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Very Interesting, a few years ago, with Ford elected Mayor and a majority on the City Council supporting his plan, LRT in Toronto was supposedly dead. Now it looks like, although their is a municipal election before construction happens, things could change.

Meanwhile Mayor Ford is dusting off his "War on Car Campaign" slogan.

CBC Tornto

In my opinion they rushed into the existing Sheppard subway. If it was going to be built partially as light rail, then the whole thing should have been light rail. That mode change partway along its eventual corridor will be cumbersome for many passengers. Building it as light rail might have made it easier to extend it west on Sheppard as well to meet the western leg of the Y-U-S subway. A transfer between subway and LRT at the Sheppard/Yonge station might have been more understandable. The fnished product will be a permanent monument to the political differences in the Mayor's office.

The work that will be done to upgrade the existing Scarborough Line into modern LRT will no doubt be done to make it compatible with the Sheppard East line, so that the two can run on the same tracks. Of course it would cost more money, but some have argued that the Scarborough Line should have been a heavy rail extension of the Blood-Danforth heavy rail line. So in Ford's world we could have been talking about two heavy rail lines being interlined instead of 2 light rail lines.

Could be the Toronto Subway version of the Australian Railway Break of Gauge, that Mark Twain once had some interesting things to say about.

Albury Break of Guage article, including Mark Twain's quote)

Here with KCM's RapidRide Bus Rapid Transit A-Line and Sound Transit's Central LINK, it may seem like we have just that happening, but they will eventually be complimenting each other. The former providing the local service in the corridor, as LINK has fewer stations. Will eventually become a smooth operation. The battle with the Downtown Seattle Transit TUnnel was a big one in the past, with voters changing preferences a few times.(The provision for rail in it was a last minute addition, following an advisory referendum vote)