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“Imagine a cross-town trip from Jane to Kennedy in 35 minutes,” Mr. Collins told the Metrolinx board of directors during a presentation. “Clearly, building world-class public transit doesn’t happen overnight, but it’s on its way.”

Mr. Collins said his staff are reviewing the location of each station, which in the original designs were 600 metres apart in the mid-section, and one kilometre apart beyond that. Paul Bedford, a member of the board and former chief planner at the City of Toronto, expressed reservations about reworking those specifications.

“The experience on Sheppard is very telling,” he said. “The stations are too far apart and if you’re in the middle you can’t walk to either station. So many people on Sheppard actually still take the bus because it’s better for them.”

Mr. Bedford also had questions about the size of the tunnel.

“I just want to make darn sure that when we bore the hole, we’re going to think 100 years plus, that it’s a big enough hole so that if it ever gets upgraded to a full subway, that’s possible.”

Bruce McCuaig, Metrolinx president and CEO, said the tunnel diameter would be big enough to accommodate a subway in the future, if so desired, although light-rail vehicles are expected to meet ridership demands until 2050, said Mr. Collins. “We’re very confident that the capacity of the light-rail vehicle concept is going to be more than sufficient to provide a safe, reliable, convenient service, very long into the future. At this point we can’t foresee a situation where you would do a conversion.”

National Post





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