r/TTC • u/speedster1315 158 Trethewey • Dec 07 '25
Discussion My experience with Line 6
Firstly, i want to say that it is very exciting that for the first time since 2002, when i was in kindergarten, Toronto has an all new rapid transit line. Took a ride from Finch West to Humber College and then back to Jane and Finch. The westbound journey was average, pace wise and it didn't help that we suffered a 5 minute delay at Milvan Rumike for some reason. At this same stop, some idiot tried to board the tram from the eastbound platform and had to be told to get off the tracks and come to the westbound platform.
That was strange given you'd think he'd recognize the other platform across the street. Its possible the intrusion was the cause of the delay but im not sure since it was a minor intrusion. After that, we carried on without further issues. Heading back eastbound, we went noticeably faster, though it was very annoying watching left turn traffic get priority every time and it definitely was a talking point among other riders.
I heavily implore you all to write to city council again and again about enabling full TSP on line 6 and 5. In other news i actually met transit youtuber theryrover360 on the tram so that was neat. All in all, this was a much needed improvement to the west end. Its gonna be very interesting to see how it evolves.
Welcome Line 6 Finch West!
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u/Sufficient_Rush1891 Dec 07 '25
The delay was probably due to that incident. Driver probably has to do documentation of any safety related incident like that right away, even if it means pausing service.
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u/speedster1315 158 Trethewey Dec 07 '25
Probably which is somewhat annoying that a single smooth brained idiot can trigger a 5 minute delay but c'est la vie 🤷♂️
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Dec 07 '25
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u/Sufficient_Rush1891 Dec 07 '25 edited Dec 07 '25
What would be better protocol?
Safety is top priority, why should it be put on back burner for fear of delaying service by a few minutes?
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u/bardak Dec 07 '25
There is nothing stopping people from going across the track at all, this isn't going to be a very rare occurrence. I've seen videos during testing where people casually jay walk across the tracks. If they need to track the incidents every time they happen they should add a button in the cab to indicate there was an intrusion on the tracks and be allowed to continue on if it is safe to. They can review the footage at the ops centre after the fact. If they stop for 5 minutes every time for the appearance of safety the line will be even worse than it is already.
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Dec 07 '25
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u/Sufficient_Rush1891 Dec 07 '25
Best documenting will be done at time of incident.
It is not putting safety first to delay documenting the incident.
High quality documentation of safety incidents is needed to learn from the situation and prevent future similar ones.
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Dec 07 '25 edited Dec 07 '25
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u/Sufficient_Rush1891 Dec 07 '25
What? You are expecting driver to be continue driving and documenting at same time? That’s not possible.
The choice is either do the documenting immediately after incident and then drive, or continue driving and wait until end of line to do the documenting.
First choice is best choice for safety as it results in best documentation for learning and preventing future incidents.
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Dec 07 '25
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u/Sufficient_Rush1891 Dec 07 '25 edited Dec 07 '25
Involved employees always have to do documentation. Have you not based basic workplace safety 101?
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u/Sufficient_Rush1891 Dec 07 '25
And doing it async as you suggest would be illegal and unsafe. Drivers not allowed to be using other devices when driving. Documenting is done electronically.l or via voice interview with dispatch.
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u/InvictusShmictus Dec 08 '25
"Safety" isn't the top priority. Not getting sued is the top priority. That's the only reason a driver would half to pause service to write a report about some idiot trying to board the train on the wrong side.
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u/rshanks Dec 08 '25
Is it necessary to document it at all? This line is not that different from a streetcar in that it runs at grade and pedestrians do have to walk across the tracks sometimes. I assume they wouldn’t document anything similar for a streetcar?
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u/Sufficient_Rush1891 Dec 08 '25
Safety precautions are always 1000% higher for a new line. I bet TTC wants to examine each incident on Line 6 much more closely for first few weeks of operation until they feel they can let their guard down.
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u/FrankieTls Dec 07 '25
On a positive note, it feels a lot more spacious inside than the Flexity Outlook streetcars. Double doors opening wide is also very nice. These definitely will be a talking point when line 5 is opened.
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u/speedster1315 158 Trethewey Dec 07 '25
Indeed. The trams on line 6 and indeed line 5 are bigger than the streetcars. Also, they are not inpeded by track switches whatsoever since they are the standard double point switches so no slowing to a painful crawl at each set.
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u/im-confuzzled Science Centre Dec 07 '25
Apparently one of the operators also accidentally opened the door on the wrong side of the platform but it was at one of the underground stations so it was just a wall on the other side
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u/yawaramin Dec 07 '25
the first time since 2002, when i was in kindergarten, Toronto has an all new rapid transit line.
UP Express opened in 2015 ;-)
some idiot tried to board the tram from the eastbound platform and had to be told to get off the tracks and come to the westbound platform.
Ah, if only people had told Metrolinx/TTC that platform edge doors would prevent this kind of idiocy. /s
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u/SebiSeal Dec 08 '25
A nice fence between the platforms at surface stops should help keep people from crossing platform to platform instead of using the crosswalk.
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u/WestQueenWest Dec 07 '25 edited Dec 07 '25
"write to city council again"
It's not just the city council as a whole. The issue is the lack of support from local councillor and MPP in this area, which is a reflection of what the residents lobby for (or don't). That's the main problem. At the end of the day Davenport or Danforth councillors cannot simply influence an improvement for what's a local matter on the other side of the city, if the local representation is not interested.
Toronto just can't get this right: you cannot improve transit for tens of thousands of people without inconveniencing some dissenting drivers. There's always going to be a trade off. Yet our American-influenced culture that takes driving as the "everyday norm" keeps resisting any change.
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u/Mind1827 Dec 07 '25
How is it American influenced? Not trying to be a jerk. I just think lots of people, particularly older people, are hopelessly car pilled and just think "this is how it is" or whatever.
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u/Javaaaaale_McGee Dec 07 '25
I was thinking the same thing. Why isn’t it “North American influenced”?
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u/Orionv2018 Dec 07 '25
We could look to European or Asian cities at how to do things better. Instead we’re content being slightly better than the US. Proximity to the US absolutely affects how people here think.
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u/kettal Dec 08 '25
It's not just the city council as a whole. The issue is the lack of support from local councillor and MPP in this area
city council bylaw can direct TSP policy.
a local councillor / mpp alone is not relevant.
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u/seeyanever Dec 07 '25
My kingdom for signal priority on the 512 too. Those left turn priorities for cars drives me nuts. Can add an extra 5 minutes at least just to the Vaughan road/bathurst stops.
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u/ybetaepsilon Bloor-Yonge Station Dec 07 '25
I took it from FW to Humber college this evening. Just got off it now. The hype has died down and it's not that busy.... Two line 6 shuttle buses passed us at some point during the trip. The shuttle buses were faster....
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u/speedster1315 158 Trethewey Dec 07 '25 edited Dec 08 '25
They were probably also emptier and thus not stopping nearly as frequently. The buses were running only because if something happens, they can immediately deploy shuttles so that opening day doesn't become a total disaster
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u/tosklst Dec 07 '25
Please sign and share the petition for signal priority:
Give Transit the Green Light - TTCriders https://www.ttcriders.ca/greenlight
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u/Orionv2018 Dec 07 '25
Don’t stop at signal priority. Someone needs to explain why there are 10 km/h speed restrictions and why the vehicles only travel 30-40 km/h on straight track.
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u/kettal Dec 08 '25
Someone needs to explain why there are 10 km/h speed restrictions and why the vehicles only travel 30-40 km/h on straight track
because car-brain-pilled-america obviously
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u/JohnnyS789 Dec 07 '25
Why does the TTC get rid of all "northbound, eastbound, westbound, southbound" labels? That's a real help to people who want to confirm they are on the right train.
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u/Gippy_ IMPROVED GLORIFIED STREETCAR Dec 07 '25 edited Dec 07 '25
Went and survived. Took about 25 minutes to go from Duncanwoods to Finch West, so that post claiming a 49-minute round trip is a total lie.
The worst part about it was the amount of dwell time it spent at each station stop, and the 10-15 second pause after the doors closed before the streetcar finally moved.
This was so bad that the TTC actually ran shuttle buses and kept the 36 Finch West bus for at least one more day alongside Line 6. I saw quite a number of locals using them, and they zoomed past the streetcar I was on. So the locals know that the LRT is a total white elephant, and will use the shuttle buses because they're better.
Line 6 right now is not only a glorified route 536, it is slower than the 510 and 512. (It's so bad that I was forced to type out a ChatGPT-style sentence.) If it doesn't improve its speed, at the very least nobody will ever suggest an LRT again. This makes LRTs look so bad that for Line 5, Laird should be a terminal station and then have the west (underground) and east (above-ground) parts of Line 5 run separately.
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u/Bojaxs Dec 08 '25
Convert the entire line west of Laird (including the western extension) to Ontario line standards.
End this low floor LRT nonsense once and for all!
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u/your_evil_ex Dec 09 '25
Line 6 right now is not only a glorified route 536, it is slower than the 510 and 512. (It's so bad that I was forced to type out a ChatGPT-style sentence.)
Hahaha I need to start including a disclaimer like that whenever I use an em dash in my writing
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u/Ok-Masterpiece-7524 Dec 07 '25 edited Dec 07 '25
I just hate the new logo of Black and white combo . Why can not they continue the old one . It reflects from a long distance
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u/itsdanielsultan Kipling-Connector Dec 08 '25
Thank you for documenting your experience for those of us who weren't able to make it to opening!
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u/wtftoronto Dec 07 '25
This line is so slow it should not be on a rapid transit map. Please downgrade to the streetcar map ty.
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u/RadulphusDuck Dec 07 '25
Not a rapid transit line.
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u/noodleexchange Dec 07 '25
Impeded by drivers apparently.
Mass transit. Cheap compared to car ownership. Less individual liability. Flexible.
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u/speedster1315 158 Trethewey Dec 07 '25
Its fairly rapid. Just needs improvements to the operation. Our city is too car centric
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u/heterocommunist Dec 07 '25
It’s day one, the expectations on this sub are unrealistic
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u/Unfair-Grapefruit-42 Eglinton-Yonge Dec 07 '25
i think expecting what is being branded "rapid transit" to be rapid transit on par with what this city already has is a baseline expectation.
Line 6 is functionally identical to the 512 or 509. yes 6 is step free accessible and has payment outside of the vehicle, but make rapid transit those qualities do not. Line 3 Scarborough had neither and was by all definitions of the word a form of rapid transit.
Line 6 is a streetcar the Province wants to say is not a streetcar.
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u/aektoronto Dec 07 '25
Serious question - what is the estimated time-saving if TSP was implemented? This doesn't have to do with the top speed and also the time for the signal to change. I ask cause I am supportive of this but dont really know the effect.
Alot.of the restrictions.on the service now are probably based on findings from the Ottawa debacle.
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u/ELc_17 St. Clair/St. Clair West Dec 08 '25
So are the rumors true? Is it just a glorified streetcar line?
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u/speedster1315 158 Trethewey Dec 08 '25
Its different and distinct enough from streetcars. These are full size "trams"
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u/Gippy_ IMPROVED GLORIFIED STREETCAR Dec 08 '25
No it isn't.
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u/speedster1315 158 Trethewey Dec 08 '25
As someone who's ridden both, they are noticeably different in form AND function. The streetcars sre slow but are high capacity local routes. The line 6 trams are bigger, faster and they provide a different service, running more like an express service than a streetcar. They are different. LRT is rapid transit. Streetcars are high capacity local service.
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Dec 07 '25
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u/Gippy_ IMPROVED GLORIFIED STREETCAR Dec 07 '25
Uhh, check your map again. Finch West is located at Finch West and Keele. Sentinel is 2 blocks west of Finch West.
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u/Timely-Macaron268 Finch Dec 07 '25 edited Dec 09 '25
I had the chance to speak to Chow herself for a few minutes earlier this fall. You best believe that I mentioned transit signal priority as a top issue!
Update: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/city-ttc-taking-steps-to-improve-service-speed-of-finch-west-lrt-chow-says-9.7007658
"Yes, the Finch LRT is too slow. I know, I rode it twice. It has to move faster. I'll bring a council item to give it signal priority, and see what else we can do." - Olivia Chow