Conclusion

• We can built a innovative Urban Rail Express Grid with existing public transit fund in Toronto, if we stop unnecessary Eglinton Light Rail and Sheppard Subway extension.

• The system will cover whole city and south part of York Region, relieve all transit congestion and cut off 40 % commuting time.

• Save 2 billion congestion loss annually, and save 20 billion future transit investment.

• Toronto can be one of best transit city in North America

• Profound contribution to Toronto economic and environment.

Finally, generally talking about the U Express Plan

• It is a “ subway “ on the ground !

But it is faster than subway !!

• It is a Express “ Transit City “ !

its Express rail cover the whole City !!

• It is affordable plan !

It can be done mostly with existing public transit fund !!

• It is a Green Transit !

It is a Electrified Rail Express !!

• Most of all ,It is a public transit for all the GTA people !

U Express is your express !!

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Thank you very much !!

Please support the U Express Grid plan.

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