Reece Martin
@rmtransit.bsky.social
Writer, Learning Enthusiast, Urbanist, Optimist, Traveller, Canadian.
Passionate about making the world better.
https://cinqpersonnes.substack.com/
https://nextmetro.substack.com/
Passionate about making the world better.
https://cinqpersonnes.substack.com/
https://nextmetro.substack.com/
Pinned
Reece Martin
@rmtransit.bsky.social
· May 17
RMTransit -> Reece Martin
So devastating, the entire country will mourn.
Oh my God. 10 dead in a high school mass shooting (7 killed inside the school) in the small community of Tumbler Ridge in north-eastern British Columbia today. One of the deadliest school shootings in Canadian history. This is an unthinkable nightmare that isn’t supposed to happen here. Or ANYWHERE.
10 dead, including suspect, in mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C. | CBC
www.cbc.ca
February 11, 2026 at 11:38 AM
So devastating, the entire country will mourn.
Reposted by Reece Martin
Oh my God. 10 dead in a high school mass shooting (7 killed inside the school) in the small community of Tumbler Ridge in north-eastern British Columbia today. One of the deadliest school shootings in Canadian history. This is an unthinkable nightmare that isn’t supposed to happen here. Or ANYWHERE.
10 dead, including suspect, in mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C. | CBC
www.cbc.ca
February 11, 2026 at 4:36 AM
Oh my God. 10 dead in a high school mass shooting (7 killed inside the school) in the small community of Tumbler Ridge in north-eastern British Columbia today. One of the deadliest school shootings in Canadian history. This is an unthinkable nightmare that isn’t supposed to happen here. Or ANYWHERE.
People lose their minds about the Canada line being disruptive when it was built, but it was like a quarter the time of Eglinton!
39 according to the former operator of the Park Theatre:
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
10 years after its completion, Canada Line remains bitter Olympic legacy for Cambie Street businesses | CBC News
The Canada Line may have been completed in time for the Vancouver Olympics, but 10 years on, a legal battle over its construction has yet to reach the end of the line. More than 100 Cambie Village mer...
www.cbc.ca
February 11, 2026 at 2:31 AM
People lose their minds about the Canada line being disruptive when it was built, but it was like a quarter the time of Eglinton!
Vancouver built a *subway* in four years and for ~1/3 the price a few years before Toronto Line 5 opened. No grade crossings at all, and fully driverless.
February 10, 2026 at 8:46 PM
Vancouver built a *subway* in four years and for ~1/3 the price a few years before Toronto Line 5 opened. No grade crossings at all, and fully driverless.
Reposted by Reece Martin
Canada agreed to pay for the full cost of construction, land acquisition on the US side, and connecting Interstate highway links, AND also isn't charging tolls on the US side of the bridge. This amounts to saying America should be allowed to steal Canadian money.
Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Trump's bonkers US-Canada bridge tantrum: "There's a valid concern on the part of the president that this bridge was allowed to be built, they didn't necessarily use American content. There's a question as to the proceeds of tolls."
February 10, 2026 at 5:43 PM
Canada agreed to pay for the full cost of construction, land acquisition on the US side, and connecting Interstate highway links, AND also isn't charging tolls on the US side of the bridge. This amounts to saying America should be allowed to steal Canadian money.
Ugh, screen doors were so obvious here. Instead we use a complicated and fault prone system of lasers that ultimately still don't keep people off the tracks
Between Kennedy and Yonge, took 34 minutes.
Delayed at Forest Hill due to “trespasser on tracks”
Delayed at Forest Hill due to “trespasser on tracks”
February 10, 2026 at 7:23 PM
Ugh, screen doors were so obvious here. Instead we use a complicated and fault prone system of lasers that ultimately still don't keep people off the tracks
As usual Jarrett has some really valuable insights. Completing a northern arc across the city is region, especially as the population centre of gravity continues to move north.
Toronto's new Eglinton rail line shows the awakening of a new consciousness of what kind of city Toronto is. New from me: humantransit.org/2026/02/toro...
Toronto: What Eglinton Means — Human Transit
It’s been a long struggle, but Toronto’s Eglinton rail line is finally open. Now, the rapid transit network looks consists of the wide lines on this map, numbered 1-6. The internet is full of reviews...
humantransit.org
February 9, 2026 at 6:49 PM
As usual Jarrett has some really valuable insights. Completing a northern arc across the city is region, especially as the population centre of gravity continues to move north.
I woke up at 3:55 this morning to stand in -25 degree weather for two hours and visit every station of the Eglinton Crosstown. This 8000-word essay contains all of my thoughts and a whole lot of photos. The overall takeaway? It's good, but there's things to improve.
open.substack.com/pub/nextmetr...
open.substack.com/pub/nextmetr...
The Eglinton Line is Open. Many, Many Thoughts.
Toronto opens its first subway in nearly 25 years.
open.substack.com
February 9, 2026 at 1:29 AM
I woke up at 3:55 this morning to stand in -25 degree weather for two hours and visit every station of the Eglinton Crosstown. This 8000-word essay contains all of my thoughts and a whole lot of photos. The overall takeaway? It's good, but there's things to improve.
open.substack.com/pub/nextmetr...
open.substack.com/pub/nextmetr...
Reposted by Reece Martin
I was in Eglinton station for like 15 minutes, and completely unable to find the Next Train displays, because every time I looked at these boards they were giving these Stand Clear messages.
The issue is they have it programmed so that the literal screen that tells you when the next train comes changes over to warning you not to step on the yellow line every time someone does this.
February 8, 2026 at 9:28 PM
I was in Eglinton station for like 15 minutes, and completely unable to find the Next Train displays, because every time I looked at these boards they were giving these Stand Clear messages.
Reposted by Reece Martin
Unfortunately, Ion also opens all doors unnecessarily. Supposedly for accessibility
February 8, 2026 at 9:00 PM
Unfortunately, Ion also opens all doors unnecessarily. Supposedly for accessibility
Reposted by Reece Martin
Just popping into the eglinton line
February 8, 2026 at 8:28 PM
Just popping into the eglinton line
Part of why I think I find myself nit picking is because on Eglinton the good stuff is obvious. Big impressive stations. Quick service. Cool art. Nice connectivity.
February 8, 2026 at 8:15 PM
Part of why I think I find myself nit picking is because on Eglinton the good stuff is obvious. Big impressive stations. Quick service. Cool art. Nice connectivity.
Reposted by Reece Martin
I thought that looked familiar.
February 8, 2026 at 8:10 PM
I thought that looked familiar.
It is absolutely wild seeing Eglinton Crosstown stations compared to Canada line ones. The lines have the same capacity, and riding the Crosstown that checks out. But the stations on the Crosstown often feel 4 times bigger. Thats why it was slow and expensive!
February 8, 2026 at 7:59 PM
It is absolutely wild seeing Eglinton Crosstown stations compared to Canada line ones. The lines have the same capacity, and riding the Crosstown that checks out. But the stations on the Crosstown often feel 4 times bigger. Thats why it was slow and expensive!
To be clear. The Crosstown while it has some wacky stuff is good! The stations are huge with lots of entrances. The service is quick. Lots of new hubs created too.
February 8, 2026 at 7:55 PM
To be clear. The Crosstown while it has some wacky stuff is good! The stations are huge with lots of entrances. The service is quick. Lots of new hubs created too.
Reposted by Reece Martin
By contrast Line 6 vehicles have about 82.5% as much door capacity as the subway, so this is less likely to occur there.
Adding a second double door to each Line 5 car that presently has double doors (as per the Flexity in Zurich) would increase its door density up to 90%+ of what the subway has.
Adding a second double door to each Line 5 car that presently has double doors (as per the Flexity in Zurich) would increase its door density up to 90%+ of what the subway has.
February 8, 2026 at 7:52 PM
By contrast Line 6 vehicles have about 82.5% as much door capacity as the subway, so this is less likely to occur there.
Adding a second double door to each Line 5 car that presently has double doors (as per the Flexity in Zurich) would increase its door density up to 90%+ of what the subway has.
Adding a second double door to each Line 5 car that presently has double doors (as per the Flexity in Zurich) would increase its door density up to 90%+ of what the subway has.
Reposted by Reece Martin
By my calculations Line 5 presently has only 55% the door capacity of the subway, which I was worried would lead to the problem seen in the video
bsky.app/profile/chad...
bsky.app/profile/chad...
I hope for the best for the line 5 opening tmrw but increasing think there are too few doors, and this is going to cause slow boarding and delays. The subway has 20 ft of door width on a 75 foot car (26.7% doors) but Line 5 will have ~15 ft of door width on a ~102 ft car (~14.7%), only 55% as much.
February 8, 2026 at 7:48 PM
By my calculations Line 5 presently has only 55% the door capacity of the subway, which I was worried would lead to the problem seen in the video
bsky.app/profile/chad...
bsky.app/profile/chad...
This system is very neat, but it seems so technically complicated that I struggle to believe it was cheaper than platform screen doors. Its certainly not better in basically any other way.
There are sensors hidden above the platforms which detect stepping onto the yellow line, as a lot of people were given, it's the first day and people want to look down the tunnels.
February 8, 2026 at 7:44 PM
This system is very neat, but it seems so technically complicated that I struggle to believe it was cheaper than platform screen doors. Its certainly not better in basically any other way.
Reposted by Reece Martin
Graphic design is my pass
There are also just super strange sign placements that sometimes mean signs get cut off. This stuff is extremely benign but it's a little ridiculous after this line has been under construction for 15 years that basic stuff like this hasn't been figured out.
February 8, 2026 at 7:43 PM
Graphic design is my pass
Media should hop on this. Entirely fixable but at the moment crazy dangerous. Some reckless person is going to be badly hurt.
February 8, 2026 at 7:31 PM
Media should hop on this. Entirely fixable but at the moment crazy dangerous. Some reckless person is going to be badly hurt.
Not enough doors. Tram vehicles can have more, but low floor is a hard limit. There is a reason high floor subways are used for lines like this. There is a reason we planned a high floor subway on this line decades ago . . .
I worry about capacity issues. This is much busier than a normal Sunday, but I’m not sure much busier than an average rush hour. The stations were built to accommodate 3-car alignments. Looks like those are going to be needed as soon as possible.
February 8, 2026 at 7:28 PM
Not enough doors. Tram vehicles can have more, but low floor is a hard limit. There is a reason high floor subways are used for lines like this. There is a reason we planned a high floor subway on this line decades ago . . .
A piece from me in the Toroto Star today, I'll flesh out my concerns more in a post later, but the Eglinton Crosstown is good, which is a problem, because while the stations are palatial, the streetcar style trains are not high capacity.
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
The Eglinton Crosstown is finally set to open. But poor planning may mean it will be a victim of its own success
The new line may be too busy almost as soon as it opens.
www.thestar.com
February 8, 2026 at 7:18 PM
A piece from me in the Toroto Star today, I'll flesh out my concerns more in a post later, but the Eglinton Crosstown is good, which is a problem, because while the stations are palatial, the streetcar style trains are not high capacity.
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
The Line 5 launch went quite well in my personal opinion, and I'm going to have a detailed and I would say quite positive post on the line later today. But first I want to provide some things I really think should be fixed. The TTC to their credit was actually asking for this!
February 8, 2026 at 7:15 PM
The Line 5 launch went quite well in my personal opinion, and I'm going to have a detailed and I would say quite positive post on the line later today. But first I want to provide some things I really think should be fixed. The TTC to their credit was actually asking for this!
Reposted by Reece Martin
Between Keele and Yonge, the new Line 5 Eglinton is somehow slower than the Bloor subway even though it makes fewer stops and is entirely underground.
February 8, 2026 at 4:08 AM
Between Keele and Yonge, the new Line 5 Eglinton is somehow slower than the Bloor subway even though it makes fewer stops and is entirely underground.