Downtown Relief Line
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Downtown Relief subway line was a subway line planned for Toronto, Canada, but never built.
Contents |
[edit] History
The Downtown Relief Line (also known as the Downtown Rapid Transit/DRT) was one of the three routes proposed in the Network 2011 plan [1]. Its main purpose was to relieve the forecasted overcrowding on the Yonge line, particularly at Bloor-Yonge station. The Downtown Relief Line is no longer a priority of the TTC and disappeared from the transit radar soon after the province delayed approving Metropolitan Toronto's Network 2011 plan. The provincial government was alarmed over the construction cost and political support for the new line vanished instantly.
Current TTC Chair Adam Giambrone has started to support the construction of such a line, saying it will be a necessity after Transit City, sometime from 2018-2020. Although suburban extensions of the Yonge and Spadina subway lines take funding priority, the Downtown Relief Line is no longer on the back burner. It would likely resurface as an extension of the Don Mills LRT. Because the Don Mills line will be built underground from at least Overlea Blvd. south, extra service could be operated on the underground portion. In the west, the rail corridor alignment is preferred, and would initially be built to at least Dundas West subway station on the Bloor-Danforth subway line, but could connect to the Eglinton and Jane LRT routes further north.
[edit] Route map
- Galt-Weston Railway Corridor Alignment
Between Dundas West and Eglinton East
[edit] Stations
[edit] Stations on the proposed Downtown line in Phase 1
- South Spadina (or Lower Spadina)
- Rogers Centre (or Skydome)
- Union
- St. Lawrence
- Atiritari
- Queen East
- Gerrard
- Pape
[edit] Stations proposed for an eastward extension
- Cosburn
- Thorncliffe Park
- Flemingdon Park
- Eglinton East
[edit] Stations proposed for a westward extension
Three possible alignments were considered for the westward extension. The least expensive would follow the railway right-of-way past the Exhibition and up to the Galt-Weston railway corridor, taking it to Dundas West station. Another alternative would go west of Strachan along the Oakville Sub to Roncesvalles, where it would turn north to connect to the Bloor line at Dundas West. The final alignment considered ran along an elevated guideway on Parkside Drive at the edge of High Park to Keele Station.
|
Galt-Weston Railway Corridor
|
Roncesvalles Avenue Alignment
|
Parkside Drive Alignment
|
[edit] See also
- Don Mills LRT (TTC)
- Lower Queen Station
- Toronto, Ontario
- Toronto Transit Commission
- Toronto Transportation Commission
- Eglinton West subway
- Queen Street subway
