“Surface Subway” Only Part of Solution – Toronto also needs Downtown Relief Line

Transport Action Ontario’s  2013 report “Regional Rapid Rail”, analyzing the benefits and costs of an intelligently electrified GO Rail system to develop a “surface subway” for the GTHA, has received strong endorsement from transit professionals and elected officials.    In 2014, the Ontario Liberals announced their “Regional Express Rail” commitment, and John Tory, a leading candidate for Toronto Mayor, announced his “SmartTrack” platform.  Both are very analogous to our Regional Rapid Rail concept.

Some stakeholders have proposed that this surface subway could replace Toronto’s proposed Downtown Relief Line (DRL) subway.  As discussed in an Opinion column published in the Toronto Star on July 23, 2014,  Transport Action Ontario believes that both the electrified GO service and the DRL are needed, and quickly.

The opinion piece can be viewed here