Information AboutBlue22 |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT BLUE22 | |
| transportation in toronto | |
| airport rail links | |
| toronto | |
| ontario railways | |
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The railway line is expected to be opened by 2008 , and will be built, operated, and maintained by SNC-Lavalin subsidiary Union Pearson AirLink Group. It is to use four refurbished Rail Diesel Car s, and will require the construction of a branch track to the airport from an existing Canadian National railway corridor that passes near the airport, a station at the airport, and various upgrades to the existing track to handle the increased traffic. It has been suggested that the trains will make flights to Toronto’s island-based City Centre Airport unnecessary, as their main appeal is their quick and reliable access to the downtown core, although the island airport is already principally dedicated to General Aviation and emergency services. ALTERNATIVES The Toronto Transit Commission ’s planned Subway Line under Eglinton Avenue West would have eventually connected with Pearson Airport, although it would not have provided an express connection to downtown as Blue22 is to do. The line’s construction was halted by the Provincial Government in the mid- 1990s , and it is no longer a priority for the TTC. The current project remains somewhat controversial. While downtown Toronto is a hub for regional railway and bus services, it is currently the destination of only 17% of the airport’s users, and the regional services there are much less frequent than Blue22’s trains, leading to fears that the new service will not appeal to most airport users. It has been suggested that this problem could be mitigated by having Blue22 trains also stop mid-route at GO Transit ’s Bloor Station in west Toronto, which is adjacent to the TTC’s Dundas West Station on the Toronto Subway . It has also been argued that better service could have been provided at a lower cost if the federal government had followed GO Transit’s proposal to build a new station on their Georgetown Railway Line next to Woodbine Racetrack , which could be connected to the airport’s planned People Mover , and then increase the service frequency on the Georgetown line. This would have cost significantly less than running Blue22’s dedicated express trains and tracks, provided access to the airport from multiple locations in and around Toronto rather than just downtown, and improved service even for commuters not travelling to the airport; on the other hand, it would have meant a longer trip between Union Station and the airport. RESIDENTS’ COMPLAINTS Residents living along one section of the proposed route have objected about the alterations being made to accommodate the trains, which involve closing some Level Crossing s and may make access to Weston Road from the surrounding neighbourhoods more difficult (although the removal of these crossings has been suggested for years because of the risks they pose for the already-operational GO Transit services). They are also concerned about the effects frequent trains running through their neighbourhoods may have on noise levels and property values. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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