Line 3 Scarborough

History

In 1972, the provincial government announced the GO-Urban plan to build an intermediate capacity transit system across suburban Toronto using the experimental Krauss-Maffei Transurban. The system failed to come to fruition, and the TTC began building the line for CLRV streetcars, but the ICTS system was used instead, because the Province of Ontario agreed to pay a large portion of the costs. This change was made after construction had commenced. At Kennedy Station, there are clues revealing that it was originally built for streetcar operation; it is possible to see old low-level streetcar platforms protruding under the current high-level platforms, and Kennedy Station used to have an operational loop to turn streetcars. This proved too sharp for safe operation of the ICTS cars, which did not have a reason to turn around, and the loop was replaced by a Spanish solution-like crossover. Ontario wanted to develop and promote its new technology, which had been designed for a proposed urban GO Transit service known as GO-ALRT. Changes to federal railway regulations had made the new system unnecessary for GO, and so the government hoped to sell it to other transit services in order to recoup its investment.

The Scarborough line opened in March 1985 as the Scarborough RT. Three years after it opened, the TTC renovated its southwestern terminus at Kennedy Station, because the looped turnaround track, designed for uni-directional streetcars under the earlier plan and not needed for the bi-directional ICTS trains, was causing derailments; it was replaced with a single terminal track and the station was thus quasi-Spanish solution, with one side for boarding and another side for alighting, though the boarding side is also used for alighting during off-peak hours and weekends.

From when the line opened in 1985 until 2015 it was known as the "Scarborough RT" or "SRT". The "RT" in Scarborough RT stood for "rapid transit". Locals have often referred to the line as SRT or the RT for short. The name Scarborough Line is used on the official TTC website and 2014 TTC Ride Guide. In October 2013, the TTC announced plans to give the lines official numbers to help riders and visitors to navigate the system. The line is numbered 3, as it is the third rapid transit line to open in the system. New signage was installed in March 2014. In 2015, the name was simplified to "Line 3 Scarborough" and the TTC began repainting the rolling stock with a blue finish displaying the number 3, a diagram of the Scarborough line, and the TTC logo. The original "RT" logo was no longer featured on the trains.

With the line approaching the end of its useful life, the TTC reduced the frequency of service in mid-September 2012.

In 2015, the TTC started work on the cars to keep them operational until the line is replaced by another mode of rail technology. This includes a new outer livery that is almost entirely blue to emphasize the line's colour code, followed by interior upgrades.

As of December 13, 2016, with the Presto fare gates installed at Lawrence East station, all stations along this line are Presto-enabled.

Rolling stock

The trains operated were developed by the Urban Transportation Development Corporation (UTDC), then an Ontario Crown corporation but later became a division of Bombardier Transportation. The business proposal initially bore little fruit — a proposed pilot project in Hamilton was cancelled after meeting widespread public opposition, and the technology was used initially only by the Scarborough line, Vancouver's SkyTrain, and the Detroit People Mover. With expansion of the SkyTrain and sales to Ankara, Turkey; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport AirTrain, and Yongin EverLine in Yongin near Seoul, South Korea, redesigned, sold under the name "Advanced Rapid Transit" (ART), has become a success for Bombardier.

One unusual feature of the ICTS cars is that they are driven by linear induction motors: instead of using conventional motors to turn the wheels, they push themselves along the route using alternating flat magnets reacting with the distinctive di-magnetic aluminum metal plate that runs down the centre of the tracks. This system requires very few moving parts, and therefore leads to lower maintenance costs.

When the car motors are accelerating, they actually lift the car off the track an extremely small distance, repelling against the wide aluminum plate in the centre of the track. This micro-lifting prevents the truck wheels from making a solid electrical contact with the track. Instead of using the conventional method, in which motive power is supplied by a single third rail, with return current travelling through the running rails, a separate positive and negative power rail are provided on one side of the track. With respect to the accelerating trucks and the micro-lifting, the truck wheels have a somewhat larger flange than normal in order to keep the car inline on the track during the micro-lifting.

The linear induction motors also allow the cars to climb steeper grades then would be possible with traditional subway technology since wheel slip is not an issue. This is an important consideration when trying to build a rail transit system into a built-up urban environment, such as Toronto.

The trains are also able to be operated exclusively by computers, using Standard Elektrik Lorenz's "SelTrac IS" system (now owned and delivered by Thales Canada Transportation Solutions), doing away with the need for a human operator. However, due to union opposition and public perception, operators were retained. (Other systems took full advantage of the automated operation and Vancouver's SkyTrain has been automated since 1985 with no mishaps.) The Scarborough line trains have only one operator, unlike the other TTC subway lines, which carry both a guard, who operates the train's doors, and an operator, who drives the train. In practice, the Scarborough line trains drive themselves; the operator monitors their operations and controls the doors. The transit workers' union has firmly opposed driverless trains. One feature, which was not implemented at the time of Scarborough line's opening, is the automated next stop announcement system, which was introduced in January 2008 (which means operators are no longer required to call out stops manually), and uses the voice-over of Susan Bigioni, a TTC employee, as with all other subway lines.

Route

The line follows a roughly upside down L-shaped (or gamma-shaped (Γ)) route: first northward from Kennedy Station, parallelling the Canadian National Railway/GO Transit's Stouffville line tracks, between Kennedy Road and Midland Avenue, 4 km (2.5 mi) to Ellesmere Road; then eastward between Ellesmere and Progress Avenue, through Scarborough City Centre to McCowan Road. The Scarborough line's ICTS trains have their own small yard east of McCowan Station. This yard is large enough to store the existing fleet, but would have to be expanded or replaced if the TTC were to expand the line's capacity with new trains. Basic maintenance is performed in this yard; for more extensive work the cars are taken to the subway's Greenwood Yard by truck, given the train's different track gauge. The north-south section of the route, where it follows the CN tracks, is at ground level; the shorter east-west section (except for the ground-level yard) is elevated, as is the Kennedy terminus. The line dives briefly underground just north of Ellesmere Station to cross under the CN tracks. After that, it is elevated towards McCowan station. Two stations, Kennedy and Scarborough Centre, are wheelchair accessible.

From 2 a.m. to 6 a.m., when the Scarborough line is not operating, the 302 Kingston Rd-McCowan Blue Night bus serves the same area. The 302 originates at Bingham Loop, where it connects with the 322 Coxwell that travels to the west, as well as the 324 Victoria Park, that runs north. From the loop, the 302 travels east along Kingston to Brimley, then north along Brimley to Danforth Road, then north on McCowan Road to Steeles. With the exception of McCowan station, it does not pass near any of the rapid transit stations, though other night bus services pass near stations. Bus service is extended on Sundays, because the rapid transit lines start at 8 a.m. (beginning January 3, 2016) instead the usual 6 a.m. start. Service frequency is 30 minutes.

The frequency for this line is 4–5 minutes during peak periods and 5–6 minutes during off-peak periods.

Proposed expansion

In 2006, a study was completed on the prospects of the Scarborough line. It recommended upgrading the line to handle larger ART Mark II vehicles, at a cost of $190 million (2006 dollars) with an eight-month service suspension for the upgrade and to purchase $170 million of new rolling stock; the TTC Board approved the recommended plan to upgrade the SRT on August 30, 2006. Later, the TTC cancelled the plan for modernizing the SRT. Extending Line 2 Bloor–Danforth, either along the current route or along a different alignment directly to Scarborough Centre, was not considered cost-effective or justifiable.

In November 2015, transportation consultant and University of Toronto professor emeritus, Richard Soberman, argued that it would be vastly cheaper and faster to buy new SRT vehicles than to replace the SRT with an extension of the Bloor–Danforth subway northeast from Kennedy Station. He felt the cost savings would be great enough to overcome difficulties such as the incompatibility of Mark II cars on the existing line and the extra cost of building a fully separated right-of-way to the Sheppard East LRT.

Replacement with alternate transit

The TTC and the City of Toronto completed an environmental assessment in 2010 to convert the line to light rail transit and extend it to Malvern from its current eastern terminus, McCowan, with potential new intermediate stations at Bellamy Road, Centennial College and Sheppard Avenue with a possible additional station at Brimley Road between the existing Midland and Scarborough Centre stations.

After initially planning to include the line with the proposed Eglinton Crosstown LRT line and create a single line called the "Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown line", Metrolinx proceeded with plans to convert the line to light rail and extend it to Sheppard Avenue with a single new intermediate station at Centennial College. The existing line would have closed after the 2015 Pan American Games and be completed in 2020. In January 2013, Infrastructure Ontario issued a request for qualifications to shortlist companies to construct both this line and the Eglinton Crosstown line.

In June 2013, Toronto City Council again debated to have the Scarborough line replaced with an extension of the Bloor–Danforth line north to Sheppard Avenue along a different right of way. Metrolinx issued a letter to Toronto City Council indicating it would cease work on the Scarborough portion of the line, because its position strayed from the original LRT agreement. The subway alternative would cost between $500 million and $1 billion more than converting the Scarborough line to use the same rolling stock as the Eglinton Crosstown line be so it could be a continuation of that line. The Globe and Mail reported that Scarborough councillors had argued that providing Scarborough residents with light rail, not heavy rail treated them as "second class citizens".

Two competing subway plans were proposed to replace the Scarborough line. TTC Chair Karen Stintz proposed to extend the Bloor–Danforth subway line to the east before turning north with three new stations at Lawrence Avenue and McCowan Road, at Scarborough Town Centre and then at Sheppard Avenue East and McCowan Road, where it would connect to the Sheppard East LRT. Transportation Minister Glen Murray made an alternative proposal to extend Line 2 along the route of the current Scarborough line but terminating at Scarborough Town Centre. Under the Murray plan, there would be only two stations and there would be no direct connection with the Sheppard LRT. The Murray plan would have required the relocation of Kennedy Station as a new northbound curve from the existing Kennedy Station would have been too tight for subway trains. The Murray plan would also have required the complete shutdown of the line during construction, something that the Stintz plan avoided.

On October 8, 2013, Toronto City Council voted 24–20 to replace the Scarborough line with a three-station extension of the Bloor–Danforth subway line. Council chose the Stintz plan for the extension.

The subway extension is estimated to cost $3.56 billion. Here is how a portion of that cost is expected to be financed:

The city will borrow money to pay its portion of the subway extension costs. The increases in property tax and development charges are to pay off this debt over a 30-year period.

In July 2015, Jennifer Keesmaat, Toronto’s chief planner, questioned the accuracy of a 2013 city staff report that estimated ridership at 14,000 riders per peak-hour instead of the earlier 9,500 per peak-hour put forward by the TTC. City Council based its decision to choose a subway extension over an LRT conversion based on the higher number.

In June 2016, city planning staff proposed to eliminate two of the three stops along the planned Scarborough Subway Extension terminating Line 2 Bloor–Danforth at Scarborough Town Centre in order to free up funding for a proposed Crosstown East LRT line. The eliminated intermediate stops were at Lawrence Avenue and Sheppard Avenue. However, subsequently the cost estimate for the one-stop subway extension increased to $3.2 billion leaving the Crosstown East LRT unfunded. Given the rising cost for the subway extension and the loss of funding for the LRT line, a group of city councillors led by Josh Matlow reopened the subway versus LRT debate. Matlow proposed scrapping the one-stop subway extension in order to provide funding for 24 LRT stops on two LRT lines within Scarborough. TTC CEO Andy Byford said the cost of the LRT line following the SRT route may have risen to as high as $3 billion because of "delays and redesign" since 2013, but Brad Ross also of the TTC warned of "caveats around numbers and assumptions" associated with that estimate. After Council's vote, Byford admitted that the cost estimates for "delays" was unnecessary, which assumed the LRT's completion would be in 2026, the same date as the subway option. However, according to Michael Warren, a former TTC Chief General Manage, the LRT could have been completed in 2020 at a cost of $1.8 billion, an estimate not presented to City Council when it voted. There was also the issue whether there would be space for both expanded GO service and an LRT north of Kennedy Station; however, Metrolinx subsequently denied there would be such a problem. On July 13, Toronto City Council voted down Matlow's proposal by a margin of roughly 2 to 1.

De Baeremaeker justified the subway extension saying "Scarborough residents need the same access to a subway system that everybody else already has." Mayor Tory was concerned that switching from subway to LRT would delay transit improvements in Scarborough, and might not get support from senior levels of government. In September 2013, Metrolinx prepared a draft report comparing the subway and LRT options concluding that the subway option was "not a worthwhile use of money." Metrolinx had declined a TTC request to give an opinion prior to City Council's July 2016 vote.

Conversion to park

The Toronto Transit Commission proposed to turn the corridor, including the bridges between Midland and McCowan stations, into a linear park, once Line 3 Scarborough is decommissioned, similar to the High Line in the borough of Manhattan in New York City.