"Commuter rail" refers to urban passenger train service between a central city and its suburbs. Three such systems exist in Canada.
"Airport rail link" refers to rail transport between a central city and a nearby international airport. The Union Pearson Express is the only dedicated airport rail link in Canada. The SkyTrain's Canada Line also serves as an airport rail link.
"Subway" refers to a rapid transit system using heavy rail with steel wheels. The Toronto subway is the only such system in Canada.
"Rubber-tired metro" refers to a rapid transit system using heavy rail with rubber tires. The Montreal Metro is the only such system in Canada.
"Light metro" refers to a rapid transit system using intermediate or medium-capacity rail. The SkyTrain and the Réseau express métropolitain are the only full light metro systems in Canada.
"Light rail" refers to a rail transit system using light rail vehicles in a dedicated right-of-way. Four such systems exist in Canada.
"Streetcar" refers to a rail transit system using light rail vehicles entirely or mostly on streets providing local service in mixed traffic. The Toronto streetcar is the only such system in Canada.
Calgary Transit's CTrain network started operation on May 25, 1981. As of December 2023,[update] the CTrain has the second-highest weekday ridership of any light rail transit system in North America, surpassed only by Guadalajara light rail system in Mexico. The CTrain carried over 312,000 passengers per weekday in the fourth quarter of 2018. There are 45 stations in operation in the 60-kilometre (37 mi) CTrain system.[8] After starting by running on one leg in 1981, the system has expanded and now has four legs radiating out into Calgary's suburbs in different directions. The legs have been organized into two routes (identified as the Red Line and the Blue Line) that connect the four legs via shared tracks in a downtown transit mall. The existing four legs of the system, as built in chronological order, are the south leg (1981), the northeast leg (1985), the northwest leg (1987), and the west leg (2012).
The Downtown Transit Mall along 7th Avenue South is shared by the Red and Blue lines.
The Red Line is a 32.2-kilometre (20.0 mi) line that connects the south and northwest legs via the downtown transit mall.
The Blue Line is a 23-kilometre (14 mi) line that connects the northeast and west legs via the downtown transit mall.
The Capital Line runs roughly north–south, between northeast Edmonton and the Century Park community, with a mix of tunnels and at-grade track. Six stations are underground, while the remaining nine are at-grade.
The Metro Line is interlined with the Capital Line from Health Sciences/Jubilee and through the underground portions before branching northwest towards NAIT.[9][10]
The Valley Line was opened in 2023. The low-floor line travels southeast from downtown towards Mill Woods.[11][12]
Extensions to the Capital, Metro, and Valley lines have been approved. The construction of two new lines, the Energy and Festival lines, has been proposed.[13]
The Montreal Metro is Canada's second-busiest rail transit system. Drawing inspiration from the Paris Métro, it uses rubber-tired metro technology, the only such system in Canada. The 69.2-kilometre (43.0 mi) system has 68 stations on four lines, which serve the north, east, and central portions of the Island of Montreal, as well as the suburbs of Laval and Longueuil. The metro began in 1966 with the east–west Green Line and the north–south Orange Line.[14] A series of expansions since 1966 have expanded the original lines and added the Yellow and Blue lines.
The Green Line is a 22.1-kilometre (13.7 mi) line that runs northeast to southwest between Angrignon and Honoré-Beaugrand. The two ends are connected through a central section that runs under De Maisonneuve Boulevard in downtown Montreal.
The Orange Line is a 30.0-kilometre (18.6 mi) U-shaped line. The central section runs through downtown Montreal, south of the Green Line's alignment. The two legs connect to Côte-Vertu in the northwest and Montmorency in Laval, northeast of Montreal.
The Yellow Line is a 4.25-kilometre (2.64 mi) line with three stations. It connects to the Green and Orange lines at Berri–UQAM station, the system's busiest station, and crosses under the Saint Lawrence River to connect Saint Helen's Island and Longueuil.
The Blue Line is a 9.7-kilometre (6.0 mi) line. It runs in a northeast to southwest alignment north of the Green Line, connecting the east island with both legs of the Orange Line.
An eastward extension of the Blue Line began construction in 2022.
The O-Train began in 2001 as a light rail pilot project to supplement Ottawa's Transitway bus rapid transit system. This original line, now known as the Trillium Line, was relatively inexpensive to construct ($21 million) due to its single-track route along a little used freight-rail right-of-way and used diesel multiple units (DMUs) to avoid the cost of building overhead lines along the tracks. The Confederation Line opened in September 2019, replacing portions of the Transitway with an underground tunnel through downtown.[15][16]
The Confederation Line (Line 1) is a light rail line which runs east–west from Blair to Tunney's Pasture connecting to the Transitway at each terminus and with the Trillium Line at Bayview. The line runs both underground and on the surface and is completely grade-separated. There is a tunnel downtown with three underground stations.[17]
The Trillium Line (Line 2) is a 19-kilometre (12 mi) diesel light rail line running north to southwest from Bayview station to Limebank station, connecting with the Confederation Line at its northern terminus and the Transitway at its southern terminus. The line is partly double-tracked.
Line 4 is a 4-kilometre (2.5 mi) diesel light rail line running between South Keys – where it connects with the Trillium Line – and the airport.
As of February 2024,[update] Stage 2 of Ottawa's O-Train expansion is under construction, which will expand the Confederation Line east and west.
GO Transit operates commuter rail services in the Greater Golden Horseshoe, including the metropolitan areas of Toronto, Hamilton, Kitchener, Niagara, Oshawa, Barrie, and Guelph. Each of its seven lines terminate at Union Station in downtown Toronto. With 217,500 average weekday riders, it is Canada's busiest commuter rail service, and the fifth-busiest in North America. As of March 2024,[update] the GO Expansion project is underway and will bring electrification, new trackage, bridges, and tunnels to the system, allowing for two-way all-day service with 15-minute frequencies to sections of five of its lines.
The Toronto Transit Commission's 70.5-kilometre (43.8 mi) subway is Canada's oldest rapid transit system, having opened as the "Yonge subway" in 1954.[18] It is also Canada's busiest system, with 1,603,300 average weekday riders.[19] It is an intermodal system, with three subway lines providing service to a total of 70 stations, the most of any Canadian system. The system connects each of Toronto's former municipalities, as well as the suburb of Vaughan.
Line 2 Bloor–Danforth is an east–west line, running primarily along its two namesakes, Bloor Street and Danforth Avenue. The line connects the east and western suburbs with Line 1 and downtown Toronto.
Line 3 Scarborough was a light metro line which was in service from 1985 to 2023.[20]Line 5 Eglinton and Line 6 Finch West are both light rail lines under construction. The two lines will be fully integrated with the subway system upon their opening in 2024.[20]
Toronto also operates a streetcar system. Unlike light rail, the majority of the ten routes operate in mixed traffic and all make frequent stops. Three routes operate in a dedicated right-of-way:
The West Coast Express is a commuter rail line operated by TransLink. The 69-kilometre (43 mi) line runs from Waterfront station in downtown Vancouver to Mission, with six stations in between. The line only operates during peak hours on weekdays, with five trains heading west in the morning rush hour and five heading east in the afternoon rush hour. It is Canada's least-used urban rail transit system.[19]
The SkyTrain is TransLink's fully-automated medium-capacity metro system. The system opened in 1985 for Expo 86. This original portion, now known as the Expo Line, had been joined by the Millennium and Canada lines, making it Canada's longest rapid transit system by track length, at 79.6 kilometres (49.5 mi). The system serves Vancouver and many of its surrounding municipalities in the Metro Vancouver Regional District.
The Expo Line is named after Expo 86, for which it was originally constructed. It connects Waterfront station, an intermodal transit station in Downtown Vancouver, with Burnaby, New Westminster, and northwest Surrey. It roughly follows a northwest–southeast direction. Since 2016, a second branch of the line connects northward from Columbia station to the Millennium Line in Burnaby.[21][22] A southeastward extension is planned to extend down the Fraser Highway to connect eastern Surrey and Langley.
Hamilton's B-Line route, part of the region's BLAST rapid transit network, was a proposed light rail line to run east–west along King and Main streets, with McMaster University and Eastgate Square as its termini.[44] However, in announcing the financing for the line, the Government of Ontario changed the eastern terminus to Queenston Circle instead of Eastgate Square but added a branch to the new West Harbour GO Station.[45] After uncertainty among Hamilton's city council and poor ridership projections in provincially funded studies, the provincial government announced that they would abandon the spur line down James North and a previously announced BRT system along James in favour of reinstating Eastgate Square as the terminal station of the B-Line.[46] In December 2019, the Ontario government announced that the project would be abandoned, in part due to higher-than-anticipated costs.[47] In February 2021, the province reversed their decision and announced their re-commitment to the Hamilton light rail project, and in May 2021, federal funding was confirmed.[48]
The Réseau express métropolitain is a light metro line under construction in Montreal. It is opening in phases, with the first section operating since July 2023. When completed, it will consist of a central section connecting to the Green, Orange, and Blue metro lines, with four branches with service to the North Shore, West Island, airport, and South Shore.[50]
Peel Region
Track construction of the Hurontario LRT in December 2022
The Hurontario LRT is a 17.6-kilometre (10.9 mi) light rail line under construction which is largely financed by Ontario provincial government. It will run on the surface along Hurontario Street from Port Credit GO Station in Mississauga to Steeles Avenue in Brampton. On October 28, 2015, Brampton City Council cancelled the proposed 5.6-kilometre (3.5 mi) section of the line along Main Street in Brampton to Brampton GO Station.[32] On March 21, 2019, Metrolinx announced that most of the downtown loop would be deferred to a later date due to financial restrictions, although a short spur to a stop at Square One Shopping Centre would remain.[51]
The Quebec City Tramway is a proposed light rail transit line in Quebec City.[33] It would link Beauport to Cap Rouge, passing through Quebec Parliament Hill. The 19-kilometre (12 mi) line would include a 1.8-kilometre (1.1 mi) underground segment, with the rest of the line being on the surface.[52]
Prior to the suspension, the municipal government had signed a contract for new trams from Alstom and another contract with the organization CSiT for operating and mobility systems. The city was unable to source a consortium to build the line as the sole remaining candidate would not provide project financing. Thus, at the end of October 2023, the city proposed to become the project manager to run the project.[53] In early November 2023, the province of Quebec suspended the project in order to have the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec do a six-month study to determine whether the tramway or some other public transit option would be the best solution.[54]
The Green Line was a planned expansion of Calgary's light rail network that would have run from 160 avenue in North Calgary to Seton in Southeast Calgary. The initial segment of the line would have run between Eau Claire and Lynnwood/Millican, and would have been 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) long, with 7 stations. The full vision of the Green Line would have been 46 kilometres (29 mi) long, with 29 stations.
On September 3, 2024, City Council received a letter from Alberta Minister of Transportation and Economic Corridors Devin Dreeshen where he announced that the province would no longer provide its $1.5 billion portion of funding for the project, citing cost concerns,[55] as well as offering to procure a new alignment, which the province claims will cost less, while serving a greater area. Calgary City Council, unable to complete the project without the province's contribution, voted to wind down the project on September 17, 2024, despite $1.3 billion having already been spent to date, as well as having to spend an additional $850 million to wind it down.[56]
A 27-kilometre (17 mi) light rail network to consist of three lines radiating from SkyTrain stations had been proposed for construction in Surrey, British Columbia. The planned lines were:[57][58]
The lines on 104 Avenue and King George Boulevard were to be built in seven years while the Surrey–Langley Line on the Fraser Highway would be finished five years later.[57] A report on the economic benefits of the project was produced by a consulting firm in May 2015.[59]
This project (among others major transit infrastructure initiatives, including the extension of the Millennium Line under Broadway in Vancouver) was originally made contingent, by the governing BC Liberal party, on the approval, by plebiscite in 2015, of a sales tax increase to generate new funds for public transit. The electorate voted against the tax increase, leaving the project unfunded.[60] Subsequently, the project was included in the second phase of TransLink's 10-Year Investment Plan, which was approved in late 2017.[61][62] However, in 2018, more than 80 percent of the city's residents objected to the line and potential problems, prompting several parties to adopt its cancellation as part of their platform during that year's civic election.[63] A mayor and council who objected to the LRT were elected and their first order of business was to vote unanimously to cancel the LRT line in favour of extending the existing SkyTrain line to Langley, despite the lack of funding to do so.[64] The LRT was "indefinitely suspended" by the regional Mayors' Council on November 15.[65]
Toronto LRT projects
The Jane LRT was a proposed 16.5-kilometre (10.3 mi) light rail transit line that would have run along Jane Street from Jane station on Line 2 Bloor–Danforth to Pioneer Village station on Line 1 Yonge–University. It was cancelled by Rob Ford in December 2010.[66][67]
The Sheppard East LRT was a proposed 13-kilometre (8.1 mi) light rail transit line that would have run along the surface of Sheppard Avenue from Don Mills subway station to east of Morningside Avenue.[68] It was cancelled in April 2019 by the Ontario provincial government under Premier Doug Ford in favour of a Line 4 Sheppard subway extension.[69]
^"ION light rail". grt.ca. April 16, 2019. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
^Bowen, Douglas John (July 12, 2013). "Waterloo opts for Bombardier LRVs". International Railway Journal. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved July 13, 2013. The first of the Flexity Freedom LRV are due to be delivered in mid-2016, and will be used on the 19km, 16-station line from Conestoga Mall in Waterloo to Fairview Park Mall in Kitchener. The $C 92.4m ($US 89.2m) contract will include an option for 16 additional vehicles.
^Carter, Tristan (February 25, 2011). "Jane LRT goes off the rails". Town Crier. Streeter Publications. Archived from the original on September 5, 2017. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
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