Toronto working with UK over new transit plan

[mentalfloss]

John Tory to declare Toronto ‘under new management’ to U.K. leaders

Toronto Mayor John Tory will travel to London next week to study the city’s massive Crossrail transit project – a $27-billion rail expansion that serves as the basis for his own SmartTrack plan – as well as send the message that, after years of scandals, the city is “under new management.”

After a city staff report this week once again raised questions about the feasibility of Mr. Tory’s SmartTrack proposal, the mayor doubled down on Friday, proclaiming, “SmartTrack is going to be built.” He said he will sit down with London Mayor Boris Johnson and transit officials during his visit to Britain next week to talk about their Crossrail experience, hoping to bring back lessons for the development of SmartTrack

“It would be disingenuous if I didn’t say the Crossrail project and what it represented – using existing rail to move through a big city – was in part behind the development of the idea of SmartTrack,” Mr. Tory said in a speech to the British Canadian Chamber of Trade and Commerce Friday. Crossrail – which is funded in part by the private sector – was originally approved in 2008 and is expected to be completed by 2018. The route includes 40 stations and is expected to run more than 100 kilometres through London and its suburbs. Mr. Tory’s $8-billion SmartTrack plan proposes 22 stations stretching from the Toronto Pearson International Airport area in the west to Scarborough in the east and Unionville to the north.

During his visit with Crossrail officials, Mr. Tory said, he hopes to also learn how to better integrate the stations into new and existing development. “I want to make sure that going forward … we don’t just use vanilla stations,” he said Friday. “By ‘vanilla’ I don’t think they have to be fancy, but I think they should serve multiple purposes.”

During his three-day visit, the mayor will also meet with business and government leaders in an attempt to attract investment to Toronto. He said under predecessor Rob Ford’s mayoralty, “distractions and embarrassments were constant” and the scandals left a “stain” on the city’s image.

“My job is to be the chief salesperson, and I think part of that is to rebuild the city’s reputation and indicate very clearly … the city is under new management.”

John Tory to declare Toronto ‘under new management’ to U.K. leaders - The Globe and Mail

 

[Locutus]

Lol...there's already a limey looking after the ttc here...it would likely take this place 20 years (and many many billions - how much that is you'd have to ask flossie - a billion is a weird number ya know) of steady digging to finally begin a 'world class city' subway system.

it will always be regarded as a second rate urban center and maybe less than that by those that struggle through it's pathetic 2-line underground.





and tory and the dreamers were floating the olympics bid idea.

the olympics.

 

[Curious Cdn]

That's hell of a long tunnel that they are planning.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Good idea. Go to the country with the worst transit system in Europe and ask for their help.

Italy's got better transit than Briddin.

 

[mentalfloss]

Is it the worst in Europe?

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Is it the worst in Europe?

Well, I suppose Bosnia might be worse, but Briddin sucks ***. Worst system I've been on.

 

[Blackleaf]

Is it the worst in Europe?

No. The UK has the best major rail network in Europe, and second only to Finland's, which is much smaller than Britain's rail network despite Finland being bigger than Britain.

The British railway network is the 18th-largest in the world despite Britain being the world's 78th-largest country. It's also the fifth-busiest rail network in the world, with 20% more train services than France, 60% more than Italy, and more than Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Portugal and Norway combined. It is also, of course, the oldest in the world.

Britain has 'best major rail network' in Europe

A SURVEY of railway passengers in the European Union has concluded that more passengers in the United Kingdom are satisfied with their rail journeys than in any other country, with the sole exception of the small system serving Finland.

However, Finnish trains only carry some 67 million people annually, which the Rail Delivery Group pointed out is 6 million fewer than the passenger total each year at London Victoria alone.

British railways are often reported to be carrying more than 1.5 billion people annually, but this figure is inflated by around 17 per cent because ticketing databases count each operator involved in a journey, and the actual number of passengers is more likely to be about 1.28 billion, a figure which is still approaching some of the busiest years before the Second World War.

The survey, which covered all 26 EU countries with a railway system, concluded that passengers elsewhere in Europe are usually less happy. The percentage of passengers giving a 'high' or 'good' rating was 80 per cent in Finland and 78 per cent in the UK, where nearly all the railways are in England, Scotland or Wales, with the rest in Northern Ireland.

By contrast, the figure for both Belgium and France was 74 per cent, the Netherlands 67 per cent and Germany 51 per cent, where recent staffing problems and disruption to services may have affected the responses. In Poland and Italy only 39 per cent of rail users were satisfied.

The survey of over 26,000 Europeans by the European Commission was conducted to examine rail passengers’ satisfaction with domestic rail services, including trains, railway stations and accessibility for people with reduced mobility.

In other categories, the often sensitive subject of information during train journeys also yielded a comparatively high UK figure, 70 per cent, while the equivalents for France and Germany were 43 per cent and 40 per cent.

Satisfaction with punctuality and reliability was greatest in the UK (73 per cent), while in France it was 57 per cent and Germany 48 per cent.

Rail Delivery Group director general Michael Roberts said in many areas Britain was 'setting the standard for our European neighbours to follow', but he also warned that the job is not yet complete, when he said: "As record numbers of passengers choose to travel by train, we need to improve even further."

Britain has 'best major rail network' in Europe | Railnews | Today's news for Tomorrow's railway


As for Crossrail, it is currently the largest construction project in Europe, an engineering project so vast that it would even make the Victorian British proud.

A 73-mile long railway is currently under construction through London and its environs. Thirteen miles of new twin-tunnels and FORTY new stations are being built. It is due to open in 2018.

One of the eight huge tunnelling machines that are boring their way through the capital. Each weighs 1,000 tons, is 459 feet long and is like a giant underground factory on wheels. Their names are Phyllis, Ada, Elizabeth, Victoria, Sophia, Mary, Jessica and Ellie

The Canary Wharf Crossrail station under construction in central London

The station is to have a rooftop garden

The new Liverpool Street Crossrail station

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Britain's transit system is like their Navy. . . looks great on CGI, crumbling rustbuckets in the real world.

 

[Blackleaf]

Britain's transit system is like their Navy. . . looks great on CGI, crumbling rustbuckets in the real world.

And yet, in Europe, only the Finns are happier with their rail network than Britons are.

 

[Locutus]

tory tory he's the man. :lol:

anyway...real subways and real rapid transit systems:

Comparing Maps - metrobits.org

 

[mentalfloss]

No. The UK has the best major rail network in Europe, and second only to Finland's, which is much smaller than Britain's rail network despite Finland being bigger than Britain.

The British railway network is the 18th-largest in the world despite Britain being the world's 78th-largest country. It's also the fifth-busiest rail network in the world, with 20% more train services than France, 60% more than Italy, and more than Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Portugal and Norway combined. It is also, of course, the oldest in the world.

Britain has 'best major rail network' in Europe

A SURVEY of railway passengers in the European Union has concluded that more passengers in the United Kingdom are satisfied with their rail journeys than in any other country, with the sole exception of the small system serving Finland.

However, Finnish trains only carry some 67 million people annually, which the Rail Delivery Group pointed out is 6 million fewer than the passenger total each year at London Victoria alone.

British railways are often reported to be carrying more than 1.5 billion people annually, but this figure is inflated by around 17 per cent because ticketing databases count each operator involved in a journey, and the actual number of passengers is more likely to be about 1.28 billion, a figure which is still approaching some of the busiest years before the Second World War.

The survey, which covered all 26 EU countries with a railway system, concluded that passengers elsewhere in Europe are usually less happy. The percentage of passengers giving a 'high' or 'good' rating was 80 per cent in Finland and 78 per cent in the UK, where nearly all the railways are in England, Scotland or Wales, with the rest in Northern Ireland.

By contrast, the figure for both Belgium and France was 74 per cent, the Netherlands 67 per cent and Germany 51 per cent, where recent staffing problems and disruption to services may have affected the responses. In Poland and Italy only 39 per cent of rail users were satisfied.

The survey of over 26,000 Europeans by the European Commission was conducted to examine rail passengers’ satisfaction with domestic rail services, including trains, railway stations and accessibility for people with reduced mobility.

In other categories, the often sensitive subject of information during train journeys also yielded a comparatively high UK figure, 70 per cent, while the equivalents for France and Germany were 43 per cent and 40 per cent.

Satisfaction with punctuality and reliability was greatest in the UK (73 per cent), while in France it was 57 per cent and Germany 48 per cent.

Rail Delivery Group director general Michael Roberts said in many areas Britain was 'setting the standard for our European neighbours to follow', but he also warned that the job is not yet complete, when he said: "As record numbers of passengers choose to travel by train, we need to improve even further."

Britain has 'best major rail network' in Europe | Railnews | Today's news for Tomorrow's railway


As for Crossrail, it is currently the largest construction project in Europe, an engineering project so vast that it would even make the Victorian British proud.

A 73-mile long railway is currently under construction through London and its environs. Thirteen miles of new twin-tunnels and FORTY new stations are being built. It is due to open in 2018.

One of the eight huge tunnelling machines that are boring their way through the capital. Each weighs 1,000 tons, is 459 feet long and is like a giant underground factory on wheels. Their names are Phyllis, Ada, Elizabeth, Victoria, Sophia, Mary, Jessica and Ellie

The Canary Wharf Crossrail station under construction in central London

The station is to have a rooftop garden

The new Liverpool Street Crossrail station

Good post BL.

Looks like we're in good hands!

 

[Blackleaf]

Good post BL.

Looks like we're in good hands!

Just don't adopt London's Boris Bikes. These are bikes which are available throughout London which anyone can just go on and ride for £2, without having to book or anything. It sounds great, but it just means the roads are clogged with cyclists, one of the scourges of any transport network.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

Thanx Flossy for mentioning Britain. Now we have 12 pages of Blackie telling us (probably trying to convince himself) why it's so great.

 

[petros]

Well, I suppose Bosnia might be worse, but Briddin sucks ***. Worst system I've been on.

I agree.

 

[mentalfloss]

Just don't adopt London's Boris Bikes. These are bikes which are available throughout London which anyone can just go on and ride for £2, without having to book or anything. It sounds great, but it just means the roads are clogged with cyclists, one of the scourges of any transport network.

I would imagine it's not a problem for the trams though.