Transit Toronto

Expect to pay 25 cents more to travel by GO Transit starting today. Read Transit Toronto’s February 19 post for more details.

Toronto Public Health and the Board of Health are hosting a public forum on Metrolinx’ proposals to expand GO Transit’s Georgetown line and build a rail link from Union Station to Toronto Pearson International Airport.

While the Board of Health supports expanding public transit as a way to reduce vehicle traffic, it is concerned about health risks and the impact on air quality of using diesel to support transit services.

The forum, “All Aboard? Diesel, electric and clean air: Which way forward?”, takes place on Monday, March 22, from 6:30 until 9 p.m. in Toronto City Hall Council Chamber, 100 Queen Street West.

The City of Toronto wants to buy property near Dufferin Street and Bloor Street West for the TTC’s project to expand Dufferin Station, build a new passenger waiting area and install a second exit from the station.

This week, last week and next week, ads in the Toronto Star officially notify the public that the City intends to expropriate parts of 1140 Bloor Street West, 1030 Dufferin Street and 7 Russet Avenue. (Provincial legislation requires municipalities to advertise expropriations three times.)

On the last Saturday of every month since February, 2006, historian Derek Boles, working with Toronto Terminal Railways staff and volunteers from the Toronto Railway Historical Association, including Transit Toronto’s Richard White, guides visitors on tours of Union Station. The “Union Station Experience” tours are about 2 hours and 15 minutes long.

This month’s tour takes place on Saturday, March 27 at 11 a.m. The cost is $10 for each person attending the tour. You don’t need a reservation. Meet by the Traveler’s Aid counter in the centre of the Great Hall at 10:50 a.m.

Next Saturday, March 27 at 10 a.m., TTC staff are offering visitors a rare opportunity to look inside the Greenwood Shop, one of the TTC’s two heavy-repair and overhaul facilities for subway cars. The shop covers about 190,000 square feet (17,600 square metres) and almost 200 employees work on overhauling vehicles and rebuilding components to support the fleet of subway vehicles and workcars.

We originally intended this post to encourage people to join the tour. Unfortunately, the tour is already sold out, so this post is simply to remind those of you who have booked the tour that it’s just one week away.

The TTC has also scheduled more tours of the Greenwood Shop and of other TTC facilities this year, including lower Bay Station, Mount Dennis Bus Garage, Harvey Shops and the TTC Operations Training Centre. The next tours of Greenwood Shop takes place at 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 24.

You can find out more about the tours here.

TTC staff are repairing the streetcar tracks on Queen Street East at Carlaw Avenue and in the Neville Loop this weekend. Work will start at 6 a.m. on Saturday, March 20, and finish by the beginning of service at 5 a.m., Monday, March 22.

As a result, 501/301 Queen streetcars do not operate between Neville Loop and the Queen Street East at River Street. Shuttle buses will operate in both directions.

For three weekends, from Saturday, March 20 until Saturday, April 10, GO Transit is continuing its project to improve the platform and tunnel at Port Credit GO Station.

GO is closing the platform serving track 3 at the station from 7 a.m. Saturday until 5 p.m. Sunday. Trains only use tracks 1 and 2 during this time.

Please listen for information about which platform you should use and be careful around the station during the construction.

Officials at GO and York Region Transit have announced a plan that will keep GO’s Newmarket B bus service operating between Newmarket and York Mills subway station — for a couple more months, at least. The service which was to be cancelled on April 3rd will operate until June 25th instead.

The following Monday, VIVA will add five express buses to its Blue route, skipping key stops, including Richmond Hill Centre, to make the run between Newmarket and Finch subway station in an hour — a time comparable to the GO service.

The Toronto Star has further details on this development, including quotes by GO and YRT officials. It is also reported that York Region Transit is considering ways of handling the Newmarket-York University service, which is still due to be cancelled at the end of April.

For two weeks, starting next week, the City of Guelph is closing

• Suffolk Street East between Norfolk and Woolwich Street

for a construction project. (The City has not specified why it is closing Suffolk East, although the closure likely relates to the upcoming project to rebuild Norfolk Street between Quebec and Woolwich / Norwich Streets.)

Guelph Transit is detouring buses during the project.

Starting Wednesday, March 17, the Region of Niagara and the City of Thorold are closing

• Collier Road between Rose Avenue and Richmond Street

for a project to rebuild the roadway.

The St. Catharines Transit Commission is detouring buses during the project.