Transit Toronto has an interesting article on the GO ALRT proposal back in the 70s and 80s. This was never built, but if it had been we would have had a SkyTrain-like service similar to that in Vancouver, running roughly along the current Lakeshore GO route but providing much more frequent service, along with a northern route providing direct train connections to Scarborough and North York. There’s a lot of interesting history as to why it wasn’t built, and why its failure led directly to the GO Train system that we have today in Durham Region, with both its strengths and failures.
History repeats itself at times, it seems, and it’s interesting to note that the recently-released Metrolinx green paper on transit suggests a Regional Express (abbreviated REX) system might be built to replace or augment much of our current GO service with higher speed electric vehicles serving more limited stops, and including a crosstown route with connections to Scarborough, North York, and the airport. REX is shown as the dashed green lines on the following Metrolinx conceptual map taken from the green paper, and meant to illustrate a “bold” scenario in which we build the routes that would allow us to truly begin replacing the automobile for much interregional travel:
It’s important to note that this map does not reflect a specific recommendation by Metrolinx at this point. It is included in the green paper as part of a discussion on transportation possibilities in the GTAH, not as policy.
Over the coming months, Metrolinx will be creating its Regional Transportation Plan, including a funding strategy that will hopefully allow us to afford these sorts of ideas. I will certainly support REX in my comments to Metrolinx, as it would greatly improve the interconnection of Durham Region and other regions with each other, and I urge readers to do the same by clicking here.
GO Transit provides a very good train service that truly is the backbone of public transit in Durham Region, despite increasingly frequent and frustrating delays, but it is reaching the limits of its ability to grow along its current path. To really get riders out of cars all day, service needs to be frequent and to multiple destinations, not just to Union Station, and this cannot be done while trains are sharing track space with freight trains.
You said “GO Transit … is the backbone of public transit in Durham Region… but it is reaching the limits of its ability to grow along its current path.”
True. Durham is in a unique position when it comes to transportation. Right now it’s the worst (1 highway, 1 rail line) but it has the most potential (extention to the 407, havelock and seaton rail lines) What Durham needs now is leadership. If Durham is to be a success in the nest few decades, it needs to plan its next few years well. Sadly, I dont see that happening at this point.
Paris is well-known for it’s Metro system and they also have a Regional Express system dubbed “RER”
I remember the proposal for the Go ALRT. I also thought that a service was needed that entered into the north end of Toronto. From Toronto the ALRT would have swung into Pickering’s Go ST. Then proceeded east to Oshawa. The eastern end of line the for the Go train would have been Pickering. At the time the local newspapers made in known that Go passengers were not interested in having to transfer off the Go train to carry further east. The choice was made to extend the Go train service east. The Service started on a Sunday. The day before Go offered free trains rides from Pickering east and back. I took my family that day to see what the new service was all about. While riding the train I was approached by a news reporter. She did interview about my views on the new service. She also quoted me in the paper as saying I felt people of Pickering and Ajax now had better service to downtown Toronto than the residents of Scarborough. I was comparing it to SRT in Scarborough. I didn’t have and still don’t have much use for the SRT. Judging from the performance of the SRT over this winter my views still hold up. The route had to shut down a few times because it could not handle the bad weather.