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109-507: The Hurontario LRT (formerly the Hurontario–Main LRT ) is a light rail line under construction in the cities of Mississauga and Brampton , Ontario, Canada. The line will run along Hurontario Street from Mississauga's Port Credit neighbourhood north to Steeles Avenue in Brampton. The line will be built and operated as a public-private partnership by Mobilinx, a consortium of private European and Japanese companies, with provincial transit agency Metrolinx retaining ownership of

218-724: A "light rail" vehicle (it is a heavy rail vehicle), and is only included for comparison purposes. Low-floor LRVs have the advantage of a low-floor design, allowing them to load passengers directly from low-rise platforms that can be little more than raised curbs. High-floor light rail systems also exist, featuring larger stations. Historically, the track gauge has had considerable variations, with narrow gauge common in many early systems. However, most light rail systems are now standard gauge . Older standard-gauge vehicles could not negotiate sharp turns as easily as narrow-gauge ones, but modern light rail systems achieve tighter turning radii by using articulated cars . An important advantage of

327-458: A bus, there will be even more capacity when there is a combination of cars and light rail. Table 3 shows an example of peak passenger capacity. The cost of light rail construction varies widely, largely depending on the amount of tunneling and elevated structures required. A survey of North American light rail projects shows that costs of most LRT systems range from $ 15 million to over $ 100 million per mile. Seattle's new light rail system

436-403: A chaotic breakdown inflow and a dramatic drop in speed (a traffic jam ) if they exceed about 2,000 vehicles per hour per lane (each car roughly two seconds behind another). Since most people who drive to work or on business trips do so alone, studies show that the average car occupancy on many roads carrying commuters is only about 1.5 people per car during the high-demand rush hour periods of

545-1142: A common right-of-way (however, Link converted to full separation in 2019). Some systems, such as the AirTrain JFK in New York City, the DLR in London, and Kelana Jaya Line in Kuala Lumpur , have dispensed with the need for an operator. The Vancouver SkyTrain was an early adopter of driverless vehicles, while the Toronto Scarborough rapid transit operated the same trains as Vancouver, but used drivers. In most discussions and comparisons, these specialized systems are generally not considered light rail but as light metro systems. Around Karlsruhe , Kassel , and Saarbrücken in Germany, dual-voltage light rail trains partly use mainline railroad tracks, sharing these tracks with heavy rail trains. In

654-503: A forecasted ridership of 5,500 in 2031 and a proposed line length of 3.3 km (2.1 mi) along Main Street, the project scored 'medium' with a preliminary benefit-cost ratio of 0.66–0.90. In January 2022, Brampton city staff were working on two alternative plans to reinstate the LRT extension from Brampton Gateway Terminal to Brampton GO Station in downtown Brampton. One plan was to extend

763-573: A lack of projected growth along the northern half of the proposed Brampton route to support an LRT. Proponents said the Main Street route advocated by the province would have revived the city's struggling downtown core. However, opponents argued that the Main Street route lacked potential for ridership and future growth. According to City of Brampton's transit ridership data, the current ridership along Main Street has an average of 200 riders per hour per direction on weekdays and Brampton's downtown has

872-416: A light rail train may have three to four cars of much larger capacity in one train under the control of one driver, or no driver at all in fully automated systems, increasing the labor costs of BRT systems compared to LRT systems. BRT systems are also usually less fuel-efficient as they use non-electrified vehicles. The peak passenger capacity per lane per hour depends on which types of vehicles are allowed on

981-435: A live rail. In outer areas, the trams switch to conventional overhead wires . The Bordeaux power system costs about three times as much as a conventional overhead wire system and took 24 months to achieve acceptable levels of reliability, requiring the replacement of all the main cables and power supplies. Operating and maintenance costs of the innovative power system still remain high. However, despite numerous service outages,

1090-543: A longer distance. Light rail cars are often coupled into multiple units of two to four cars. Light rail systems may also exhibit attributes of heavy rail systems, including having downtown subways, as in San Francisco and Seattle . Light rail is designed to address a gap in interurban transportation between heavy rail and bus services, carrying high passenger numbers more quickly than local buses and more cheaply than heavy rail. It serves corridors in which heavy rail

1199-570: A lower capacity and speed than a long heavy rail passenger train or rapid transit system. Narrowly defined, light rail transit uses rolling stock that is similar to that of a traditional tram, while operating at a higher capacity and speed, often on an exclusive right-of-way. In broader use, it includes tram-like operations mostly on streets. A few light rail networks have characteristics closer to rapid transit or even commuter rail , yet only when these systems are fully grade-separated are they referred to as light metros . The term light rail

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1308-642: A more diverse range of design characteristics than LRT, depending on the demand and constraints that exist, and BRT using dedicated lanes can have a theoretical capacity of over 30,000 passengers per hour per direction (for example, the Guangzhou Bus Rapid Transit system operates up to 350 buses per hour per direction). For the effective operation of a bus or BRT system, buses must have priority at traffic lights and have their dedicated lanes, especially as bus frequencies exceed 30 buses per hour per direction. The higher theoretical of BRT relates to

1417-594: A new signalized intersection with the LRT crossing Eaglewood between the creek and the west side of Hurontario. By April 2022, the first tracks were being laid at the Operations, Maintenance and Storage Facility (OMSF). In later phases of construction, LRT tracks will be laid on Hurontario Street north and south from the junction to the OMSF. By July 2022, construction started on the guideway on Hurontario Street working northbound from Matheson Boulevard to Britannia Road. At

1526-475: A path. This was done without disrupting overhead railway traffic with most work having been done at night. The temporary bridges were removed with the GO tracks lying on top of the push box that will be a permanent part of the LRT infrastructure. This work was completed by June 2023, with the push box ready to be converted into a 46-metre (151 ft) tunnel under the GO railway tracks for the LRT line. In related work,

1635-540: A residential area and an inconvenience for pedestrians and motorists using the street. The Port Street extension was subsequently dropped; thus, the LRT would terminate at the Port Credit stop beside the GO station. On March 21, 2019, in addition to cancelling the City Centre loop, Metrolinx also cancelled a stop at Highway 407 and a pedestrian bridge at Cooksville GO Station to reduce project costs. Originally,

1744-407: A result, has many of the operating characteristics of a metro system rather than a light rail system. A capacity of 1,350 passengers per train is more similar to the heavy rail than light rail. Bus rapid transit (BRT) is an alternative to LRT and many planning studies undertake a comparison of each mode when considering appropriate investments in transit corridor development. BRT systems can exhibit

1853-507: A ridership of about 450 passengers an hour. Opponents were also concerned that running the LRT on Main Street in Brampton's historic downtown would diminish its heritage character and have an impact on downtown parking. There was also a concern that the city might have to pay up to $ 100 million for relocating utilities, road resurfacing, traffic redirection, landscaping, etc. Although all councillors were in support of an LRT, they disagreed on

1962-558: A stop on the potential LRT, the terminal is considered part of the Hurontario Higher Order Transit corridor. Expropriations were made to allow for the terminal to be moved; this stands in contrast to the previous location which was leased from Shoppers World Brampton . As of spring 2010, the terminal redesign and relocation was scheduled to coincide with the Zum Main Street launch in fall 2011; it

2071-433: A surface alternative, all stops would be on the surface with an additional stop near Brampton City Hall. A roughly 2.5-kilometre (1.6 mi) branch-loop is planned around Mississauga City Centre and Square One Shopping Centre . The loop would serve most of the City Centre at a walking distance of 500 metres (1,600 ft), and include stops on Burnhamthorpe and Rathburn Roads, and a still-undecided north-south street. It

2180-534: A top speed of 55–71.5 miles per hour (88.51–115.1 km/h) depending on the system, while the trains on the all-underground Montreal Metro can only reach a top speed of 72 kilometres per hour (44.74 mph). LACMTA light rail vehicles have higher top and average speeds than Montreal Metro or New York City Subway trains. Many light rail systems—even fairly old ones—have a combination of both on- and off-road sections. In some countries (especially in Europe), only

2289-481: A tramway, a light metro, and, in a narrow sense, rapid transit. This is especially common in the United States, where there is not a popularly perceived distinction between these different types of urban rail systems. The development of technology for low-floor and catenary-free trams facilitates the construction of such mixed systems with only short and shallow underground sections below critical intersections as

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2398-471: A wider channel and flood walls are being added to Mary Fix Creek which runs on the north side of the Lakeshore West right-of-way before curving on the west side of the LRT right-of-way. The road bridge over the creek at Inglewood Drive will be replaced by a new bridge further south opposite Eaglewood Boulevard which will be extended west from Hurontario Street. At Eaglewood and Hurontario, there will be

2507-565: Is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology while also having some features from heavy rapid transit . The term was coined in 1972 in the United States as an English equivalent for the German word Stadtbahn , meaning "city railway". Different definitions exist in some countries, but in the United States, light rail operates primarily along exclusive rights-of-way and uses either individual tramcars or multiple units coupled together, with

2616-470: Is a generic international English phrase for types of rail systems using modern streetcars/trams, which means more or less the same thing throughout the English-speaking world . Light rail systems can range from trams runnig in streets along with other traffic, to semi-metro systems having portions of grade separated track. People movers are even "lighter", in terms of capacity. Monorail

2725-575: Is a separate technology that has been more successful in specialized services than in a commuter transit role. The use of the generic term light rail avoids some serious incompatibilities between British and American English . The word tram , for instance, is generally used in the UK and many former British colonies to refer to what is known in North America as a streetcar , but in North America tram can instead refer to an aerial tramway , or, in

2834-602: Is a significant amount of overlap between the technologies; similar rolling stock may be used for either, and it is common to classify streetcars or trams as a subcategory of light rail rather than as a distinct type of transportation. However, some distinctions can be made, though systems may combine elements of both. Low-floor light rail lines tend to follow a reserved right-of-way and with trains receiving priority at intersections, and tend not to operate in mixed traffic, enabling higher operating speeds. Light rail lines tend to have less frequent stops than tramways, and operate over

2943-563: Is by far the most expensive in the US, at $ 179 million per mile, since it includes extensive tunneling in poor soil conditions, elevated sections, and stations as deep as 180 feet (55 m) below ground level. This results in costs more typical of subways or rapid transit systems than light rail. At the other end of the scale, four systems (Baltimore, Maryland; Camden, New Jersey; Sacramento, California; and Salt Lake City, Utah) incurred construction costs of less than $ 20 million per mile. Over

3052-426: Is especially important for wheelchair access, as narrower gauges (e.g. metre gauge) can make it challenging or impossible to pass the tram's wheels. Furthermore, standard-gauge rolling stock can be switched between networks either temporarily or permanently, and both newly built and used standard-gauge rolling stock tends to be cheaper to buy, as more companies offer such vehicles. Overhead lines supply electricity to

3161-502: Is expensive. Similarly, the most expensive US highway expansion project was the " Big Dig " in Boston, Massachusetts, which cost $ 200 million per lane mile for a total cost of $ 14.6 billion. A light rail track can carry up to 20,000 people per hour as compared with 2,000–2,200 vehicles per hour for one freeway lane. For example, in Boston and San Francisco, light rail lines carry 9,600 and 13,100 passengers per hour, respectively, in

3270-575: Is hard to distinguish between what is called light rail, and other forms of urban and commuter rail. A system described as a light rail in one city may be considered to be a streetcar or tram system in another. Conversely, some lines that are called "light rail" are very similar to rapid transit ; in recent years, new terms such as light metro have been used to describe these medium-capacity systems. Some "light rail" systems, such as Sprinter , bear little similarity to urban rail, and could alternatively be classified as commuter rail or even inter-city rail. In

3379-559: Is impractical. Light metro systems are essentially hybrids of light rail and rapid transit. Metro trains are larger and faster than light rail trains, with stops being further apart. Many systems have mixed characteristics. Indeed, with proper engineering, a rail line could run along a street, then go underground, and then run along an elevated viaduct. For example, the Los Angeles Metro Rail 's A Line "light rail" has sections that could alternatively be described as

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3488-484: Is one of the highest capacity ones, having been upgraded in a series of expansions to handle 40,000 passengers per hour per direction, and having carried as many as 582,989 passengers in a single day on its Line 1 . It achieves this volume by running four-car trains with a capacity of up to 1,350 passengers each at a frequency of up to 30 trains per hour. However, the Manila light rail system has full grade separation and as

3597-458: Is planning for mixed-use zoning along Hurontario including accommodation, businesses, commercial, retail and arts-cultural development. Before its cancellation, the Main Street route was controversial. At a Brampton Council meeting on July 8, 2015, five of the eleven councillors opposed to the Main Street route argued that the LRT plan was being directed by Mississauga with Brampton absent from negotiation. They demanded an alternative route funded by

3706-542: The Cádiz TramBahia , where trams share track with commuter and long-distance trains from the main terminus in the city and curve off to serve cities without a railway connection. Some of the issues involved in such schemes are: There is a history of what would now be considered light rail vehicles operating on heavy rail rapid transit tracks in the US, especially in the case of interurban streetcars . Notable examples are Lehigh Valley Transit trains running on

3815-758: The London Underground and the New York City Subway . Conventional rail technologies including high-speed , freight, commuter , and rapid transit urban transit systems are considered "heavy rail". The main difference between light rail and heavy rail rapid transit is the ability for a light rail vehicle to operate in mixed traffic if the routing requires it. The world's first electric tram operated in Sestroretsk near Saint Petersburg , Russia , invented and operated on an experimental basis by Fyodor Pirotsky in 1880. The first tramway

3924-637: The Netherlands , this concept was first applied on the RijnGouweLijn . This allows commuters to ride directly into the city center, rather than taking a mainline train only as far as a central station and then having to change to a tram. In France, similar tram-trains are planned for Paris, Mulhouse , and Strasbourg ; further projects exist. In some cases, tram trains use previously abandoned or lightly used heavy rail lines in addition to or instead of still in use mainline tracks. In 2022, Spain opened

4033-874: The O-Train Trillium Line in Ottawa, Ontario , Canada, the River Line in New Jersey , United States, and the Sprinter in California , United States, which use diesel multiple unit (DMU) cars. Light rail is different from the British English term light railway , long-used to distinguish railway operations carried out under a less rigorous set of regulations using lighter equipment at lower speeds from mainline railways. Light rail

4142-703: The Philadelphia and Western Railroad high-speed third rail line (now the Norristown High-Speed Line ). Such arrangements are almost impossible now, due to the Federal Railroad Administration refusing (for crash safety reasons) to allow non-FRA compliant railcars (i.e., subway and light rail vehicles) to run on the same tracks at the same times as compliant railcars, which includes locomotives and standard railroad passenger and freight equipment. Notable exceptions in

4251-530: The medians of roads . If run in streets , trains are usually limited by city block lengths to about four 180-passenger vehicles (720 passengers). Operating on two-minute headways using traffic signal progression, a well-designed two-track system can handle up to 30 trains per hour per track, achieving peak rates of over 20,000 passengers per hour in each direction. More advanced systems with separate rights-of-way using moving block signaling can exceed 25,000 passengers per hour per track. Most light rail systems in

4360-624: The 1970s was proven to have been a technical failure by the following decade. After World War II, the Germans retained many of their streetcar networks and evolved them into model light rail systems ( Stadtbahnen ). With the exception of Hamburg , all large and most medium-sized German cities maintain light rail networks. The concept of a "limited tramway" was proposed by American transport planner H. Dean Quinby in 1962. Quinby distinguished this new concept in rail transportation from historic streetcar or tram systems as: The term light rail transit

4469-598: The Brampton Gateway stop was to be located on the north side of Steeles Avenue. After the cancelation of the Main Street segment of the line in 2015, the City of Brampton asked Metrolinx to relocate the stop to the south side to allow for a future extension north along either Kennedy Road or McLaughlin Road. Thus, Metrolinx changed the stop location. However, by January 2022, Brampton reversed its decision and requested that

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4578-524: The Eglinton Crosstown LRT. Subsequently, Metrolinx decided to initially use only 28 vehicles on the line. On May 23, 2019, IO and Metrolinx announced that proposal have been submitted by only two of the three shortlisted teams of private companies, namely Mobilinx and Trillium Transit Partners. Hurontario Light Rail Connection Partners did not submit a proposal. On October 21, 2019, IO and Metrolinx announced that Mobilinx had been awarded

4687-495: The French city of Bordeaux , the tramway network is powered by a third rail in the city center, where the tracks are not always segregated from pedestrians and cars. The third rail (actually two closely spaced rails) is placed in the middle of the track and divided into eight-metre sections, each of which is powered only while it is completely covered by a tram. This minimizes the risk of a person or animal coming into contact with

4796-537: The Hurontario LRT project according to IO's Alternative Financing and Procurement (AFP) model which basically is a public–private partnership arrangement. On October 18, 2016, IO and Metrolinx started the procurement process by issuing a request for qualifications to design, build, operate and maintain the Hurontario LRT. The request said bidders could offer to supply 44 light rail vehicles, which implied that Metrolinx would break its contract with Bombardier for

4905-460: The LRT line was projected to cost $ 1.4 billion. (Prior to the cancellation of the Brampton portion of the line, the estimated cost was around $ 1.6 billion.) On April 21, 2015, the Government of Ontario announced that it would completely fund the line, not including local capital costs such as utility relocations, surface upgrades, and landscaping. When Mobilinx was chosen as the winning bidder,

5014-494: The LRT on the surface at a cost of $ 500 million. The alternative plan was to put most of the extension underground costing $ 1.7 billion. Brampton prefers the underground plan and is asking upper levels of government to cover the extra cost of the preferred plan. City Council approved the recommendation to progress the LRT extension study to 30% Preliminary Design and to prepare a Draft Environmental Project Report for both alternatives. Brampton needs to replace its aging water mains, and

5123-497: The LRT to run along the Main Street portion of the route because of concerns of low ridership projections, impacts on Brampton's historic downtown and the preferences for an LRT along an alternate route. Thus, the LRT will terminate at the Brampton Gateway Terminal on Steeles Avenue instead of Brampton GO Station . Construction began in 2020; as of July 2024, no official opening date had been set. In 2016,

5232-581: The LRT's below-ground Port Credit station in a trench adjacent to the Port Credit GO Station , and Mobilinx constructed the passage for the LRT under the Lakeshore West line tracks using the Verona System. Three temporary bridges were constructed under the GO line using piles and beams. A hollow, concrete "push box" structure was constructed in the trench and was pushed under the railway line using hydraulic jacks while excavation cleared

5341-497: The Ontario government approved both projects, but did not specify stop locations for either or if the Main Street extension would be tunnelled or at-grade (either as LRT or a mixed-traffic streetcar ) through Brampton's downtown. Circa 2010, the LRT was to have extended south of Lakeshore Road turning west on Port Street terminating at Elizabeth Street. At a 2013 open house, local residents objected to this extension as an invasion of

5450-550: The Port Credit GO Station where the LRT station will be below grade on the west side of Hurontario Street just east of the GO station building. After passing under GO transit's Lakeshore West line, the LRT will continue north for about 250 metres (820 ft) on the west side of Hurontario Street before crossing over to the LRT's centre median. The line will cross under the Queen Elizabeth Way along

5559-501: The QEW so that the space for the current northbound lanes can be used for the LRT. On March 8, 2023, the first of 13 traction substations to convert from AC to DC and to provide electricity for the trains, each housed within a steel structure about the size of a shipping container, was installed at Skyway Drive and Hurontario Street. The next two substations to be installed along Hurontario Street will be at Britannia Road and Topflight Drive,

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5668-662: The US are the NJ Transit River Line from Camden to Trenton and Austin's Capital MetroRail , which have received exemptions to the provision that light rail operations occur only during daytime hours and Conrail freight service only at night, with several hours separating one operation from the other. The O-Train Trillium Line in Ottawa also has freight service at certain hours. With its mix of right-of-way types and train control technologies, LRT offers

5777-455: The US as a whole, excluding Seattle, new light rail construction costs average about $ 35 million per mile. By comparison, a freeway lane expansion typically costs $ 1.0 million to $ 8.5 million per lane mile for two directions, with an average of $ 2.3 million. However, freeways are frequently built in suburbs or rural areas, whereas light rail tends to be concentrated in urban areas, where right of way and property acquisition

5886-666: The United States and in North America . In Britain, modern light rail systems began to appear in the 1980s, starting with the Tyne and Wear Metro from 1980 and followed by the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) in London in 1987, continuing into the 1990s including the establishment of the Manchester Metrolink in 1992 and the Sheffield Supertram from 1994. Due to varying definitions, it

5995-590: The United States are limited by demand rather than capacity (by and large, most American LRT systems carry fewer than 4,000 persons per hour per direction), but Boston's and San Francisco's light rail lines carry 9,600 and 13,100 passengers per hour per track during rush hour. Elsewhere in North America, the Calgary C-Train and Monterrey Metro have higher light rail ridership than Boston or San Francisco. Systems outside North America often have much higher passenger volumes. The Manila Light Rail Transit System

6104-472: The United States, "light rail" has become a catch-all term to describe a wide variety of passenger rail systems. Light rail corridors may constitute a fully segregated corridor, a dedicated right-of-way on a street, an on-street corridor shared with other traffic, a corridor shared with other public transport, or a corridor shared with pedestrians. The most difficult distinction to draw is that between low-floor light rail and streetcar or tram systems. There

6213-415: The ability of buses to travel closer to each other than rail vehicles and their ability to overtake each other at designated locations allowing express services to bypass those that have stopped at stations. However, to achieve capacities this high, BRT station footprints need to be significantly larger than a typical LRT station. In terms of cost of operation, each bus vehicle requires a single driver, whereas

6322-478: The adjacent Brampton Gateway Terminal ) Brampton Transit bus routes: (Both routes have indirect connection to the 407 Park & Ride, which is also the southern and northern termini of BT Route 2 Main and MiWay Route 17 Hurontario respectively) Brampton Transit bus routes: Brampton Transit bus route (Züm): (Both routes directly serve the adjacent Mississauga Hospital ) The LRT is planned to run every 7.5 minutes during rush hours, and every 10-12 minutes for

6431-432: The aforementioned press conference to rename the line after former Mayor Hazel McCallion, Premier Doug Ford offered to reinstate the loop but did not specify a time frame. Reinstating the loop was estimated to cost between $ 300 million and $ 400 million, and could be added after completion of the line. Mississauga politicians, including Mayor Bonnie Crombie, had been advocating for the loop's reinstatement. The original plan for

6540-515: The bridge, there would be an junction for an LRT branch to the Mississauga City Centre, and the junction would have crossed the southbound traffic lanes of Hurontario Street and a Highway 403 exit ramp at grade. By 2021, this design had changed to locate the line on the west side of Hurontario Street on elevated guideways. One guideway would run north from Square One Drive and cross over Rathburn Road. A second guideway would continue

6649-546: The cancelled Main Street route will be invested in priority transit projects in the Greater Toronto Area which might or might not include Brampton. At its February 20, 2020, meeting, the Metrolinx Board of Directors endorsed a prioritization framework for a proposed Frequent Rapid Transit Network that was inclusive of a reinstated LRT extension from Brampton Gateway Terminal to Brampton GO Station; with

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6758-866: The case of the Disney amusement parks , even a land train . (The usual British term for an aerial tramway is cable car , which in the US usually refers to a ground-level car pulled along by subterranean cables .) The word trolley is often used as a synonym for streetcar in the United States but is usually taken to mean a cart, particularly a shopping cart, in the UK and elsewhere. Many North American transportation planners reserve streetcar for traditional vehicles that operate exclusively in mixed traffic on city streets, while they use light rail to refer to more modern vehicles operating mostly in exclusive rights of way, since they may operate both side-by-side targeted at different passenger groups. The difference between British English and American English terminology arose in

6867-409: The choice between a surface or underground LRT extension must be made before Brampton can finish planning for water main replacement. Brampton politicians, including Mayor Patrick Brown, have been advocating for the Main Street extension. On February 27, 2023, Brampton Transit staff presented a project update to City Council, noting that design development updates and inflation have increased the costs of

6976-421: The closure of Glasgow Corporation Tramways (one of the largest in Europe) in 1962. Although some traditional trolley or tram systems continued to exist in San Francisco and elsewhere, the term "light rail" has come to mean a different type of rail system as modern light rail technology has primarily post-WWII West German origins. An attempt by Boeing Vertol to introduce a new American light rail vehicle in

7085-496: The contract to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain the Hurontario LRT for a period of 30 years. The total contract value was $ 4.6   billion with a completion date of the fourth quarter of 2024 was set in the announcement. John Laing Group, Astaldi, Transdev, Amico, and Hitachi are part of the consortium. In spring 2020, construction started on the Operations, Maintenance and Storage Facility, just south of Highway 407. By January 2021, excavation work had started to build

7194-659: The corridor is currently suburban in nature, these secondary entrances create mid-block crossings throughout Hurontario and Main Streets, which enhance pedestrian access. In January 2018, a consultation process was started to select unique and memorable names for the stops. The stop at Central Parkway was named "Fairview" as there is already a Central Parkway station on the Mississauga Transitway. Note: Bus routes running along Hurontario Street are not listed except at bus terminals or route endpoints. (Routes serve

7303-415: The day. This combination of factors limits roads carrying only automobile commuters to a maximum observed capacity of about 3,000 passengers per hour per lane. The problem can be mitigated by introducing high-occupancy vehicle ( HOV ) lanes and ride-sharing programs, but in most cases, policymakers have chosen to add more lanes to the roads, despite a small risk that in unfavorable situations an extension of

7412-482: The delivery of Flexity Freedom vehicles. On June 6, 2017, IO and Metrolinx announced that three teams had been shortlisted: On December 1, 2017, IO and Metrolinx announced that the route would employ 44 Citadis Spirit vehicles, from Alstom to be manufactured at a new assembly plant in Brampton. These vehicles are longer and have higher capacity than the Flexity Freedom vehicles purchased by Metrolinx for

7521-755: The direct translation, which is city rail (the Norwegian term, by bane , means the same). However, UMTA finally adopted the term light rail instead. Light in this context is used in the sense of "intended for light loads and fast movement", rather than referring to physical weight. The infrastructure investment is also usually lighter than would be found for a heavy rail system. The American Public Transportation Association (APTA), in its Glossary of Transit Terminology, defines light rail as: ...a mode of transit service (also called streetcar, tramway, or trolley) operating passenger rail cars singly (or in short, usually two-car or three-car, trains) on fixed rails in

7630-473: The former northbound lanes of Hurontario, with new northbound lanes for road traffic passing beneath the QEW in a new tunnel. At Dundas Street , the LRT could connect to a proposed Dundas bus rapid transit . The LRT will indirectly connect to Cooksville GO Station using the LRT's Cooksville stop at John Street. Further north, between the Robert Speck stop and Highway 403 , the line will switch to

7739-464: The high growth in both cities. They identified three options: light rail transit for the entire corridor, bus rapid transit for the entire corridor, or a combination of both (light rail south of Mississauga City Centre and bus rapid transit north of it). After three public information sessions, the residents of both cities favoured light rail transit along the full length of the corridor. On October 28, 2015, Brampton City Council voted against allowing

7848-458: The late 19th century when Americans adopted the term "street railway", rather than "tramway", with the vehicles being called "streetcars" rather than "trams". Some have suggested that the Americans' preference for the term "street railway" at that time was influenced by German emigrants to the United States (who were more numerous than British immigrants in the industrialized Northeast), as it is

7957-524: The latter is described as light rail. In those places, trams running on mixed rights-of-way are not regarded as a light rail but considered distinctly as streetcars or trams. However, the requirement for saying that a rail line is "separated" can be quite low—sometimes just with concrete "buttons" to discourage automobile drivers from getting onto the tracks. Some systems such as Seattle's Link had on-road mixed sections but were closed to regular road traffic, with light rail vehicles and buses both operating along

8066-496: The latter street providing LRV access between the Operations, Maintenance and Storage Facility and the mainline. The 18-kilometre (11 mi) LRT line will have a dedicated right-of-way throughout the entire corridor. Most of the corridor will be along Hurontario Street with the LRT in a reserved centre median and with two lanes in each direction for general traffic plus turning lanes. General traffic will cross tracks only at major signalized intersections. The LRT line will begin at

8175-462: The light rail concept was the "Shaker Heights Rapid Transit" which started in the 1920s, was renovated in 1980-81 and is now part of RTA Rapid Transit . Many original tram and streetcar systems in the United Kingdom , United States , and elsewhere were decommissioned starting in the 1950s as subsidies for the car increased. Britain abandoned its tram systems, except for Blackpool , with

8284-405: The line has been officially announced. The cities of Mississauga and Brampton have determined that rapid transit along Hurontario is required due to the chronic overcrowding of Mississauga's (and the suburban Greater Toronto Area's) busiest bus routes, 2/17 Hurontario, which carry more than 25,000 passengers a day, combined with the numerous high-density development proposals along the corridor and

8393-657: The line over Highway 403. Between these two guideways, there would be a junction to a branch on a third guideway descending to City Centre. In 2010, Metrolinx placed an order for 182 Flexity Freedom vehicles manufactured by Bombardier for use on the light rail lines it was building in Greater Toronto. However, by 2016, Bombardier was having delivery problems supplying vehicles for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT (officially Line 5 Eglinton ). Thus, Metrolinx would seek another vehicle supplier for its other LRT lines. Infrastructure Ontario (IO) and Metrolinx decided to deliver

8502-573: The line. It will be the only street railway operating in the Greater Toronto Area outside Toronto proper. Upon opening, the route will be named the Hazel McCallion Line in honour of Hazel McCallion , the former mayor of the City of Mississauga. In 2022, the provincial government announced the line's renaming on the occasion of the former mayor's 101st birthday. As of February 2024, no route number or map colour for

8611-474: The line. According to Ed Sajecki, Commissioner of Planning and Building for Mississauga, downtown development had been mostly residential towers as developers felt it was to too expensive to provide parking for large office towers. Sajecki expects that the LRT will eliminate the need for downtown parking. With the LRT, downtown population is expected to double in less than two decades from its currently estimated 40,000. According to Mayor Bonnie Crombie , Mississauga

8720-478: The loop called for the north-south leg to follow Duke of York Boulevard, but Crombie is planning for a route further west along Confederation Parkway . By January 18, 2024, the Ontario Minister of Transportation had requested that Metrolinx provide an initial business case by February 5 for constructing both the Main Street extension and the Mississauga City Centre loop. Three weeks later, on February 8,

8829-512: The mainline, before crossing over Highway 403 on the elevated guideway and returning to centre median running on Hurontario on the north side of the highway. The first stop north of Highway 403 will be at Eglinton Avenue, with stops at Bristol Road, Matheson Boulevard, Britannia Road, Courtneypark Drive, and Derry Road. North of Derry, at Topflight Drive, there will be a junction to the line's maintenance and storage facility. The line will then enter Brampton, with two stops at Ray Lawson Drive and

8938-562: The north leg of County Court Boulevard before terminating at the Brampton Gateway Terminal on Steeles Avenue , which offers connections to the 511 Züm Steeles BRT line. There will be one grade-separated station (at Port Credit GO) and 18 on-street stops throughout the corridor with an average spacing of 850 metres (2,790 ft) and will feature 90-metre (300 ft) platforms. They are expected to have heated shelters, CCTV cameras, real-time information system and bicycle lockers. Most of them will feature secondary entrances, but since most of

9047-465: The old and new systems. Since the 1980s, Portland, Oregon , has built all three types of system: a high-capacity light rail system in dedicated lanes and rights-of-way, a low-capacity streetcar system integrated with street traffic, and an aerial tram system . The opposite phrase heavy rail , used for higher-capacity, higher-speed systems, also avoids some incompatibilities in terminology between British and American English, for instance in comparing

9156-529: The operations, maintenance and storage facility, 15 metres (49 ft) of track had already been laid. Track construction started in September 2022 at various intersections along Hurontario Street between Sandstone Drive (south of Britannia Road) and Matheson Boulevard. On Hurontario Street at the Queen Elizabeth Way , the push box technique was used to create new northbound traffic lanes under

9265-419: The peak direction during rush hour. Brampton Gateway Terminal In 2009, the manager of Land Use Policy recommended that, with the addition of Acceleride (later Züm ) and a proposed Hurontario–Main LRT , there was a "demonstrated need" to move the terminal to the corner of Hurontario and Steeles. Such a move would allow less diversion time from the route to the station, and for a larger station. As

9374-445: The provincial government. On October 28, 2015, Brampton City Council voted 7–4 against allowing the LRT to run along Main Street through its heritage downtown area, as originally planned by the province. Without this agreement, the province has indicated it would move ahead with the project, terminating the LRT at Steeles Avenue ( Brampton Gateway Terminal ) instead of Brampton GO Station. Opposed council members had also previously cited

9483-401: The provincial money allocated to the Main Street route in Brampton would now be available for other transit projects across the province. However, McCuaig also said Metrolinx would be open to evaluate alternate transit proposals from Brampton for provincial funding for the next round of transit initiatives. On November 3, 2015, Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca announced that the funding for

9592-556: The required clearance height can be reduced significantly compared to conventional light rail vehicles. Reference speed from major light rail systems, including station stop time, is shown below. However, low top speed is not always a differentiating characteristic between light rail and other systems. For example, the Siemens S70 LRVs used in the Houston METRORail and other North American LRT systems have

9701-540: The rest of the week. Service hours on the LRT corridor are planned to be between 5:00 AM and 1:30 AM Mondays to Saturdays and 7:00 AM to 12:00 AM on Sundays and holidays. Bus service is expected to supplement the remaining hours, making the Hurontario corridor have a 24/7 transit operation. LRT trains will take 40 minutes to travel the whole route, compared to 58 minutes by private automobile. Light rail Light rail (or light rail transit , abbreviated to LRT )

9810-432: The right-of-way that is often separated from other traffic for part or much of the way. Light rail vehicles are typically driven electrically with power being drawn from an overhead electric line via a trolley [pole] or a pantograph ; driven by an operator onboard the vehicle; and may have either high platform loading or low-level boarding using steps." However, some diesel-powered transit is designated light rail, such as

9919-415: The road network might lead to increased travel times ( Downs–Thomson paradox , Braess's paradox ). By contrast, light rail vehicles can travel in multi-car trains carrying a theoretical ridership up to 20,000 passengers per hour in much narrower rights-of-way , not much more than two car lanes wide for a double track system. They can often be run through existing city streets and parks , or placed in

10028-401: The roads. Typically roadways have 1,900 passenger cars per lane per hour (pcplph). If only cars are allowed, the capacity will be less and will not increase when the traffic volume increases. When there is a bus driving on this route, the capacity of the lane will be higher and will increase when the traffic level increases. And because the capacity of a light rail system is higher than that of

10137-897: The route it should take. Councillors opposing the Main Street route have proposed running the LRT east or west along Steeles Avenue and then north to Queen Street where it would then possibly continue east from Brampton's downtown area to the Bramalea GO Station or possibly all the way to the terminus of the western branch of the Toronto subway 's Line 1 Yonge–University at Vaughan Metropolitan Centre . In March 2013, Brampton City Council asked city staff to consider two alternative routes north from Steeles Avenue, either (1) partially north on Main Street, east to Peel Memorial Hospital , north to Queen Street and west to Brampton GO Station, or (2) north on Kennedy Road, west on Queen Street to Brampton GO Station. Metrolinx CEO Bruce McCuaig said

10246-618: The same as the German term for the mode, Straßenbahn (meaning "street railway"). A further difference arose because, while Britain abandoned all of its trams after World War II except in Blackpool , eight major North American cities ( Toronto , Boston , Philadelphia , San Francisco , Pittsburgh , Newark , Cleveland , and New Orleans ) continued to operate large streetcar systems. When these cities upgraded to new technology, they called it light rail to differentiate it from their existing streetcars since some continued to operate both

10355-408: The standard gauge is that standard railway maintenance equipment can be used on it, rather than custom-built machinery. Using standard gauges also allows light rail vehicles to be conveniently moved around using the same tracks as freight railways. Additionally, wider gauges (e.g. standard gauge) provide more floor clearance on low-floor trams that have constricted pedestrian areas at the wheels, which

10464-466: The stop be moved back to the north side so that riders would not have to cross Steeles Avenue to transfer between the LRT and the bus terminal. Metrolinx said they would consider Brampton's request out of safety concerns. According to a published 2017 design, the LRT would occupy the centre median of Hurontario Street as it crossed over the Highway 403 intersection on a bridge. At the southern approach to

10573-461: The surface alignment ($ 933 million) and underground alignment ($ 2.8 billion). City staff still recommend the underground alignment due to perceived benefits in travel time savings, infrastructure modifications, downtown revitalization, operations and maintenance, and protection for a future extension. Brampton's preferred underground option would have a surface stop at Charolais Boulevard and underground stops at Nanwood Drive and Brampton GO Station. With

10682-551: The system was a success with the public, gaining up to 190,000 passengers per day. Automatic train operation is employed on light rail networks, tracking the position and speed of a train and hence adjusting its movement for safety and efficiency. One line of light rail (requires 7.6 m, 25' right of way) has a theoretical capacity of up to 8 times more than one 3.7 m (12 foot) lane on a freeway, excluding busses, during peak times. Roads have ultimate capacity limits that can be determined by traffic engineering , and usually experience

10791-426: The total contract value was $ 5.6 billion. This included $ 4.6 billion to design, build and finance plus $ 1 billion to operate and maintain the line for 30 years. The line was previously costed at $ 1.2 billion for capital costs only. The City of Mississauga is expected to cover the operating and maintenance costs. Mississauga plans to use the Hurontario LRT to spur commercial development and employment opportunities along

10900-503: The trams, making it safe on city streets. Several systems in Europe and a few recently opened systems in North America use diesel -powered trains. When electric streetcars were introduced in the late 19th century, conduit current collection was one of the first ways of supplying power, but it proved to be much more expensive, complicated, and trouble-prone than overhead wires . When electric street railways became ubiquitous, conduit power

11009-460: The vast majority of light rail systems. This avoids the danger potentially presented by an electrified third rail . The Docklands Light Railway uses an inverted third rail for its electrical power, which allows the electrified rail to be covered and the power drawn from the underside. Trams in Bordeaux , France, use a special third-rail configuration where the power is only switched on beneath

11118-578: The west side of Hurontario Street and run onto an elevated guideway . Midway across this guideway there will be a Y-junction for a spur descending to Rathburn Road and terminating at the Mississauga City Centre stop. Here there will be connections to the Mississauga Transitway and the City Centre Transit Terminal, and access to Square One Shopping Centre . To leave the stop, light-rail trains must reverse back to

11227-434: The widest range of latitude of any rail system in the design, engineering, and operating practices. The challenge in designing light rail systems is to realize the potential of LRT to provide fast, comfortable service while avoiding the tendency to overdesign that results in excessive capital costs beyond what is necessary to meet the public's needs. The BART railcar in the following chart is not generally considered to be

11336-543: Was coined in 1972 by the U.S. Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA; the precursor to the Federal Transit Administration ) to describe new streetcar transformations that were taking place in Europe and the United States. In Germany, the term Stadtbahn (to be distinguished from S-Bahn , which stands for Stadtschnellbahn ) was used to describe the concept, and many in UMTA wanted to adopt

11445-547: Was initially cancelled on March 21, 2019, when Metrolinx announced that the downtown loop would be dropped due to financial restrictions beyond the spur to the stop on Rathburn serving the City Centre Transit Terminal . Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie indicated that the rest of the loop could be built as a later phase. In September 2021, it was listed as one of the city's six transportation priorities by Mississauga City Council . On February 14, 2022, at

11554-677: Was introduced in North America in 1972 to describe this new concept of rail transportation. Prior to that time the abbreviation "LRT" was used for " Light Rapid Transit " and " Light Rail Rapid Transit ". The first of the new light rail systems in North America began operation in 1978 when the Canadian city of Edmonton, Alberta , adopted the German Siemens-Duewag U2 system, followed three years later by Calgary, Alberta , and San Diego, California . The concept proved popular, with there now being numerous light rail systems in

11663-407: Was listed as a 2011 service initiative in the agency's 2011 Current and Capital Budget. A contract for the construction of the new terminal, its amenities, plus road and intersection improvements was awarded to Graham Construction and Engineering. The lowest tender, the contract was worth $ 10,190,340. Earlier estimates presumed an $ 8.3 million cost. A City report placed the "higher actual costs" on

11772-632: Was the Gross-Lichterfelde tramway in Lichterfelde near Berlin in Germany, which opened in 1881. It was built by Werner von Siemens who contacted Pirotsky. It initially drew current from the rails, with overhead wire being installed in 1883. The first interurban to emerge in the United States was the Newark and Granville Street Railway in Ohio, which opened in 1889. An early example of

11881-527: Was used in those cities that did not permit overhead wires. In Europe, it was used in London, Paris, Berlin, Marseille, Budapest, and Prague. In the United States, it was used in parts of New York City and Washington, D.C. Third rail technology was investigated for use on the Gold Coast of Australia for the G:link light rail, though power from overhead lines was ultimately utilized for that system. In

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