Future Rapid Transit, LRT, BRT, Commuter Rail in Canada

[TownGuy]

Originally Posted by caltrane74

That station is so huge, it will swallow up 60,000 people like they are nothing.

So? Better to be over-built than under-built. It's not like it's extravagant looking. Looks nice but utilitarian.

[WhipperSnapper]

You definitely see it's Foster gestures with the entrance and in the concourse.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Martin Mtl

Overkill !? Looks rather plain and beige to me.

You classic Montréalais, you.

[Rico Rommheim]

I'm totally with Martin on this one, my first reaction after seeing that image was completely underwhelming.

Although Acajack is right, we're spoiled with the Montreal metro, with each station looking as if it were dedicated to a different deity.

Not shitting on TO because I love that city, but their metro is disproportionally small, it's cramped, it's slow, it looks like a men's bathroom at a 1930's bath house and is really showing its age. And the tokens...

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by TownGuy

So? Better to be over-built than under-built. It's not like it's extravagant looking. Looks nice but utilitarian.

From outside, it's spectacular.

[Martin Mtl]

Originally Posted by caltrane74

too big. There will be like 2 people going through these stations at rush hour.

Originally Posted by caltrane74

That station is so huge, it will swallow up 60,000 people like they are nothing.

So which one is it ? 2 or 60 000 ?

[Martin Mtl]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

From outside, it's spectacular.

Just googled it. It really is spectacular outside.

[hipster duck]

I'll reserve judgment until I see it in person, but the Spadina line extension stations seem to have their design priorities backward.

The platform level should be the most ornate since that's where people spend most of their time.

The mezzanine should be nice, but not quite as nice as platform level.

The entranceway above ground should be somewhat utilitarian, because the goal should be to eventually redevelop the air rights above the station. Granted, at York University they'll probably keep the station building forever because it sits on a ceremonial plaza/mall, but there's no real reason to build a fancy entrance building at Vaughan Centre or Finch West.

[niwell]

^To be fair, the Vaughan and Finch West stations are at least the simplest of all of the new ones at ground level. The latter may take up a bit too much space but that's mostly for the integrated bus bays. It could be built on top of fairly easily if the demand ever materializes. Vaughan's is in a small plaza and probably the most "urban" of the latest batch, which is somewhat ironic considering it's pretty much surrounded by vacant land right now.

[manny_santos]

I suspect Finch West will become busier once the LRT is built.

[WhipperSnapper]

I rather like the high tech look of the platform level. The finishes could be better. I do hope there's some more cladding to be installed.

[1overcosc]

That station will probably be one of the busiest in the TTC network.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by Rico Rommheim

And the tokens...

Those are going away pretty soon, I think.

[DavefromSt.Vital]

I did find the mezzanine level of the York University Station to be oddly large. However, at busy times the transfers between the mezzanine and the surface "wings" may become choke points at busy times. It will definitely be more than one or two people.

[haljackey]

One of the reasons why LRT was ditched in London was because Western University said there would be vibrations during construction that could affect some sensitive equipment and whatnot. And maybe some from the trains themselves when operating.

I thought... okay.

Then I visited York University station where they tunneled below the freaking centre of the university, right below some buildings too! What gives, Western?

[Beedok]

Originally Posted by haljackey

One of the reasons why LRT was ditched in London was because Western University said there would be vibrations during construction that could affect some sensitive equipment and whatnot. And maybe some from the trains themselves when operating.

I thought... okay.

Then I visited York University station where they tunneled below the freaking centre of the university, right below some buildings too! What gives, Western?

McMaster had similar worries with the LRT near it. That construction would be right along the hospital, so it might depend on which wing of the university . . . but then again Hospitals get new additions added all the time.

[FFX-ME]

The University of Ottawa also had similar issues but the contractors will be installing some vibration damping things around the campus.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by Beedok

McMaster had similar worries with the LRT near it. That construction would be right along the hospital, so it might depend on which wing of the university . . . but then again Hospitals get new additions added all the time.

One concern is about interference with the university's electron microscope, which is less than 300 metres away from the future station on Main. But McMaster is on record supporting the LRT, and Metrolinx will be working to mitigate electromagnetic and vibration issues.

[gunnar777]

Originally Posted by Rico Rommheim

I'm totally with Martin on this one, my first reaction after seeing that image was completely underwhelming.

Although Acajack is right, we're spoiled with the Montreal metro, with each station looking as if it were dedicated to a different deity.

Not shitting on TO because I love that city, but their metro is disproportionally small, it's cramped, it's slow, it looks like a men's bathroom at a 1930's bath house and is really showing its age. And the tokens...

I lived in Montreal and though I loved the urban yet inadequate metro, I keep hearing this sentiment and I just don't see it. A few stations stand out with stained glass or high ceilings, but mostly, they're some raw concrete, what looks like a lick of house paint and bricks. These aren't the ornate Soviet metro stations they're made out to be, and they aren't modern, like many Munich U-Bahn stations or the Copenhagen Metro, for example. Not to knock the system too much, I find all things considered it to be slightly better than Toronto's also inadequate system (more likelihood that one will live within walking distance of a metro station in Montreal, OPUS has been around forever, fully underground stations).

As for the Spadina extension, this is a step in the right direction from the other, overly utilitarian stations but they still look like they'd seem modern were they built in the 90's.

[p_xavier]

Originally Posted by gunnar777

I lived in Montreal and though I loved the urban yet inadequate metro, I keep hearing this sentiment and I just don't see it. A few stations stand out with stained glass or high ceilings, but mostly, they're some raw concrete, what looks like a lick of house paint and bricks. These aren't the ornate Soviet metro stations they're made out to be, and they aren't modern, like many Munich U-Bahn stations or the Copenhagen Metro, for example. Not to knock the system too much, I find all things considered it to be slightly better than Toronto's also inadequate system (more likelihood that one will live within walking distance of a metro station in Montreal, OPUS has been around forever, fully underground stations).

As for the Spadina extension, this is a step in the right direction from the other, overly utilitarian stations but they still look like they'd seem modern were they built in the 90's.

A few stations? Stations built from the late 70s onward are huge with brutalism design. The only underwelming stations are the one built in the 60s, and even there you have Bonaventure or Square-Victoria that are gorgeous.