Today, the long-awaited Union Pearson Express train (UP Express) started revenue service at 5:30am. I made it on the first train, along with several other rail enthusiasts, members of the media and numerous Metrolinx employees who were there to answer questions and ensure a smooth launch to the service.
Originally called "Blue 22" when it was a proposed as a Public Private Partnership in 2003, the UP Express was taken over by the Ontario Government's Metrolinx (the operators of GO Transit) 2010. Construction was commenced in conjunction with GO's Georgetown South Project, which involved an overall upgrade of the former CN alignment from Union Station to a newly-built spur near Carlingview Drive and Woodbine Racetrack. The spur travels 3.3 km between the Kitchener Subdivision and Terminal 1 at Toronto Pearson International Airport where connections can be made to the Pearson Link train to Terminal 3 and an off-site parking garage.
Photos taken on Saturday June 6, 2013 along the Metrolinx Kitchener and Pearson Subdivisions in Toronto and Mississauga, Ontario.
Metro-North Train 43 to Port Jervis, NY awaiting passengers
Lower Manhattan as seen through glass block
Ferries to New York
Entrance off Warrington Plaza
Lower Manhattan as seen from Erie-Lackawanna Park
Erie-Lackawanna Ferry Terminal as seen from Erie-Lackawanna Park
View towards midtown Manhattan at sunrise
Welcome
Clock tower (built in 2007 to replace the original which was dismantled in the 1950s)
Built in 1907 as a terminus for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, the New Jersey Transit Hoboken Terminal serves as a major transportation hub for those travelling from west of the Hudson River to Manhattan. Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) trains connect to the Herald Square area at 33rd Street, NJ Transit buses connect to the Port Authority Bus Terminal near 42nd Street and NY Waterway ferries connect to Wall Street and the World Financial Center. These are fed by 7 commuter rail and light rail lines from the Jersey side, some of which travel over 2 hours just to reach Hoboken.
Photos taken along Hudson Place and in Erie-Lackawanna Park in Hoboken, NJ on January 7, 2013.
On June 14, 2011 the western-most span, opened in 1934 and looks like it hasn't been maintained since, had to be closed due to the erosion of 10 gussetts, the plates which bind the crossbeams together. The plan is to have them replaced by the fall of 2011. In the meantime, traffic has been redirected to the eastern span, which was opened in 1963, with both lanes being used in the primary traffic direction during peak hours and one lane in each direction during off-peak. This has made the area's already bad traffic even worse, even precipitating the addition of six extra AMT commuter trains on the adjacent CP rails to and from Candiac (see below), a line which itself was created due to the 1990 Mohawk standoff. Photos taken along LaSalle Boulevard in Montreal, Quebec on June 21, 2011
Being the only person to get off at the most-easterly train station on the island of Montreal meant that I got a puzzled look from pretty much everybody involved in getting me there. "Point-aux-Trembles? Vous ne pouvez pas prendre le metro?" I mean, why would anyone pay $20 for a trip you could take by metro (and bus) for $3? Well, if you want to get a preview of the future AMT (the Montreal regional transit authority) "Train de l'Est" which is currently under construction, this is the best way to do it.
It is the southern end of the line from Montreal to Jonquiere and Senneterre, with cars for both destinations travelling together as far as Hervey Jct., where the train is broken into two to go on the final legs of their journey. In Montreal, the train heads south through Pointe-St-Charles, Verdun and St-Henri, where it makes a turn through the massive CN Taschereau rail yard and heads north and east towards the first stop, Ahuntsic. Service used to be via the Mont-Royal tunnel, with outbound trains being pulled by electric engines as far as the Jonction de l'Est in St-Laurent (inbound trains would merely coast downhill through the mountain). A total reconstruction of the Montreal-Deux-Montagnes commuter line in 1995 made this no longer possible as the electrical current used by the new trains was incompatible with CN's aging fleet of electric locomotives, so the diversion via Taschereau, and its additional half-hour travel time, was now necessary. It is unclear whether the hybrid locomotives which will be used by the AMT for the Train de l'Est will do double-duty for VIA once that line opens, but it appears unlikely.
From Ahuntsic, the line continues east through Montreal-nord, Montreal-est, and Riviere-des-Prairies before arriving at the unmanned, but rather-vandalized Pointe-aux-Trembles Station. Interestingly, when the Train de l'Est opens (currently scheduled for 2012 December 2014), the stop used by the AMT called "Pointe-Aux-Trembles" will not be at this location, but will be at a new station approximately 2km west on Sherbrooke Street.
Montreal-Nord hasn't seen service since 1968, as most users switched to the metro after its opening in 1966. A great essay on the history of electric commuter service to Montreal-Nord (and Ahuntsic) by McGill professor Glenn Cartwright can be found here.
Photos taken near the corner of 64e Avenue and Prince-Albert Street in the borough of Pointe-aux-Trembles-Riviere-des-Prairies, Montreal, Quebec on June 22, 2011. UPDATE: VIA ceased operations at this stop effective January 3, 2013, leaving Ahuntsic as the only on-island stop for the Jonquiere/Senneterre line, with the Repentigny station at le Gardeur being the closest to P-A-T.
A mild-mannered IT guy by day, a mild-mannered music-listener, TV-watcher, sarcasm-spiller, picture-taker, satire-absorber, hypocrisy-mocker, Filet-O-Fish-eater, hyphen-overuser by night.
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